Besides the light canoes, we would have noticed the passing of
the dug-out, known as a pirogue. A boat of this kind was made by
hollowing out a log of cottonwood, tulip, sycamore or other tree
with an adz or by fire. One or both ends were left square. A very
large pirogue would have passed which was made by chopping out two
large trees, and using one tree for each side of the boat, filling
in the middle with planks, and then sealing the bottom so that it was
watertight. Such a boat would carry several tons of produce and as
many as twenty-five men.
There would be passing a few flattened boats with tapering ends known
as bateaux. A bateau was not as clumsy as the pirogue to handle in
the water. The very light bateau was known as a skiff. The sizes of
the bateaux varied, and each of the larger kinds used on the river
was able to carry fifty tons of cargo.