96 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



boat, yet it has its advantages. Slender and easily 

 broken, the materials for repairing it are yet to be 

 found without difficulty, for an Indian has only to 

 walk a dozen yards, maybe, before he sees a tree 

 suitable to his purpose. He selects any broad, white- 

 stemmed birch-tree. Four cuts with a knife, and he 

 has enough of Nature's patent flexible waterproof 

 cloth to repair a dozen canoes. This is fastened on 

 with gum and resin, which he heats over the camp 

 fire. There is yet again another advantage. A birch- 

 bark canoe sixteen feet in length, which is of sufficient 

 capacity to accommodate six persons, is capable, when 

 properly weighted, of being paddled by one man ; and 

 so light and strong, that he would be able, after 

 emptying it of its contents, to swing it, unaided, on 

 to his back, and, without any difficulty or need of 

 resting, carry it for a considerable distance. I was 

 enabled to purchase, for about twenty dollars, a new 

 canoe, specially made by the Indians for the Hudson 

 Bay Company, and had it carried down and launched 

 on the lake to accustom myself to this new mode of 

 conveyance. Now, an empty canoe is a decidedly 

 ticklish thing for one person to manage. Having, 

 therefore, cautiously pushed it off, I seated myself at 

 one end, which is the only place, excepting the bottom, 

 where one can dispose oneself. The other end pointed 

 to the zenith, the canoe being empty of luggage. 

 This seemed very uncomfortable, and hardly the 

 correct way to work it. Then came a gust of wind, 

 which swept round the elevated end in an instant, 



