ty in large
pieces, and is sewed together with the tough and slender roots of the
pine-tree. La Hontan relates a characteristic story respecting the birch
bark: "I remember I have seen, in a certain library in France, a
manuscript of the Gospel of St. Matthew, written in Greek upon this sort
of bark; and which is yet more surprising, I was there told that it had
been written above a thousand years; and, at the same time, I dare swear
that it was the genuine birch bark of New France, which, in all
appearance, was not then discovered."--La Hontan, in Pinkerton, vol.
xiii., p. 361.

Mr. Weld says that "the bark resembles in some degree that of the
cork-tree, but it is of a closer grain, and also much more pliable, for
it admits of being rolled up the same as a piece of cloth. The Indians
of this part of the country always carry large rolls of it in their
canoes when they go on a hunting party, for the purpose of making
temporary huts. The bark is spread on small poles over their heads, and
fastened with strips of elm bark, which is remarkably tough, to stakes,
so as to form walls on the sides."--Weld, p. 311.]

[Footnote 174: See Appendix, No. XXVIII. (see Vol II)]

[Footnote 175: See Appendix, No. XXIX. (see Vol II)]

[Footnote 176: The ginseng belongs to the small order Araliaceae. The
botanical name is Panax quinquefolium: it was called Aureliana
Canadensis by Lafitau, who was the first to bring it from Canada to
France.--(Charlevoix, tom. iv., p. 309, fig. 13.) It was discovered in
the forests of Canada in 1718. It is herbaceous, scarcely a foot and a
half in height, and toward the upper part of the stem arise three
quinate-digitate leaves, from the center of which springs the flower
stalk. The root is fusiform and fleshy, and is the part most valued. We
are informed that among the Chinese many volumes have been written upon
its virtues; and that, besides the name already mentioned, it is known
by several others, expressive of the high estimation in which it is
universally held throughout the Celestial Empire: two of these
appellations are, 'the pure spirit of the earth,' and 'the plant that
gives immortality.' An ounce of ginseng bears the surprising price of
seven or eight ounces of silver at Pekin. When the French botanists in
Canada first saw a figure of it, they remembered to have seen a similar
plant in this country. They were confirmed in their conjecture by
considering that several settlements in Canada lie