BOATS. 311 



of it as you would of your gun. I know it is lots of trou- 

 ble, but your reward in ha-ving a tight boat in excellent 

 condition, ougbt to be sufficient recompense for the 

 labor spent. In such a case one should feel, " Labor 

 ipse voluptas" — ^labor itself is a pleasure. 



Canvas boats are made which are good and safe for 

 hunting purposes. The Bond-metal boat is good and 

 very handy ; being sectional, it can be divided, and two 

 shoot in it with safety, one in each section. For wild 

 rice and marsh shooting the Wilson duck-boat is one of 

 the finest I ever saw, but quite expensive. This boat 

 is made of very heavy tin, equal to No. 24 iron, weight 

 about 70 pounds. Any practical boat-builder can build 

 you a boat, but be sure and have it made as you and 

 not as he wants to make it. Following are the measure- 

 ments of boats I use. They can be rowed, sculled or 

 j)unted. 



Length, 12 1-2 feet ; beam, 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. ; 

 depth, 10 1-2 inches ; deck, 4 feet. There should 

 be a rake of 10 in., commencing 5 feet from the 

 stem, running back to the stern, so it wUl not drag and 

 make a noise, and ripple. Stern board, five and a half 

 inches. A rake should run up to bow, leaving bow 6 

 to 8 in. high. The bow should be shape of sled runner 

 so as to glide easily over sticks and moss. Keelson, 5 

 inches wide, of oak. The best way to build a boat is 

 of five-eighths strips midship one and a half inch wide, 

 tapering to half an inch at ends ; oak bows on mside 

 3-8ths in. thick, one and one quarter inch, wide, about 

 10 to 12 in. apart. Knees of oak, the edges of the strips 

 forming the sides, should be thoroughly covered with 

 white lead and nailed together every 4 to 6 in. through 

 the edges. These strips should also be well nailed 



