128 BOAT BUILDING. 



should be large, sound, and free from knots. It should first 

 be hewn on two opposite sides to a size corresponding to the 

 depth of the intended canoe. On one side the hewing should 

 not be on a straight line, but should run out at the ends to 

 the surface of the log, in order to leave a suitable rise at bow 

 and stern. This hewing is usually performed before the log 

 is cut off from the tree. When this is accomplished the log 

 is turned down, with that side uppermost which is to form the 

 gunwale. Next, the outlines of the sides are struck with a 

 line and chalk, the latter being usually a burnt stick. The 

 general rule for laying out a canoe, is to measure the log into 

 three equal sections. The two end sections are for the bow 

 and stern respectively. For a large canoe the bow should be 

 hewn somewhat sharper than the stern. At the same time 

 the width of the boat at the point where the curves of the 

 bow start, below the gunwale, should be a little greater than 

 at any other point. This difference can be easily attained in 

 finishing off the sides, after the general shape is struck out. 

 If the canoe is very large it may be desirable to attend to this 

 point in the first hewing. The object in giving the canoe a 

 greater width at this part is, to give ease of motion in the 

 water. The same principle that governs in the construction 

 of larger vessels, and is seen in the shape of the duck or goose, 

 applies to the shaping of a large canoe. A small canoe, for 

 running deer, and designed to never carry more than two 

 persons, may be curved with the same sharpness at both ends, 

 and have no variation in its width. It may then be run either 

 end foremost. A canoe made in this way, if narrow and very 

 sharp, in skillful hands, may be one of the swiftest and most 

 effective boats. Both ends of a well-made canoe are curved 

 upward from the middle of the gunwale, and the stern rises a 

 little from the line of the bottom. When the tree is sound 

 (and none other should be used), a canoe may be worked 

 very thin, and thus be so light as to be easily carried. With 

 all these points in mind the canoe is hewn to nearly its final 

 outside shape ; the inside is dug out with axes and an adze ; 

 finally it is neatly and smoothly finished on the outside 

 with axe and draw-shave, and on the inside with a round 



