These were constructed from the trunk of a single tree, usually
white cedar. The bow and stern rose much higher than the gunwale, and
were adorned by grotesque figures excellently well carved and fitted
to pedestals cut in the solid wood of the canoe. The same method of
adornment may be seen among the aborigines of Alaska and other regions
of the North Pacific, to-day. The figures are made of small pieces of
wood neatly fitted together by inlaying and mortising, without any spike
of any kind. When one reflects that the Indians seen by Lewis and Clark
constructed their large canoes with very poor tools, it is impossible
to withhold one's admiration of their industry and patience. The journal
says:--
"Our admiration of their skill in these curious constructions was
increased by observing the very inadequate implements which they use.
These Indians possess very few axes, and the only tool they employ, from
felling the tree to the delicate workmanship of the images, is a chisel
made of an old file, about an inch or an inch and a half in width.
Even of this, too, they have not learned the proper management; for the
chisel is sometimes fixed in a large block of wood, and, being held in
the right hand, the block is pushed with the left, without the aid of a
mallet. But under all these disadvantages, their canoes, which one
would suppose to be the work of years, are made in a few weeks. A canoe,
however, is very highly prized, being in traffic an article of the
greatest value except a wife, and of equal value with her; so that
a lover generally gives a canoe to the father in exchange for his
daughter.
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