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Show i9oo] INDIAN INDUSTRIES 237 and the thongs which draw the sledge are attached by a toggle which can readily be cast off. travel by water saves much time and energy, and as a consequence navigation is practised by every known people. The typical boat of the American Indian is undoubtedly the bark canoe, found at its best in the northeast, where the necessary materials are plentiful and the demand for a portable craft is greatest. \ This canoe is built of several pieces of bark stretched over a frame of ribs and sewn together, as well as rendered water- proof at the seams with pitch. j ^ It is not known whether the Eskimo skin canoe is a derivation of the bark canoe or not, but it would seem plausible that he carried the notion with him from his more southern home, and met the difficulty of lack of bark by utilizing the skins, of which he had great plenty. Hie " umiak," or women's boat, among the Eskimo is a large, open affair, built somewhat on the lines of an Indian canoe, and is the craft which carries the women, children, and household effects whenever the sea is open. The " kayak," or hunting- canoe, which is strictly the man's type, is entirely covered with skin, except for the small opening where the paddler sits. Another type of skin boat is the coracle, or " bull boat," made by certain tribes of the plains and mentioned in the chapter descriptive of that group. 1 " It was constructed of a buffalo hide stretched over a 1 See above, chap. iz. |
