29. How to Build a Bark Canoe
BY PETER KALM (1749)[75]
ABOUT two o'clock this afternoon we arrived at Fort Anne. We
stayed here all this day, and the next, in order to make a new boat of
bark, because there was no possibility of going down the river without
it.
The making of our boat took up half yesterday, and all this
day. To make such a boat, they pick out a thick tall elm, with a smooth
bark, and with as few branches as possible. This tree is cut down, and
great care is taken to prevent the bark from being hurt by falling
against other trees, or against the ground. For this reason some people
do not cut down the trees, but climb to the top of them, split the bark,
and strip it off, which was the method our carpenter took. The bark is
split on one side, in a straight line along the tree, as long as the boat is
intended to be; at the same time, the bark is carefully cut off a little
way on both sides of the slit, that it may more easily separate.
The bark is then peeled off very carefully, and particular care
is taken not to make any holes in it; this is easy when the sap is in the
trees, and at other seasons the tree is heated by the fire, for that
purpose. The bark thus stripped off is spread on the ground, in a
smooth place, turning the inside downwards, and the rough outside
upwards; and to stretch it better, some logs of wood or stones are
carefully put on it, which press it down. Then the sides of the bark are
gently bent upwards, in order to form the sides of the boat; some sticks
are then fixed into the ground, at
the distance of three or four feet from each other, in the curved line,
which the sides of the boat are intended to make, supporting the bark
intended for the sides. The sides of the bark are then bent in the form
which the boat is to have, and according to that form the sticks are
either put nearer or further off.
The ribs of the boat are made of thick branches of hickory,
which are tough and pliable. They are cut into several flat pieces, about
an inch thick, and bent into the form which the ribs require, according
to their places in the broader or narrower part of the boat. When thus
bent, they are put across the boat, upon the back, or its bottom, pretty
close, about ten inches from each other.
The upper edge on each side of the boat is made of two thin
poles, of the length of the boat, which are put close together, on the
side of the boat, and are flat, where they are to be joined. The edge of
the bark is put between these two poles, and sewed up with threads,
mouse-wood bark, or other tough bark, or with roots.
But before it is thus sewed up, the ends of the ribs are likewise
put between the two poles on each side, taking care to keep them at
some distance from each other. After that is done, the poles are sewed
together, and when bent properly, both their ends join at each end of
the boat, where they are tied together with ropes. To prevent the
widening of the boat at the top, three or four bands are put across it,
from one edge to the other, at the distance of thirty or forty inches from
each other.
These bands are commonly made of hickory, on account of its
toughness and flexibility, and have a good length. The ends are put
through the bark
on both sides, just below the poles which make the edges; they are bent
up above those poles and twisted round the middle part of the bands,
where they are carefully tied by ropes. As the bark at the two ends of
the boat cannot be put so close together as to keep the water out, the
crevices are stopped up with the crushed or pounded bark of the red
elm. Some pieces
of bark are put upon the ribs in the boat, without which the foot would
easily wear through the thin and weak bark below, which forms the
bottom of the boat.
For better security some thin boards are commonly laid at the
bottom, which may be trod upon with more safety. The side of the bark
which has been upon the wood, thus becomes the outside of the boat,
because
it is smooth and slippery, and cuts the water more easily than the other.
The building of these boats is not always quick; for sometimes it
happens that after peeling the bark off an elm, and carefully examining
it, it is found pierced with holes and splits, or it is too thin to venture
one's life in.
In such a case another elm must be looked for; and it
sometimes happens that several elms must be stripped of their bark,
before one is found fit for a boat. That which we made was big enough
to bear four persons, with our baggage, which weighed somewhat more
than a man.
All possible care must be taken in rowing on the rivers and
lakes of these parts with a boat of bark. For as the rivers, and even the
lakes, contain numbers of broken trees, which are commonly hidden
under the water, the boat may easily run against a sharp branch. This
would tear half the boat away, if you rowed on very fast. The people in
it would be in great danger, where the water is very deep, especially if
such a branch held the boat.
To get into such a dangerous boat must be done with great
care, and for the greater safety, without shoes. For with the shoes on,
and still more with a sudden leap into the boat, the heels may easily
pierce through the bottom of the boat. This might sometimes be
attended with very disagreeable circumstances, especially when the
boat is near a rock, and close to a sudden depth of water; and such
places are common in the lakes and rivers here.
[[75]]
The birchbark canoe, the most ingenious and
most beautiful of the Indian's inventions, was so broad that it could
float in shallow streams, and so light that one man could easily carry it
from one stream across the portage to the next stream.
