242 TRAVELS THROUGH tt>PER CANADA t 
The bark canoes, which the Indians use in 
this part of the country are by no means so 
neatly formed as those made in the country 
upon,, and to the north of, the River St. 
Lawrence: they are commonly formed of one 
entire piece of elm bark, taken from the trunk 
of the tree, which is bound on ribs formed of 
slender rods of tough wood. There are no 
ribs, however, at the ends of these' canoes, 
but merely at the middle part, where alone 
it is that passengers ever sit. It is only the 
center, indeed, which rests upon the water: 
the ends are generally raised some feet-above 
the surface, the canoes being of a curved 
form. They bring them into this shape by 
cutting, nearly midway between the stem and 
stern, two deep slits one on each side, in the 
back, anil by lapping the disjointed edges one 
over the other. No. pains are taken to make 
the ends of the canoes water tight, since they 
never touch the water. 
On first inspection yon would imagine, from 
its miserable appearance,, that an elm bark 
canoe, thus const me ted, was not calculated to 
carry even a single person safely accross a smooth 
piece of water; it is nevertheless a remarkably 
safe sort of boat, and the Indians will resolutely 
embark in one of them during very rough 
weather. They are so light ; that they ride 
securely ever every wave, and the only pre- 
