54 TIMEHRI. 
wonderfully light, formed out of a single piece from 
the hollowed-out trunk of a tree, and without nails. 
These are some 30 to 40 feet long, and smaller ones, 
go by the name of corials, one part ending in a 
point; they are so small that they hardly can con- 
tain 2 or 3 persons, they easily capsize, but for this the 
Indians care little, all being able swimmers; ‘turn it 
up, bail out the water, and proceed; che bottom of 
these small ones, sometimes consists of only the bark or 
skin, of the thickness of a quarter of an inch, twisted or 
sewn together at the top with roots of trees, and the 
seams rubbed over with a certain gum or rosin. 
The way in which they build their craft is simple 
enough; they look for a sound and straight tree, ten or 
twelve feet in circumference, and long in proportion ; 
they cut longitudinally a small aperture 9 or 10 inches 
broad and cut the wood out on both sides as even and as 
smooth as possible in order to get it round; this done, 
they turn the tree over to give it outside the same form, 
usually somewhat narrower before, though sometimes 
fore and aft equally wide; they particularly take care to 
give the body at both sides an equal thickness. A large 
canoe is commonly two inches in the keel or bottom 
14 in the sides and one thick at the bends; after this 
nothing remains but to open it to give it the proper 
width, For that purpose they make a sort of scaffolding 
of small posts, a little elevated, standing 3 or 4 feet from 
each other, on this they place the canoe; they then put 
fire in and outside, and when the bottom is well heated, 
they take a piece of hardwood made in the shape of a 
pair of tongs, with which they grip the sides of the canoe 
and gently keep them outwards so that they are bent open 
