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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



itself. Having then burned away the top and the branches of the 

 tree, in order to give the trunk the proper length, they deposit it 

 on steins laid across forks, at a height convenient for their work; 

 they now remove the bark with a certain kind of shells, and, using 

 the less injured part of the trunk for its lower side, they light on 

 the other side a fire all along the trunk, excepting its ends, and when 

 they think there has been enough burning, they extinguish the fire 

 and commence scraping with shells ; having made a new fire, they 

 burn again, and thus continue in succession, alternately burning and 

 scraping, until the boat is sufficiently hollowed out. Rau, p. 286 



An early statement by De Vries follows, regarding canoes on the 

 Hudson river : 



Their canoes or boats are made of the bark of trees, and will carry 

 five or six persons. They also hollow out trees and use them for 

 boats and skiffs, some of which are very large, and I have fre- 

 quently seen 18 or 20 seated in a hollow log, going about the river, 

 and I have myself had a wooden canoe, in which I could carry 225 

 bushels of maize. 



Figure 22 shows an ornamented and angular paddle from Cham- 

 plain's picture. Figure 89 is from Lahontan and of a different form. 

 Those in the interior were narrower than those near the sea, and 

 often had shorter handles. Lahontan's description follows: 



The Oars they make use of are made of Maple-wood, and their 

 Form is represented in the annex'd Cut. The blade is 20 inches long, 

 and four Lines thick. The Handle is about 3 Foot long, and as big 

 as a Pigeon's Egg. When they have Occasion to run up against 

 rapid Currents, they make use of Poles made of Pine-wood. 

 Lahontan, 1 :28 



Figure 94 is part of a paddle which Mr W. W. Tooker had in 1880, 

 from Canoe Place on Long Island. It is of oak and 34 K inches long. 

 The Onondagas call both paddles and wooden shovels kah-kah- 

 wes'-sah. 



John Bartram mentioned a frequent ingenious arrangement for 

 fishing at night, which he saw at Oswego Falls in 1743: "I saw 

 upon one of their canoes in the morning a large piece of bark spread 

 across. On this lay gravel and sand, and on these coals and ashes, 

 which I supposed had been a fire, and the gravel placed there to save 

 the bark. And I took it to be a design both to allure and see to 

 strike the fish." Bartram, p.48 



