THE ALLEGASH AND EAST BRANCH. 
209 
remember rightly, this would not serve to distinguish the 
white spruce from the light-colored variety of the black. 
I asked him to let me see him get some black spruce 
root, and make some thread. Whereupon, without look¬ 
ing up at the trees overhead, he began to grub in the 
ground, instantly distinguishing the black spruce roots, 
and cutting off a slender one, three or four feet long, and 
as big as a pipe-stem, he split the end with his knife, and 
taking a half between the thumb and forefinger of each 
hand, rapidly separated its whole length into two equal 
semi-cylindrical halves; then giving me another root, he 
said, “ You try.” But in my hands it immediately ran 
off one side, and I got only a very short piece. In short, 
though it looked very easy, I found that there was a 
great art in splitting these roots. The split is skilfully 
humored by bending short with this hand or that, and so 
kept in the middle. He then took off the bark from 
each half, pressing a short piece of cedar bark against 
the convex side with both hands, while he drew the root 
upward with his teeth. An Indian’s teeth are strong, 
and I noticed that he used his often where we should 
have used a hand. They amounted to a third hand. 
thus obtained, in a moment, a very neat, tough, and flexi¬ 
ble string, which he could tie into a knot, or make into a 
fish-line even. It is said that in Norway and Sweden the 
roots of the Norway spruce {Abies excelsd) are used in 
the same way for the same purpose. He said that you 
would be obliged to give half a dollar for spruce root 
enough for a canoe, thus prepared. He had hired the 
sewing of his own canoe, though he made all the rest. 
The root in his canoe was of a pale slate color, probably 
acquired by exposure to the weather, or perhaps from 
being boiled in water first. 
N 
