A number of different types of canoes are in use on the north coast, constructed out of one or more pieces of bark. In the Gulf country, a piece of bark is freshly detached from a tree, folded along its length, and laid upon the ground in a horizontal position. The ends are then heated, to render them pliable, and securely clamped between two upright stakes, and tied closely together above and below the folded sheet. Stakes of a length equal to that of the required width of the craft are next propped from side to side, to give the canoe its shape, and the ends trimmed on either side with a sharp stone-knife or fragment of shell. The bottom corners are usually bevelled or rounded off. The edges are finally held together by sewing them with strips of cane. Long, thin saplings, stitched along the inner top edges of both sides, act as gunwales and considerably strengthen the structure. One or two ties of lawyer cane are stretched from side to side to prevent the bark from bulging in the centre. When afloat, a native squats low in the canoe near the stern and makes good headway by paddling with a small, oblong piece of bark, first on one side and then on the other.
In some cases, the bark sides are stiffened by poking flexible U-shaped hoops under the saplings which form the gunwales; and in others the sides are kept in position by a number of such hoops, together with stretchers and ties, without any special gunwale at all.
The Melville and Bathurst Islanders use large bark canoes up to nearly twenty feet long, which they construct after the following principle: A single sheet of bark is cut from either the woollybutt (Eucalyptus miniata) or the stringybark (E. tetradonta) by chopping through it circumferentially at two heights from the ground, the distance between which represents the required length of the canoe that is to be. Slitting this piece once vertically for the whole length, it is removed by forcing the edge of a chisel-pointed stake under the bark and levering it off. The outer surface of this piece of bark is rough and becomes the inside of the canoe. Transverse cuts are made about two feet from each end, and half the thickness of the bark removed with a sharp bivalve shell (Cyrena). The ends, which have by this treatment become pliable, are further softened by holding them over a fire. The sheet is folded lengthwise along its middle and clamped at its ends with stakes rammed vertically into the ground. The bottom corner of the fold is bevelled off by one or two sloping cuts, along which the two pieces are sewn together with close, overcast stitches; then the pieces are stitched together horizontally at the top corner, for a distance of three or four inches. Thus secured, an angular or curved piece is cut away from the bark, lying between the two sewn corners, in imitation of a fish-tail, and neatly laced together with strips of the lawyer vine. Holes are previously drilled through the bark with an awl made out of the leg-bone of a wallaby. The joints are made secure by plastering them with wild bees’ wax, and the corners are caulked with plastic clay and fibre or resin. Along the top, inner edges of the canoe, on both sides, thin, straight poles are lashed with “run on” stitches. These, however, do not extend the whole length of the canoe, and, being straight, do not enclose the stern and bow of the craft. In other respects the structure is much the same as that in vogue in the Gulf of Carpentaria country.
When not in use, the canoes are “housed” on a level piece of ground under the overhanging branches of a banyan or other shady tree. They are laid in a normal, upright position (not inverted), and are kept so by short pieces of timber, which are propped against the sides. The bark thus dries in the required shape and does not become lopsided. Each canoe has its recognized place. When a dense growth of mangroves skirts the foreshore, a regular approach to the water is kept clear by cutting away the trees as they grow up. The paddles are laid within the canoes.
When the occasion demands it, quite a large number of natives may be carried in a canoe, but usually, when on a simple turtle or dugong hunting expedition, two persons only man the craft. The boatmen, while propelling the canoe, squat with their buttocks resting upon the heels, and with their knees pressed against the vessel’s sides. The weight of the bodies being thus well within, the stability of the canoe is considerably increased.
Although these canoes are mostly used for navigating the various rivers and estuaries of Melville and Bathurst Islands, and especially Apsley Straits, occasionally, when wind and weather are favourable, the natives venture far out to sea, and not infrequently do they make the journey across to the mainland, some forty or fifty miles away, where in former days they carried on a bitter warfare with the Larrekiya and other tribes.
It is at times imperative that a canoe be attached to a hunting or warring party, which is travelling overland and later might want to drift down, or paddle up, a river or inlet to reach its destination. Under such circumstances, six or eight men carry the craft upon their shoulders as they walk alternately left and right of it.
Paddles are made of hard wood, having a single, well-shaped blade and a rounded handle. The edges of the blade are parallel, or taper slightly towards the end, which is either square or rounded. They are from three to five feet in length. When rowing, the natives clasp the handle with both hands and dip the blade on one side or the other, just as the steering requires it.
Certain north-eastern tribes of Queensland used to make their canoes of two or three sheets of bark. In the first instance the sheets would be stitched along the keel, and in the second a lenticular or oval piece was inserted, which acted as a flat bottom.
Dug-outs are found all along the north coast, but it is very probable that they are of foreign origin, presumably Melanesian or Polynesian. A suitable tree having been felled, its ends are shaped and the inside chopped, gouged, and burned out, so that only the outer walls remain. Some very big boats of this description were seen in use among the Larrekiya, and their seaworthiness was proved time after time.