And, It May Be Added,
The Indians Of The North Pacific Coast To-Day Are Equally
Adept And Skilful.
The canoes of the present race of red
men do not essentially differ from those of the tribes
described
By Lewis and Clark, and who are now extinct.
The Indians then living above tide-water built canoes of smaller
size than those employed by the nations farther down the river.
The canoes of the Tillamooks and other tribes living on the seacoast
were upwards of fifty feet long, and would carry eight or ten
thousand pounds' weight, or twenty-five or thirty persons.
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.
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