EXTRACTS. 283 



same. Birch bark was the best material ; but as the canoe birch did not grow 

 within the home territories of the Iroquois, they generally used the red-elm and 

 bitter-nut-hickory. The canoe figured in the plate is made of the bark of the 

 red-elm, and consists of but one piece. Having taken off a bark of the requisite 

 length and width, and removed the rough outside, it was shaped in the canoe 

 form. Rim pieces of white-ash, or other elastic wood, of the width of the hand, 

 were then run around the edge, outside and in, and stitched through and through 

 with the bark itself. In stitching, they used bark thread or twine, and splints. 

 The ribs consisted of narrow strips of ash, which were set about a foot apart 

 along the bottom of the canoe, and having been turned up the sides, were secured 

 under the rim. Each end of the canoe was fashioned alike, the two side pieces 

 inclining towards each other until they united, and formed a sharp and vertical 

 prow. In size, these canoes varied from twelve feet, with sufficient capacity to 

 carry two men, to forty feet with sufficient capacity for thirty. The one figured 

 in the plate is about twenty-five feet in length, and its tonnage estimated at two 

 tons, about half that of the ordinary bateau. Birch bark retained its place 

 without warping, but the elm and hickory bark canoes were exposed to this ob- 

 jection. After being used, they were drawn out of the water to dry. 



For short excursions one person usually paddled the canoe, standing up in the 

 stern ; if more than two, and on a long expedition, they were seated at equal dis- 

 tances upon each side alternately. In the fur trade these canoes were extensively 

 used. They coasted lakes Erie and Ontario, and turning up the Oswego river into 

 the Oneida lake, they- went from thence over the carrying place into the Mohawk, 

 which they descended to Schenectady. They would usually carry about twelve 

 hundred pounds of fur. At the period of the invasions of the Iroquois terri- 

 tories by the French, large fleets of these canoes were formed for the conveyance 

 of troops and provisions. With careful usage they would last several years." 

 (Page 367, etc.). 



LosJdel (George Henry): History of the Mission of the United Brethren among 

 the Indians in North America ; translated from the German by Christian Ignatius 

 La Trobe ; London, 1794. [Delawares and Iroquois]. "Little boys are even 

 frequently seen wading in shallow brooks, shooting small fishes with their bows 

 and arrows. The Indians always carry hooks and small harpoons with them, 

 whenever they are on a hunting party ; but at certain seasons of the year they 

 go out purposely to fish, either alone, or in parties. They make use of the neat 

 and light canoes made of birch-bark, as described above, for this purpose, and 

 not only venture with them into spacious rivers, but even into the large lakes, 

 and being very light, the waves do not break into them as easily as into European 

 boats. They caulk them with the resinous bark of a species of elm, which they 

 first pound, to prepare it for use. Another kind of canoes are made of the stems 



