THE BIRCH-BARK
How to Build a Real Birch-Bark Canoe or a Canvas Canoe
on a "Birch-Bark" Frame--How to Mend a Birch-Bark
ALTHOUGH the Indian was the first to build these simple little boats,
some of his white brothers are quite as expert in the work. But the red
man can outdo his white brother in navigating the craft. The only tools
required in building a canoe are a knife and awl, a draw-shave and a
hammer. An Indian can do all of his work with a knife.
Several years ago canvas began to be used extensively in
canoe-building, instead of birch bark, and it will eventually
entirely supersede birch, although nothing can be found that bends so
gracefully. There are several canvas-canoe factories in Maine, and the
canoes made of canvas have both the symmetry and the durability of the
birches. They are also a trifle cheaper, but if the real thing and
sentiment are wanted, one should never have anything but a bark craft.
If properly handled, a good canoe will safely hold four men. Canoes
intended for deep water should have considerable depth. Those intended
for shoal water, such as trout-fishers use, are made as flat as
possible. Up to the time when canoeing was introduced the materials for
building craft of this kind could be found all along the rivers. Big
birch-trees grew in countless numbers, and clear, straight cedar was
quite as plentiful within a few feet of the water's edge. Now one must
go miles back into the dense forests for such materials, and even then
seldom does it happen that two suitable trees are found within sight of
one or the other. Cedar is more difficult of the two to find.
The Tree
The tree is selected, first, for straightness; second, smoothness;
third, freedom from knots or limbs; fourth, toughness of bark; fifth,
small size of eyes; sixth, length (the last is not so important, as two
trees can be put together), and, seventh, size (which is also not so
important, as the sides can be pieced out).
Dimensions
The average length of canoe is about 19 feet over all, running,
generally, from 18 to 22 feet for a boat to be used on inland waters,
the sea-going canoes being larger, with relatively higher bows. The
average width is about 30 inches inside, measured along the middle
cross-bar; the greatest width inside is several inches below the middle
cross-bar, and is several inches greater than the width measured along
said cross-bar.
The measurements given below are those of a canoe 19 feet over all: 16
feet long inside, measured along the curve of the gunwale; 30 inches
wide inside. The actual length inside is less than 16 feet, but the
measurement along the gunwales is the most important.
Bark
Bark can be peeled when the sap is flowing or when the tree is not
frozen--at any time in late spring, summer, and early fall (called
summer bark); in winter during a thaw, when the tree is not frozen, and
when the sap may have begun to flow.
Difference in the Bark
Summer bark peels readily, is smooth inside, of a yellow color, which
turns reddish upon exposure to the sun, and is chalky-gray in very old
canoes. Winter bark adheres closely, and forcibly brings up part of
the inner bark, which on exposure turns dark red. This rough surface
may be moistened and scraped away. All winter-bark canoes must be thus
scraped and made smooth. Sometimes the dark red is left in the form of
a decorative pattern extending around the upper edge of the canoe, the
rest of the surface being scraped smooth.
Process of Peeling
The tree should be cut down so that the bark can be removed more easily.
A log called a skid (Fig. 79) is laid on the ground a few feet from the
base of the tree, which will keep the butt of the tree off the ground
when the tree is felled. The limbs at the top will keep the other end
off the ground. A space is cleared of bushes and obstructions where the
tree is to fall.
[Illustration: Fig. 79.--Showing how the butt is kept off the ground.]
[Illustration: Fig. 80.]
[Illustration: Fig. 81.]
After the tree has been cut down, a cut is made in a straight line (A,
B, Fig. 79), splitting the bark from top to bottom, and a ring cut at
A and B (Fig. 79). When sap is flowing, the bark is readily removed;
but in winter the edges of the cut are raised with a knife, and a thin,
pliant hard-wood knife or "spud" is pushed around under the bark.
Toasting
After the bark has dropped upon the ground the inside surface is warmed
with a torch, which softens and straightens it out flat. The torch is
made of a bundle of birch bark held in a split stick (Fig. 81).
It is then rolled up like a carpet, with inside surface out, and
tightly bound, generally with cedar bark when the latter can be
procured (Fig. 80).
If the tree is long enough, a piece is taken off at least nineteen feet
in length, so that the ends of the canoe may not be pieced out. A few
shorter pieces are wrapped up with the bundle for piecing out the sides.
The Roll
is taken on the back in an upright position, and is carried by a broad
band of cedar bark, passing under the lower end of the roll and around
in front of the breast and shoulders (Fig. 82).
[Illustration: Fig. 82.--Mode of carrying roll.]
Effects of Heat
It is laid where the sun will not shine on it and harden it. The first
effect of heat is to make it pliant. Long exposure to heat or to dry
atmosphere makes it hard and brittle.
The Woodwork
is as follows:
Five cross-bars of rock-maple (Figs. 83, 85, and 91). All the rest is
of white cedar, taken from the heart. The sap-wood absorbs water, and
would make the canoe too heavy, so it is rejected. The wood requires to
be straight and clear, and it is best to use perfectly green wood for
the ribs.
Two strips 16½ feet long, 1½ inch square, tapering toward either end,
the ends being notched (Fig. 83 A) is a section of the 16½ foot strip.
Each strip is mortised for the cross-bars (see Fig. 85). The lower
outside edge is bevelled off to receive the ends of the ribs.
The dimensions of the cross-bars (Fig. 85) are 12 x 2 x ½ inch, 22½ x 2
x ¾ inch, and 30 x 2 x 7/8 inch. The cross-bars are placed in position,
and the ends of the gunwales are tied with spruce roots after being
nailed together to prevent splitting. Each bar is held in place by a
peg of hard wood.
[Illustration: Figs. 83 and 83½.--Showing section of canoe amidship and
section and shape of gunwale and top view.]
For stitching and wrapping, long, slender roots of spruce, or sometimes
of elm, are peeled and split in two. Black ash splits are rarely used
except for repairing (Figs. 86, 87, 88).
Next we need (B, Fig. 83) two strips 1 or 1¼ inch by ½ inch, a little
over 19 feet long, to go outside of gunwales, and (C, Fig. 83) two top
strips, same length, 2 inches wide in middle, tapering to 1 inch at
either end, 1½ inch thick.
[Illustration: Fig. 86.
Fig. 87.
Fig. 88.
Fig. 89.
Fig. 90.
Fig. 91.
Fig. 84.
Fig. 85.
Details of sticking and framework of canoe.]
Ribs
About fifty in number (Figs. 91, 92) are split with the grain (F, Fig.
92), so that the heart side of the wood will be on the inner side when
the rib is bent. The wood bends better this way. They must be perfectly
straight-grained and free from knots. Ribs for the middle are four
inches wide, ribs for the ends about three inches wide (Fig. 91 and
G, Fig. 92), and are whittled down to a scant half an inch (Fig. 93).
Green wood is generally used, and before it has had any time to season.
The ribs may be softened by pouring hot water on them, and should be
bent in pairs to prevent breaking (Fig. 90). They are held in shape by
a band of cedar bark passed around outside.
The ribs are of importance in the shaping of the canoe. The sides bulge
out (Figs. 91, 92). The shape of the ribs determines the depth and
stability of the canoe.
Lining Strips
Other strips, an eighth of an inch thick, are carefully whittled out,
with straight edges. They are a little over eight feet long, and are
designed to be laid inside on the bark, edge to edge, between the bark
and the ribs. These strips lap an inch or two where they meet, in the
middle of the canoe, and are wider here than at the ends, owing to the
greater circumference of the canoe in the middle.
Seasoning
All the timber is carefully tied up before building and laid away. The
ribs are allowed to season perfectly, so that they will keep their
shape and not spring back.
[Illustration: Fig. 92.
Fig. 93.
Details of ribs, Indian knives and method of using them.]
The Bed
Next the bed is prepared on a level spot, if possible shaded from the
sun. A space is levelled about three and a half feet wide and a little
longer than the canoe. The surface is made perfectly smooth. The
middle is one or two inches higher than either end.
Building
The frame is laid exactly in the middle of the bed. A small post is
driven in the ground (Fig. 94), on which each end of the frame will
rest. Stakes, two or three feet long and about two inches in diameter,
are whittled flat on one side, and are driven with the flat side toward
the frame at the following points, leaving a space of about a quarter
of an inch between the stake and the frame (Fig. 94): One stake an inch
or two on either side of each cross-bar, and another stake half way
between each cross-bar. This makes eleven stakes on each side of the
frame. Twelve additional stakes are driven as follows: One pair facing
each other, at the end of the frame; another pair, an inch apart, about
six inches from the last pair, measuring toward the ends of the canoe;
and another pair, an inch apart, a foot from these. These last stakes
will be nine and a half feet from the middle of the frame, and nineteen
feet from the corresponding stakes at the other end. Next, these stakes
are all taken up, and the frame laid aside.
[Illustration: Fig. 94.--Showing stakes supporting bark sides; note
stones on the bottom.]
To Soften the Bark
Next the bark is unrolled. If it has laid until it has become a little
hardened, it is placed in the river or stream for a day or two. It is
spread out flat, and laid upon the bed with the gray or outside surface
up. The inside surface is placed downward, and becomes the outside of
the canoe.
The frame is replaced upon the bark, so that it will be at the same
distance from each side and end of the bed that it was before. At each
cross-bar boards are laid across the frame, and heavy stones are laid
upon them to keep the frame solid and immovable upon the bark (Fig. 85,
C). The edges of the bark are next bent up in a perpendicular position,
and in order that it may bend smoothly slits are made in the bark in an
outward direction, at right angles to the frame. A cut is made close
to the end of each cross-bar, and one half way between each bar, which
is generally sufficient to allow the bark to be bent up smoothly. As
the bark is bent up, the large stakes are slipped back in the holes
which they occupied before, and the tops of each opposite pair are
connected with a strip of cedar bark which keeps the stakes perfectly
perpendicular. At each end it is necessary to take out a small
triangular piece or gore, so that the edges may come together without
overlapping.
Next twenty-two pieces of cedar, one to two feet long, and about ½ or
¾ inch thick, are split out, and whittled thin and flat at one end.
This sharpened edge is inserted between the outside edge of the frame
and the bent-up bark, opposite each large stake. The other end of the
chisel-shaped piece is tightly tied to the large stake outside. By
means of the _large outside stake_ and the inside "_stake_," so-called,
the bark is held in a perfectly upright position; and in order to keep
the bent-up part more perfectly flat and smooth, the strips of cedar
are pushed in lengthwise between the stakes and the bark, on each side
of the bark, as shown in sectional views (Fig. 85, C, D).
Sometimes, in place of having temporary strips to go on outside of the
bark, the long outside strip (B, Fig. 83), is slipped in place instead.
It may now be seen if the bark is not wide enough. If it is not, the
sides must be pieced out with a narrow piece, cut in such a way that
the eyes in the bark will run in the same direction as those of the
large piece.
As a general rule, from the middle to the next bar the strip for
piecing is placed on the inside of the large piece, whose upper edge
has previously been trimmed straight, and the two are sewed together
by the stitch shown in Fig. 86, the spruce root being passed over
another root laid along the trimmed-off edge of the large piece of bark
to prevent the stitches from tearing out. From the second bar to the
end of the canoe, or as far as may be necessary, the strip is placed
outside the large piece, and from the second to the end bar is sewed as
in Fig. 87, and from the end bar to the end of the canoe is stitched as
in Fig. 88.
Next, the weights are taken off the frame, which is raised up as
follows, the bark remaining flat on the bed as before:
A post eight inches long is set up under each end of middle cross-bar
(Fig. 85, D), one end resting on the bark and the other end supporting
either end of the middle cross-bar. Another post, nine inches long,
is similarly placed under each end of the next cross-bar. Another,
twelve inches long, is placed under each end of the end cross-bar; and
another, sixteen and a half or seventeen inches, supports each end of
the frame.
As the posts are placed under each cross-bar, the weights are replaced;
and as these posts are higher at the ends than in the middle, the
proper curve is obtained for the gunwales. The temporary strips, that
have been placed outside the bent-up portion of the bark, are removed,
and the long outside strip before mentioned (B, Fig. 83) is slipped
in place between the outside stakes and the bark. This strip is next
nailed to the frame with wrought-iron nails that pass through the bark
and are clinched on the inside. This outside strip has taken exactly
the curve of the frame, but its upper edge, before nailing, was raised
so as to be out an eighth of an inch (or the thickness of the bark)
higher than the top surface of the frame, so that when the edges of the
bark have been bent down, and tacked flat to the frame, a level surface
will be presented, upon which the wide top strip will eventually be
nailed. Formerly the outer strip was bound to the frame with roots
every few inches, but now it is nailed.
The cross-bars are now lashed to the frame, having previously been
held only by a peg. The roots are passed through holes in the end of
the bars, around the outside strip (see right-hand side of Fig. 85). A
two-inch piece of the bark, which has been tacked down upon the frame,
is removed at the ends by the cross-bars, where the spruce roots are
to pass around, and the outside strip is cut away to a corresponding
extent, so that the roots, when wrapped around, will be flush with the
surface above.
[Illustration: Fig. 95.--Shows how to describe arc of circle for bow,
also ornamentation of winter bark.]
All the stakes are now removed, and laid away to be ready for the next
canoe that may be built, and the canoe taken upside down upon two
horses or benches, that will keep the craft clear of the ground.
The shape of the bow is now marked out, either by the eye or with
mechanical aid, according to the following rule: An arc of a circle,
with a radius of seventeen inches, is described (Fig. 95) having as a
centre a point shown in diagram. The bark is then cut away to this line.
Bow-piece
To stiffen the bow, a bow-piece of cedar, nearly three feet long
(Fig. 96), an inch and a half wide, and half an inch thick on one
edge, bevelled and rounded off toward the other edge, is needed. To
facilitate bending edgeways it is split into four or five sections
(as in Fig. 98) for about thirty inches. The end that remains unsplit
is notched on its thicker edge (Fig. 96) to receive the lower end
of an oval cedar board (Fig. 97) that is placed upright in the bow
underneath the tip of the frame. It is bent to correspond with the
curve of the boat, with the thin edge toward the outside of the circle,
and wrapped with twine, so that it will keep its shape. The bow-piece
is placed between the edges of the bark, which are then sewed together
by an over-and-over stitch, which passes through the bow-piece.
A pitch is prepared of rosin and grease, in such proportions that it
will neither readily crack in cold water nor melt in the sun. One or
the other ingredient is added until by test it is found just right.
Patching and Pitching
The canoe is now placed on the ground, right side up, and all holes are
covered on the inside with thin birch bark that is pasted down with hot
pitch. A strip of cloth is saturated with hot pitch, and pressed into
the cracks on either side of the bow-piece inside, between the bark and
the bow-piece (Fig. 99).
[Illustration: Figs. 97-100.--Show details of canoe bow.]
The thin longitudinal strips are next laid in position, edge to edge,
lapping several inches by the middle; they are whittled thin here so as
to lap evenly.
The ribs are next tightly driven in place, commencing at the small end
ones and working toward the middle. The end ribs may be two or three
inches apart, being closer toward the middle, where, in many cases,
they touch. Usually, they are about half an inch apart in the middle.
Each rib is driven into place with a square-ended stick and a mallet.
The ends are stuffed with shavings (Fig. 100 and "Section" Fig. 100½),
and an oval cedar board is put in the place formerly occupied by the
post that supported the end of the frame. The lower end rests in the
notch of the bow-piece, while the upper is cut with two shoulders that
fit underneath each side of the frame; Fig. 97 shows the cedar board.
[Illustration: Fig. 100½.
Fig. 101.
Canoe paddles.]
The top strip is next nailed on to the frame. Almost always a piece of
bark, a foot or more long, and nine or ten inches wide, is bent and
slipped under, between both top and side strips and the bark. The ends
of this piece hang down about three inches below the side strips. The
loose ends of the strips are bound together, as in diagram, and the
projecting tips of both strips and bow-piece are trimmed off close.
Next the canoe is turned upside down. If winter bark has been used,
the surface is moistened and the roughness scraped off with a knife.
Generally the red rough surface is left in the form of a decorative
pattern several inches wide around the upper edge (Fig. 95). Sometimes
the maker's name and date are left in this way.
Finally, a strip of stout canvas, three or four inches wide, is dipped
in the melted pitch and laid on the stitching at the ends, extending up
sufficiently far above the water-line. All cracks and seams are covered
with pitch, laid on with a small wooden paddle. While still soft, a wet
finger or the palm of the hand is rubbed over the pitch to smooth it
down before it hardens.
Leaks
Water is placed inside, and the leaky places marked, to be stopped when
dry. A can of rosin is usually carried in the canoe, and when a leak
occurs, the canoe is taken out of the water, the leak discovered by
sucking, the place dried with a torch of wood or birch bark, and the
pitch applied.
[Illustration: Fig. 101½.--From photograph of Indian building a
birch-bark canoe.]
Paddles are made of rock maple, and sometimes of birch and even cedar.
Bow paddles are usually longer and narrower in the blade than stern
paddles (Fig. 101).
Bottom Protection
Sometimes the canoe is shod with "shoes," or strips of cedar, laid
lengthwise and tied to the outside of the bark with ash splits that
pass through holes in the cedar shoes, and are brought up around the
sides of the canoe and tied to each cross-bar. This protects the bottom
of the boat from the sharp rocks that abound in some rapid streams.
All canoes are of the general shape of the one described, though this
is considerably varied in different localities, some being built with
high rolling bows, some slender, some wider, some nearly straight on
the bottom, others decidedly curved.
Besides the two paddles the canoe should carry a pole ten feet
long, made of a slender spruce, whittled so as to be about one and
three-fourths inch in diameter in the middle and smaller at either end,
and having at one end either a ring and a spike or else a pointed cap
of iron. The pole is used for propelling the canoe up swift streams.
This, says Tappan Adney, "is absolutely indispensable." The person
using the pole stands in one end, or nearer the middle if alone, and
pushes the canoe along close to the bank, so as to take advantage of
the eddies, guiding the canoe with one motion, only to be learned by
practice, and keeping the pole usually on the side next the bank. Where
the streams have rocky and pebbly bottoms poling is easy, but in muddy
or soft bottoms it is tiresome work; muddy bottoms, however, are not
usually found in rapid waters.
A Canvas Canoe
can be made by substituting canvas in the place of birch bark; and
if it is kept well painted it makes not only a durable but a very
beautiful boat. The writer once owned a canvas canoe that was at least
fifteen years old and still in good condition.
About six yards of ten-ounce cotton canvas, fifty inches wide, will
be sufficient to cover a canoe, and it will require two papers of
four-ounce copper tacks to secure the canvas on the frame.
The boat should be placed, deck down, upon two "horses" or wooden
supports, such as you see carpenters and builders use.
Fold the canvas lengthwise, so as to find the centre, then tack the
centre of one end of the cloth to top of bow-piece, or stem, using two
or three tacks to hold it securely. Stretch the cloth the length of the
boat, pull it taut, with the centre line of the canvas over the keel
line of the canoe, and tack the centre of the other end of the cloth to
the top of the stern-piece.
If care has been taken thus far, an equal portion of the covering will
lap the gunwale on each side of the boat.
Begin amidships and drive the tacks, about two inches apart, along the
gunwale and an inch below the deck (on the outside). Tack about two
feet on one side, pull the cloth tightly across, and tack it about
three feet on the other side. Continue to alternate, tacking on one
side and then the other, until finished.
With the hands and fingers knead the cloth so as to thicken or "full"
it where it would otherwise wrinkle, and it will be possible to stretch
the canvas without cutting it over the frame.
The cloth that projects beyond the gunwale may be used for the deck, or
it may be cut off after bringing it over and tacking upon the inside of
the gunwale, leaving the canoe open like a birch-bark.
To Paddle a Canoe
No one can expect to learn to paddle a canoe from a book, however
explicit the directions may be. There is only one way to learn to swim
and that is by going into the water and trying it, and the only proper
way to learn to paddle a canoe is to paddle one until you catch the
knack.
In the ordinary canoe, to be found at the summer watering places,
there are cane seats and they are always too high for safety. A
top load on any sort of a boat is always dangerous, and every real
canoeist seats his passengers on the bottom of the boat and kneels on
the bottom himself while paddling. Of course, one's knees will feel
more comfortable if there is some sort of a cushion under them, and a
passenger will be less liable to get wet if he has a pneumatic cushion
on which to sit. No expert canoeist paddles alternately first on the
one side, and then on the other; on the contrary, he takes pride in his
ability to keep his paddle continuously on either side that suits his
convenience.
The Indians of the North Woods are probably the best paddlers, and
from them we can take points in the art. It is from them we first
learned the use of the canoe, for our open canvas canoes of to-day are
practically modelled on the lines of the old birch-barks.
[Illustration: From photographs taken especially for this book by Mr.
F. K. Vreeland, Camp Fire Club of America.
Fig. 102.--Beginning of stroke. Paddle should not be reached farther
forward than this. It is immersed _edgewise_ (not point first) with a
slicing motion. Note the angle of paddle--rear face of blade turned
_outward_ to avoid tendency of canoe to turn. Staff of paddle is 6
inches too short. Left hand should be lower.
Fig. 102_a_.--A moment later. Right hand pushing forward, left hand
swinging down. Left hand should be lower on full-sized paddle.
Fig. 103.--Putting the power of the body in the stroke by bending
slightly forward. Left hand held stationary from now on, to act as
fulcrum. The power comes from the right arm and shoulders.
Fig. 103_a_.--The final effort, full weight of the body on the paddle.
The right arm and body are doing the work, the left arm (which is weak
at this point) acting as fulcrum. Note twist of the right wrist to give
blade the proper angle.
Fig. 104.--End of stroke. Arms relaxed and body straightening.
Fig. 104_a_.--Beginning of recovery. Paddle slides out of water gently.
Note that blade is perfectly flat on the surface. No steering action is
required. If the canoe tends to swerve it is because the _stroke_ was
not correct. Only a duffer _steers_ with his paddle after the stroke is
over. The left hand now moves forward, the right swinging out and back,
moving paddle forward horizontally.
Fig. 104_b_.--Turning to right. The latter part of a broad sweep
outward, away from the canoe. The blade is now being swept toward the
canoe, the left hand pulling in, the right pushing out. Position of
right wrist shows that blade has the opposite slant to that shown in
the straightaway stroke--_i. e._, the near face of blade is turned
_inward_. Blade leaves water with _outer_ edge up. Wake of canoe shows
sharpness of turn.
Fig. 104_c_.--Turning to left. The last motion of a stroke in which the
paddle is swept close to the canoe with the blade turned much farther
outward than in the straightaway stroke. At end of stroke blade is
given an outward sweep and leaves the water with the _inner_ edge up.
_This is not a steering_ or dragging motion. It is a powerful sweep of
the paddle. Note swirl in wake of canoe showing sharp turn.]
When you are standing upright and your paddle is in front of you with
the blade upon the ground, the handle should reach to your eye-brows.
(See Figs. 101, 102, 103, etc.)
Kneel with the paddle across the canoe and not farther forward than the
knees. Then dip the blade _edgewise_ (not point first) by raising the
upper hand without bending the elbow. Swing the paddle back, keeping
it close to the canoe, and give a little twist to the upper wrist to
set the paddle at the proper angle shown in the photos. The exact
angle depends upon the trim of the boat, the wind, etc., and must be
such that the canoe does not swerve _at any part_ of the stroke, but
travels straight ahead. The lower arm acts mainly as a fulcrum and
does not move back and forth more than a foot. The power comes from
the upper arm and shoulder, and the body bends forward as the weight
is thrown on the paddle. The stroke continues until the paddle slides
out of the water endwise, flat on the surface. Then for recovery the
blade is brought forward by a swing from the shoulder, _not_ lifting
it vertically, but swinging it horizontally with the blade parallel to
the water and the upper hand low. When it reaches a point opposite the
knee it is slid into the water again, edgewise, for another stroke. The
motion is a more or less rotary one, like stirring cake, not a simple
movement back and forth.
To Carry a Canoe
To pick up a canoe and carry it requires not only the knack but also
muscle, and no undeveloped boy should make the attempt, as he might
strain himself, with serious results. But there are plenty of young
men--good, husky fellows--who can learn to do this without any danger
of injury if they are taught _how_ to lift by a competent physical
instructor.
To pick up a canoe for a "carry," stoop over and grasp the middle brace
with the right arm extended, and a short hold with the left hand, as
shown in Fig. 105.
When you have a secure hold, hoist the canoe up on your legs, as shown
in Fig. 106. Without stopping the motion give her another boost, until
you have the canoe with the upper side above your head, as in Fig. 107.
In the diagram the paddles are not spread apart as far as they should
be. If the paddles are too close together a fall may break ones neck.
[Illustration: Fig. 106.]
[Illustration: Fig. 105.]
[Illustration: Fig. 107.]
[Illustration: Fig. 108.]
[Illustration: Fig. 109.]
[Illustration: Fig. 110.--Northern Quebec Indians crossing the "ladder
portage."]
Now turn the canoe over your head and slide your head between the
paddles (which are lashed to the spreaders, as shown in Fig. 105),
and twist your body around as you let the canoe settle down over your
head (Fig. 108). If you have a sweater or a coat, it will help your
shoulders by making a roll of it to serve as a pad under the paddles,
as in Fig. 109. I have seen an Indian carry a canoe in this manner on
a dog-trot over a five-mile portage without resting. I also have seen
Indians carry canoes over mountains, crossing by the celebrated Ladder
Portage in western Quebec, where the only means of scaling a cliff is
by ascending a ladder made of notched logs. For real canoe work it is
necessary that a man should know how to carry his craft across country
from one body of water to another. All through the Lakelands of Canada,
and also the Lake St. John district, up to Hudson Bay itself, the only
trails are by water, with portage across from one stream or lake to the
other.