Local Names of Parts of Cabin
| spruce | épinette |
| balsam | sapin |
| to chop | boucher, Figs. [113] and [122] |
| to cut | couper |
| logs | les bois or les billots, A, A, A, Figs. [242], [245], also [119], [126], etc. |
| square | carré |
| door | porte, Figs. [242], [243] |
| window | châssis, [Fig. 243] |
| window-glass | les vitres, 242 |
| the joist on which the floor is laid | les traverses, [Fig. 49], B, B, B, B, [Fig. 244] |
| the floor itself | plancher |
| the purlins, that is, the two big logs used to support the roof | les poudres, C, C, [Fig. 244] |
| the roof | couverture, [Fig. 242] |
| bark | écorce |
| birch bark | bouleau |
| the poles put on a birch-bark roof to keep the bark flat | les péches, Figs. [41], [234], [242] |
| the hollow half-logs sometimes used like tiling on a roof | les auges, [Fig. 246] |
| piazza, porch, front stoop, veranda | galerie, Figs. [236], [237], and [241] |
The only thing that needs explanation is the squaring of the round logs of the cabin. For instance, instead of leaving the logs absolutely round and untouched inside the camp, after the logs are placed, they are squared off so as to leave a flat surface ([Fig. 125]). They call this the carréage. I do not know whether this is a local name or whether it is an expression peculiar to that Quebec section of Canada or whether it is simply a corruption of better French. It is derived from the word carrer, to square.
[Fig. 242.] [Fig. 243.] [Fig. 244.] [Fig. 245.] [Fig. 246.] [Fig. 247.]
Showing construction of the common Canadian log house.
The perspective drawings (Figs. [242] and [243]) show views of the cabin we call the Kanuck. The pen is built exactly as it is built in the houses already described. The windows are placed where the builder desires, as is also the doorway, but when the side-plate logs, that is
Les Traverses
or top side logs, are put in place, then the traverses logs (B, B, B, B, [Fig. 244]) are laid across the pen from one side-plate to the other, their ends resting on top of the side-plates over the traverses logs, the two purlins