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north-west company in the fur trade take their 

 departure. Of all the numerous contrivances 

 for transporting heavy burthens by water these 

 vessels are perhaps the most extraordinary; 

 scarcely any thing can be conceived so inade- 

 quate, from the slightness of their construction, 

 to the purpose they are applied to, and to con- 

 tend against the impetuous torrent of the many 

 rapids that must be passed through in the 

 course of a voyage. They seldom exceed thirty 

 feet in length and six in breadth, diminishing 

 to a sharp point at each end, v/ithout distinc- 

 tion of head or stern : the frame is composed of 

 small pieces of some very light wood; it is then 

 covered with the bark of the birch tree, cut into 

 convenient slips, that are rarely more than the 

 eighth of an inch in thickness; these are sewed 

 together with threads made from the twisted 

 fibres of the roots of a particular tree, and 

 strengthened where necessary b}^ narrow strips 

 of the same materials applied on the inside ; 

 the joints in this frsigWe ijlanking are made water 

 tight by being covered with a species of gum 

 that adheres very firmly and becomes perfectly 

 hard. No iron-work of any description, not 

 even nails, are employed in building these 

 slender vessels, which when complete weigh 

 only about five hundred weight each. On being 

 prepared for the voyage they receive their lad- 



