April, 1920 
FOREST AND STREAM 
177 
sides of the primitive canoe. Possibly, 
also, these knobs were used as a tem- 
porary fulcrum against the gunwale 
when used as a steering blade. Many 
of the upper grips will suggest to us 
that the savage knew more about com- 
fort than the present makers of pad- 
dles. The Indian recognized the value 
in the strength of the “beaver tail” con- 
struction. Ivariably his paddle haft 
tapered down into the blade. This fea- 
ture not only adds great strength but 
causes a clean wake of water to be left 
behind the drawn blade. Often the 
“beaver tail” was cut away on the one 
side, leaving it flat for a better purchase. 
W E can take a lesson from the length 
of the primitive paddle. In no 
instance were single blades found 
that exceeded six feet in length overall. 
Tall paddles are all too common today. 
The Indian drove his power home from 
straight in front of his shoulder, not 
way up over his head as modern canoe- 
ists are wont to do. Only the men who 
have studied scientifically the art of 
canoe racing know the proper length of 
paddle to use and their selections never 
exceed in total length the height to their 
eyes while standing. There is very little 
difference as to position taken in the 
canoe between the modern paddler and 
that of the savage. The latter half 
kneeled and half squatted on a thwart 
while today we sit on the broadened 
thwart or seat with our feet in front of 
us. The seat is no higher than the old 
thwart so why the added length in the 
modern paddle? Perhaps the manufac- 
turer’s catalogue is trying to lead us 
back to the primitive pole once more. 
The savage made his paddle from the 
lightest and most durable woods at hand. 
Collected in our museums are paddles 
made from spruce, maple, ash, cherry, 
mahogany, oak, butternut, teak, rose- 
wood, lemon and perhaps many others. 
Of all these woods there is no question 
but that spruce is the best. It has 
strength, lightness, resiliency, durability 
and is easily worked. Maple does not 
possess all of these fine points but has 
the advantage of being a more silent 
blade to paddle with because it will re- 
tain a very sharp edge whereas most 
other woods pucker up very easily. Most 
of the other woods mentioned are either 
O 
rriH E S E illustrations were 
i drawn by the writer from 
specimens exhibited in Smithsonian 
Institution, Washington, Museum of 
Natural History, New York, Acad- 
emy of Natural Science, Philadel- 
phia and the Field Museum, Chi- 
cago. The origins of the paddles 
are as follows: — 1. Borneo. 2. 
Western Eskimo. 3. Japanese. 1. 
Amos. 5. North Pacific. 6. Orin- 
oco Indian. 7. Kings Island Alask- 
an. 8. Paddle of State, highly 
decorated. 9. New Ireland, N. W. 
Australian. 10. Greenland Eskimo. 
11. O jib way. 12. Queen Charlotte 
Island. 13. British Guiana. 11. 
Figi. 15. British Guiana. 16. 
Hupas. 17. Zuni. 18. Tulipa. 19. 
Northwest Coast Fishing. 20. 
Puget Sound. 21. Makah. 22. 
Loucheux. 23. Alaskan. 21. Al- 
gonquin. 
too heavy or too scarce for modern use 
and demand. 
The primitive canoeist took great de- 
light in decorating his blades. Weird 
and gorgeously colored carvings and 
paintings record his prowess as a mem- 
ber or chief of a tribe. But who will in- 
terpret the legends on these blades? 
There are some blades that are mag- 
nificently carved and are called “paddles 
of state.” These were wielded by the 
chiefs when the war canoes went forth 
on important or gala occasions. The 
average canoeist of today desires to ex- 
press himself in a similar manner as is 
evidenced by painting his blades with 
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24 
the carefully selected name of his canoe, 
the totem of his club or with the outline 
of a record fish that he has caught. The 
writer is one of many who would never 
scrape the totems of recollections from 
his decorated blades but likes to keep 
them to remind him of former trips. 
V 
A N ideal modern single blade would 
be made of carefully selected 
spruce with an over all length of 
five feet six inches. A comfortable grip 
(Fig. 7.) on top of a stout haft that 
continued down well into the blade with 
a sharp “beaver tail” on one side and a 
rounded subtraction of this construction 
on the opposite side. The lower grip and 
the beginning of the blade would be ap- 
proximately the center of the total 
length. The sides or outer edges of the 
blade would be as straight as general 
lines would permit and the average 
width of the blade would be six inches. 
The shape of the bottom would be semi- 
( CONTINUED ON PAGE 223) 
