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Writing: American Birchbark Boats

American Birchbark Boats, § 2

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§. 2.

The natives of North America have from time immemorial made use of birchbark boats. Subsequently the French, who there possess those areas where birch in particular is found in abundance, have begun to use them and that with incredible convenience in all their commerce and communications. They are made in the following way:

One strips the bark off large and branchless birches in pieces as long, whenever that is possible, as the boat is intended to be; for preferably the bottom should not be pieced together, though in the case of the larger boats that is hardly feasible. The edges of the birchbark are folded over twice and sometimes four times where it is to be pieced together, then as many sheets of bark as are required are sewn together, overlapping each other, with fine and split roots of spruce fir, so that the flat side of the filaments lies in towards the fold itself, which is made on the outer side of the bark and will come to lie on the inside of the boat. The birchbark is then laid on level ground, with that side underneath or outwards that faced inward on the trees, and one then lays stones on the bark in the shape that the bottom of the boat is to take. The edges of the bark are raised up and poles are driven into the ground on either side arranged so that the bark is forced into the shape of a boat that tapers off equally at both ends. One then covers the bark on the inside with quite thin strakes made from a tree called thuja, or, in French, white cedar, as wide as one wishes, but of the thickness of split shingles, from a tenth of an inch to half of that. These are laid along the sides quite close to each other, easily kept in place temporarily on the sides by means of two or three provisionally placed bows, until the ribs are laid across the strakes, which in the middle of the boat ought to be bent in a semi-circle but more sharply towards the ends, as the boat becomes progressively narrower. The ribs are also made of thuja, usually three inches wide and half an inch thick and are placed at intervals of between one and two inches from each other, all extending with their ends up to the gunwale, which is made as follows: One whittles two quite narrow poles for each of the gunwales, flat on one side, which are placed with their flat side facing each other on either side of the birchbark, which is then folded double towards the outside to a width of a hand’s breadth. The ends of the ribs, which should rise up between those wooden poles, are made fairly pointed and flat, so that they do not obstruct the sewing together, and one then takes filaments of spruce roots, such as those referred to above, and binds the gunwale poles to the double-folded birchbark, so that it leaves intervals of no more than about half an inch and that each loop goes through the bark. One then makes thwarts, also of thuja, two inches wide and one inch thick, squared off and somewhat wider toward the ends. At each end of the thwarts three or four holes are bored cross-wise, through which they are sewn on to the gunwale four or five quarters of an ell from each other, so that the boat will not slacken. The birchbark, which is still open at the ends of the boat, is cut somewhat obliquely from below, so that the stems will not become quite square. Then the strakes that extend along the boat are also trimmed, to make them end evenly and be somewhat shorter than the birchbark; for now one folds the edges of the bark inward again and first sews together the ends themselves, which become the extreme parts of the stems, as if with overlapping stitches. Then about half a quarter of an ell further in from there, another seam is made, parallel to the former, which draws the strakes together from both sides and makes the stems, to a width of a hand’s breadth, become quite thin and rigid. The stems are then thoroughly covered with pitch or resin, and it makes no difference which stem one has ahead when rowing, as both are equally pointed and equally high, and generally two or three quarter ells higher than the gunwale in the middle. At each stem a board a quarter of an ell wide stands upright across the boat, in order to preserve the stems from being knocked apart by feet, oars or other things. The gunwales are lined with two-inch wide and half an inch thick strakes of thuja, which are fastened to the gunwale poles either with wooden pegs or nails and make the gunwales quite level. Along the bottom of the boat a loose board may also be laid, in which an aperture is made for the mast, which can conveniently lean against one of the thwarts and be fastened to it when one wishes to use a sail. Finally, all the seams on the outside of the bottom are well covered with pitch or resin, so that the water will not penetrate through the seams; for which reason one should also, when using it, carefully check that the pitch has not been rubbed off or melted and should provide oneself with a box of pitch, of which one can melt some onto the leaking spot, when the boat has to be carried ashore and turned upside down. It is also advisable to be provided with a few sheets of birchbark, so that in case a log or rock should tear a hole in the bottom one would then have material ready to patch the hole with.

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