21G 



wliich are shallow and obstructed by rapids, as being fitter for such waters 

 than the shai-per and more elegant varieties. Below the Dalles, several 

 kinds were formerly common, one of which, nearly straight on the gunwale, 

 and ornamented at the bow with a carved figure-head, representing some 

 bird or animal, seems to have been chiefly used round the Willamette and 

 Kowlitz. A small ? nd light canoe, of simple form, but ^'ery graceful, was 

 used, ])rincipally among the marshy islands toward the mouth of the river, 

 for hunting sea-fowl. Another kind, jjarticularly mentioned by Lewis and 

 Clarke, is now almost entirely confined to Puget Sound. It varies greatly 

 in size, some of them being as much as thirty -five feet long, the stern being 

 rounded and rising to a point, the bow terminating in a kind of billet- 

 head. The one by far the most used at present, and the most elegant in 

 shape, is, howevei', that which has popularly obtained the name of the 

 Tsiniik canoe, the bow of which rises high and projects forward, tapering 

 to a point, while the stern is sharp, cut off pei-pendicularly, and surmounted 

 by a block. These canoes are usually painted black outside and red within, 

 and ornamented along the gunwale with the opercula of a sea-shell,* set 

 in rows. This kind is by no means confined to the river, but is employed 

 far to the northward also. These are admirable sea-boats, with the excep- 

 tion that they are exposed to be boarded by a stern sea. A modification of 

 this is sometimes employed by the northern Indians for a war-canoe ; the 

 beak being very high, and flared out at each side, so that, when bow on, 

 it presents a shield against arrows, and to a certain extent against balls. 

 The management and appearance of a first-class canoe on the Columbia 

 River is thus described by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke : 



"The fourth and largest species of canoe Ave did not meet with till we 

 had reached tide- water, near the grand rapids below, in which place they are 

 found among all the nations, especially the Killamuks, and others residing 

 on the sea-coast. They are upward of fifty feet long, and will carry from 

 eight to ten thousand pounds' weight, or from twenty to thirty persons. Like 

 all the canoes we have mentioned, they are cut out of a single timnk of a tree, 

 which is generally white cedar, though the fir is sometimes used. The sides 

 are secured by cross-bars, or round sticks, two or tlu-ee inches in thickness, 



* Pachijpoma gibberosum. 



