TCRNEU.] 



TRANSPORTATION BY WATER. 



307 



beads, fits over the foreheiid and is attached to the sides of the canoe 

 by means of thougs, which prevent the canoe from slipping off the 

 shonlders as the porterquickly trav- 

 erses the narrow pathway through 

 the trees and bushes. The ground 

 is often so uneven and rougli that 

 long detours have to be made by the 

 porter, while the rest of the party 

 may go a shorter path to the place 

 where the canoe will again be placed 

 in the water. A part of the neces- 

 sary equipments for a trip in a canoe 

 are pieces of bark, root threads, .and 

 gum to repair any damage resulting 

 from an accidental contact with a 

 stone or snag. 



Without the birch-bark canoe the 

 Indian would have diflticulty in ob- 

 taining his living, as it is even more 

 necessary than the sled, and nearly 

 as useful as the snowshoe. 



The j)addles used with these ca- 

 noes are about 5 feet long, having a 



blade about 30 inches long and 4J 



wide. The handle terminates in a 



sort of knob. The paddle referred 



to, for applying the gum and grease 



to the seams of the canoe, has the 



shape of a flattened spoon with 



rounded bowl (Fig. 125). The gum 



is heated, and while hot is poured 



along the seams and pressed into 



the interstices of the stitches with 



the paddle. When a patch is to be 



applied over a fracture or broken 



place in the bark, it may be made 



to adhere by the sticky properties 



of the gum alone, if the distance to 



be traveled is not great. A Are is 



then made and the wax heated; the 



I)iece of bark is edged with the gum 



and pressed tirmly over the rent. 



A second coat is applied over the 



edges of the bark, after the first has j.„, , 



become cold. A few minutes suffice 



to repair an a^iiiarently alarming hole. 



— Tdboggau, Nenencit. 

 side view. 



127— Toliog- 

 ^an, Neneuot, 

 irom above. 



