e
accuracy of their judgment, and the quickness of their movements,
appeared ever to do exactly the right thing at the right moment. As the
result, I came at length to feel as much at home in a canoe as anywhere
else, and with God's blessing was permitted to make many long trips to
those who could not be reached in any other way, except by dog-trains in
winter.

Good canoe-makers are not many, and so really good canoes are always in
demand.

Frail and light as this Indian craft may be, there is a great deal of
skill and ingenuity required in its construction.

Great care is requisite in taking the bark from the tree. A long
incision is first made longitudinally in the trunk of the tree. Then,
from this cut, the Indian begins, and with his keen knife gradually
peels off the whole of the bark, as high up as his incision went, in one
large piece or sheet. And even now that he has safely got it off the
tree, the greatest care is necessary in handling it, as it will split or
crack very easily. Cedar is preferred for the woodwork, and when it can
possibly be obtained, is always used. But in the section of the country
where I lived, as we were north of the cedar limit, the canoe-makers
used pieces of the spruce tree, split very thin, as the best substitute
for cedar that our country afforded.

All the sewing of the pieces of birch bark together, and the fastening
of the whole to the outer frame, is done with the long slender roots of
the balsam or larch trees, which are soaked and rubbed until they are as
flexible as narrow strips of leather. When all the sewing is done, the
many narrow limber pieces of spruce are crowded into their places,
giving the whole canoe its requisite proportions and strength. Then the
seams and weak spots are well covered over with melted pitch, which the
Indians obtain from the spruce and balsam trees.

Great care is taken to make the canoe watertight. To accomplish this,
the boat is often swung between trees and filled with water. Every
place where the slightest leak is discovered is marked, and, when the
canoe is emptied, is carefully attended to.

Canoes vary in style and size. Each tribe using them has its own
patterns, and it was to me an ever interesting sight, to observe how
admirably suited to the character of the lakes and rivers were the
canoes of each tribe or district.

The finest and largest canoes were those formerly made by the Lake
Superior Indians. Living on the