Rafts, as we have already remarked, must undoubtedly have been the
beginning of navigation. But they have not, like many other species of
ancient craft, been altogether superseded by modern inventions. True,
we do not nowadays carry on war on rafts, but we still carry on trade
with them in many parts of the world. How the rafts of ancient times
were formed we cannot tell precisely, though we can easily guess; but
one thing we know, and that is, that the first improvement made in such
craft was the thrusting of a few thick planks down into the water, to
the depth of three or four feet, between the logs which composed the
raft. These acted the part of a keel, and, by pressing against the
water _side-ways_ when a _side_ wind blew, prevented the raft from
making much of what is called _leeway_--that is, drifting in the
direction in which the wind happened to be blowing. Some sorts of Dutch
vessels use lee-boards for this purpose at the present time.
The rafts now in use on the great rivers of America are exceedingly
curious in many respects. One peculiarity of many of them is that they
float _themselves_, not goods, to market--the pine logs of which they
are constructed being the marketable commodity. Some of these
"lumber-rafts," as they are called, are of great size; and as their
navigators have often to spend many weeks on them, slowly floating down
the rivers, they build huts or little cottages on them, cook their
provisions on board, and, in short, spend night and day in their
temporary floating-homes as comfortably as if they were on the land.
When these rafts approach a waterfall or a rapid, they unfasten the
lashings and allow several logs tied together to run down at a time.
After the rapid is passed, the loose logs are collected together, the
raft is reconstructed, and the voyage down to the sea continued. Of
course, huts are built only on rafts which navigate the largest rivers,
and are not thus liable to be taken to pieces.
When the logs reach the sea, they are shipped to various parts of the
world where timber is scarce. Large quantities are imported into Great
Britain from Canada and other parts of America.
A bold thing has occasionally been done. Instead of shipping the logs
in vessels, enterprising and ingenious men built them into a _solid
ship_, leaving a small space to serve as a cabin and a hold for
provisions; then, erecting masts, they hoisted sail, and in this
singular craft crossed the Atlantic. On arriving at port they broke up
their raft-ship and sold it.
The immense size of the rafts which are floated down some of the great
rivers of the world may be gathered from the following engraving, which
represents a raft on the Dwina, one of the great rivers of Russia.
Rafts, however, have not been confined to the purposes of traffic. They
have frequently been the means of saving the lives of shipwrecked
mariners; but too often they have been the means only of prolonging the
wretched existence of those who have ultimately perished at sea.
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Turning now from the consideration of rafts, we shall describe canoes.
Canoes must, we think, have been invented after rafts. They were
formed, as we have said, out of logs, of bark and of skins stretched
upon frames of wood. Of ancient canoes we can say little. But it is
probable that they were similar in most respects to the canoes used by
savage nations at the present time; for man, in his lowest or most
savage condition, is necessarily the same now that he was in ancient
times. We shall, therefore, take a glance at the canoes of savage
nations now existing, and thus shall form a good idea, we doubt not, of
what canoes were in days of old.
Simplest among them all, perhaps, are the canoes of the North American
Indians. These are built of thin laths and ribs of wood, and are
covered with the bark of the birch-tree. The sheets of bark are not a
quarter of an inch thick. Several sheets are used in the covering of
one canoe. They are sewed together with the long pliant roots of the
pine, and the seams are rendered tight with gum procured from the same
tree. So light are these canoes, that two men can carry on their
shoulders one capable of holding eight or ten men, with their
provisions, etcetera, for a voyage of many months. They are of various
sizes--from the hunting canoe which holds one Indian, to the largest
canoe that carries fourteen. They are propelled by short paddles
instead of oars.
Many and terrible are the risks run by _voyageurs_ who travel through
the lakes and rivers of North America in these canoes.
The following anecdote is related of a narrow escape made by some
fur-traders while descending one of the rivers in the backwoods of the
Hudson Bay Territory:--One fine evening in autumn, a north-canoe was
gliding swiftly down one of the noble bends in the river referred to.
New, beautiful, and ever-changing scenes were being constantly opened up
to the view of the _voyageurs_, whose plaintive and beautiful
canoe-songs were rolling over the waters. Suddenly the song ceased as
the distant roar of a waterfall struck their ears, and the steersmen--
for there are usually two, one in the bow and one in the stern--prepared
to land and "_make a portage_,"--that is, carry the canoe and lading
past the falls by land, and re-launch and re-load in the smooth water
below.
The approach to the landing-place at the head of the fall was somewhat
difficult, owing to a point of rock which projected into the stream in
the direction of the fall, and round which point it was necessary to
steer with some dexterity, in order to avoid being drawn into the strong
current. The fearless guides, however, had often passed the place in
former years in safety, and accordingly dashed at the point with
reckless indifference, their paddles flinging a circle of spray over
their heads as they changed from side to side with graceful but vigorous
rapidity. The swift stream carried them quickly round the point of
danger, and they had almost reached the quiet eddy near the
landing-place when the stem of the canoe was caught by the current,
which instantly whirled it out from the shore and carried it down stream
like an arrow. Another moment, and the gushing water dragged them to
the verge of the fall, which thundered and foamed among frightful chasms
and rocks many feet below. It was the work of a moment. The stern of
the canoe almost overhung the abyss, and the voyageurs plied their
paddles with the desperation of men who felt that their lives depended
on the exertions of the next awful minute. For a few seconds the canoe
remained stationary, and seemed to tremble on the brink of destruction--
the strength of the water and the power of the men being almost equally
balanced--then, inch by inch, it began slowly to ascend the stream. The
danger was past! A few nervous strokes, and the canoe shot out of the
current like an arrow, and floated in safety in the still water below
the point.
The whole thing, from beginning to end, occurred in a few seconds; but
who can describe or comprehend the tumultuous gush of feeling aroused
during those brief moments in the bosoms of the _voyageurs_? The
sudden, electric change from tranquil safety to the verge of what
appeared certain destruction--and then, deliverance! It was one of
those thrilling incidents which frequently occur to those who thread the
wildernesses of this world, and is little thought of by them beyond the
moment of danger; yet it was one of those solemn seasons, more or less
numerous in the history of all men, when the Almighty speaks to his
careless creatures in a voice that cannot be mistaken, however much it
may be slighted; awakening them, with a rough grasp, to behold the
slender cord that suspends them over the abyss of eternity.
The canoes used by the Eskimos who inhabit the Polar Regions are made of
a light framework of wood, which is covered entirely over with
seal-skin--a round hole being left in the centre, in which the Eskimo
sits. Round this hole there is a loose piece of skin, which is drawn up
by the man and fastened round his waist. The machine is thus completely
water-tight. No waves can dash into, although they can sweep over it;
and if by chance it should upset, the Eskimo can turn it and himself up
into the proper position by one dexterous sweep of his long,
double-bladed paddle. The paddle, which varies from ten to fifteen
feet, is simply a pole with a blade at each end. It is grasped in the
centre, and each end dipped alternately on either side of the _kayak_,
as this canoe is called. Eskimo kayaks are first-rate sea-boats. They
can face almost any sort of weather. They are extremely light, and are
propelled by the natives very swiftly. In these frail canoes the
natives of the Polar Regions pursue seals and whales, and even venture
to attack the walrus in his native element. The kayak is used
exclusively by the men. The oomiak, or women's canoe, is of much larger
and clumsier construction, somewhat like a boat. It is open above, and
can hold a large family of women and children. Like the kayak, it is a
framework of wood covered with seal-skin, and is propelled by means of
short paddles of the spoon form.
The famous "Rob Roy" canoe, which is now so much in vogue among boys and
young men of aquatic tendency, is constructed and managed on precisely
the same principles with the Eskimo kayak; the only difference between
the two being that the "Rob Roy" canoe is made of thin wood instead of
skin, and is altogether a more elegant vessel. An account of it will be
found in our chapter on "Boats." The South Sea islanders also use a
canoe which they propel with a double-bladed paddle similar to that of
the Eskimos. They are wonderfully expert and fearless in the management
of this canoe, as may be seen from the annexed woodcut.
In order to show that the paddle of the canoe is more natural to man
than the oar, we present a picture of the canoe used by the Indians of
the Amazon in South America. Here we see thar the savages of the south,
like their brethren of the north, sit with their faces to the bow and
urge their bark forward by neans of short paddles, without using the
gunwale as a fulcrum. The oar is decidedly a more modern and a more
scientific instrument than the paddle, but the latter is better suited
to some kinds of navigation than the former.
Very different indeed from the light canoes just described are the
canoes of the South Sea islanders. Some are large, and some are small;
some long, some short; a few elegant, a few clumsy; and one or two
peculiarly remarkable. Most of them are narrow, and liable to upset; in
order to prevent which catastrophe the natives have ingeniously, though
clumsily, contrived a sort of "_outrigger_," or plank, which they attach
to the side of the canoe to keep it upright. They also fasten two
canoes together to steady them.
One of these _double canoes_ is thus described by Cheever in his "Island
World of the Pacific:"--"A double canoe is composed of two single ones
of the same size placed parallel to each other, three or four feet
apart, and secured in their places by four or five pieces of wood,
curved just in the shape of a bit-stock. These are lashed to both
canoes with the strongest cinet, made of cocoa-nut fibre, so as to make
the two almost as much one as same of the double ferry-boats that ply
between Brooklyn and New York. A flattened arch is thus made by the
bow-like cross-pieces over the space between the canoes, upon which a
board or a couple of stout poles laid lengthwise constitute an elevated
platform for passengers and freight, while those who paddle and steer
sit in the bodies of the canoes at the sides. A slender mast, which may
be unstepped in a minute, rises from about the centre of this platform,
to give support to a very simple sail, now universally made of white
cotton cloth, but formerly of mats."
The double canoes belonging to the chiefs of the South Sea islanders are
the largest,--some of them being nearly seventy feet long, yet they are
each only about two feet wide and three or four feet deep. The sterns
are remarkably high--fifteen or eighteen feet above the water.
The war canoes are also large and compactly built; the stern being low
and covered, so as to afford shelter from stones and darts. A rude
imitation of a head or some grotesque figure is usually carved on the
stern; while the stem is elevated, curved like the neck of a swan, and
terminates frequently in the carved figure of a bird's head. These
canoes are capable of holding fifty warriors. Captain Cook describes
some as being one hundred and eight feet long. All of them, whether
single or double, mercantile or war canoes, are propelled by paddles,
the men sitting with their faces in the direction in which they are
going.
As may be supposed, these canoes are often upset in rough weather; but
as the South Sea islanders are expert swimmers, they generally manage to
right their canoes and scramble into them again. Their only fear on
such occasions is being attacked by sharks. Ellis, in his interesting
book, "Polynesian Researches," relates an instance of this kind of
attack which was made upon a number of chiefs and people--about
thirty-two--who were passing from one island to another in a large
double canoe:--"They were overtaken by a tempest, the violence of which
tore their canoes from the horizontal spars by which they were united.
It was in vain for them to endeavour to place them upright again, or to
empty out the water, for they could not prevent their incessant
overturning. As their only resource, they collected the scattered spars
and boards, and constructed a raft, on which they hoped they might drift
to land. The weight of the whole number who were collected on the raft
was so great as to sink it so far below the surface that they stood
above their knees in water. They made very little progress, and soon
became exhausted by fatigue and hunger. In this condition they were
attacked by a number of sharks. Destitute of a knife or any other
weapon of defence, they fell an easy prey to these rapacious monsters.
One after another was seized and devoured, or carried away by them, and
the survivors, who with dreadful anguish beheld their companions thus
destroyed, saw the number of their assailants apparently increasing, as
each body was carried off until only two or three remained.
"The raft, thus lightened of its load, rose to the surface of the water,
and placed them beyond the reach of the voracious jaws of their
relentless destroyers. The tide and current soon carried them to the
shore, where they landed to tell the melancholy fate of their
fellow-voyagers."