16 MODE OF CONSTRUCTING 



length. Even the Kowraregas have much finer 

 canoes than their neighbours on the mainland ; one 

 which I measured alongside the ship was forty-five 

 feet long and three and a half in greatest width, and 

 could carry with ease twenty-five people. The con- 

 struction of a canoe in the neighbourhood of Cape 

 York is still looked upon as a great undertaking, 

 although the labour has been much lessened by the 

 introduction of iron axes, which have complete^ 

 superseded those of stone formerly in use. A tree 

 of sufficient size free from limbs — usually a species 

 of JBomhax (sUk-cotton tree) or Erythrina — is 

 selected in the scrub, cut down, hollowed out where 

 it falls, and dragged to the beach by means of long 

 climbers used as ropes. The remaining- requisites 

 are now added ; two stout poles, fourteen to twenty 

 feet in length, are laid across the gunwale, and 

 secured there from six to ten feet apart, and the pro- 

 jecting ends are secured by lashing and wooden pegs 

 to a long float of light wood on each side, pointed, 

 and slightly turned up at the ends. A platform or 

 stage of small sticks laid across occupies the centre 

 of the canoe, extending* on each side several feet 

 beyond the gunwale, and having" on the outside a sort 

 of double fence of upright sticks used for stowing 

 away weapons and other gear. The paddles are five 

 feet long, with a narrow rounded blade, and are 

 very clumsily made. The cable is made of twisted 

 climbers — often the Flagellaria Indica — and a large 

 stone serves for an anchor. 



