90 SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPIC AL 
1818. deprived them of their boat, but of their supper, 
Aprii23. and three very formidable clubs. This must 
have been a very serious loss to such simple 
savages, but one that they richly deserved. The 
canoe was nearly new, it measured eighteen feet 
in length, and two in breadth, and would easily 
carry eight persons; the sides were supported 
by two poles fastened to the gunwhale by strips 
of a climbing plant, ( flagdlaria indica,) that 
grows abundantly hereabouts, and with which 
also the ends of the canoe were neatly, and even 
tastefully joined ; the poles were spanned toge- 
ther on either side by rope constructed of strips 
of bark. The canoe was made of one sheet of 
bark, but in the bottom, within it, short pieces 
were placed cross-ways, in order to preserve its 
shape, and increase its strength. The descrip- 
tion of a canoe seen by Captain Flinders at 
Blue Mud Bay, in the Gulf of Caspentaria, dif- 
fers very little from the above *, 
Whilst we were bringing away the canoe the 
natives, who had followed us along the shore, 
were heard close by among the trees, loudly vo- 
ciferating, in which the word ca-no-a was thought 
to be frequently used. 
24. The next morning we sailed out of Knocker’s 
•* Flinders’ Terra Australis , vol. II. p. 198, 
