A later canoe built on the St. Lawrence about 1890, probably near Rivière de Loup, is shown above. It is 16 feet 11 inches long overall, the beam over the gunwales is 33½ inches and inside it is 31 inches, the curve of the bilge being carried up to the gunwales. The bottom is flat for only a short width. The depth amidships is 11½ inches and the height of the ends is 20 inches, with 1 inch of rocker in the last two feet of length. The sheer is a long fair sweep without any quick upward lift near the ends. The headboards are very narrow and belly only very slightly toward the ends. The end profile illustrates the short radii and straight line form that marked many of the last Malecite birch-bark canoes of the St. Lawrence Valley. It is possible that the end-form was copied from the white man's St. Lawrence skiff, which usually had ends that were straight and nearly vertical, with a sharp turn into the keel.
Figure 70
Modern (1895) Malecite 2½-Fathom St. John River Canoe, with low ends and moderate sheer, developed late in the 19th century.
Since a Malecite canoe of the form having rounded low ends was the subject used to describe the construction of a birch-bark canoe in Chapter 3 (see p. [36]), there is no need to discuss all the details here. There was some variety in the sewing and lashing used in Malecite canoes; the combination of cross and spiral stitches in the ends and the use of a batten and the over-and-over stitch in the side panels are, of course, very common in these canoes. The occasional use of other stitches in the side panels and even in the gores would probably be normal, since individual preferences in such details were not controlled by a narrow tribal practice.
The Malecite are known to have hauled their canoes overland in the early spring, before the snow was entirely gone, by mounting the canoe on two sleds or toboggans in tandem, binding the canoe to each. This was done as late as the 1890's for early spring muskrat hunts. The Malecite also fitted their river canoes with outside protection when much running of rapids or "quick water" work was done. This protection consisted of two sets of battens (see p. [80]), each set being made up of five or six thin splints of cedar about ⅜ inch thick and 3 inches wide, tapering to 2 or 1½ inches at one end. These were held together by four strips of basket ash, bark cord, or rawhide. Each cord was passed through holes or slits made edgewise through each splint. The cords were located so that when the splints were placed on the bottom of the canoe, the cords could be tied at the thwarts. The tapered ends of the splints were at the ends of the canoe; the butts of the two sets being lapped amidships with the lap toward the stern. This formed a wooden sheathing, outside the bottom, to protect the bark from rocks and snags or floating ice that might be met in rapids and small streams. The fitting was used also by the Micmac and Ojibway; it is not known whether this was an Indian or European invention. The French canoemen called it barre d'abordage and the Malecite, P's-ta' k'n; the English woodsmen called the fitting "canoe shoes."
Figure 71
Malecite Canoe Details, Gear, and Gunwale Decorations.
The Malecite paddle was of various forms, as illustrated in figures 71 and 72, the predominant form being very similar to the paddle now used with canvas "Indian" canoes. The total length of the blade was usually about 28 to 30 inches; at 10 or 11 inches from the tip it was about 2½ inches wide. The handle was about 36 inches long. At just above the blade it was 1¼ inches wide and 1 inch thick. The handle was not parallel-sided. Near the top it widened gradually to about 2¼ inches at 2½ inches from the top; here the cross-grip was formed. The thickness of the handle reduced gradually from that given for just above the top of the blade to about ½ inch at about 5 inches below the cross-grip, and widened again to ⅝ inch at the point where the cross-grip was formed. The blade was ridged down its center. The lower end was rounded and the lower half of the blade was approximately half an ellipse in shape. The Passamaquoddy blade had its wide point within 7 inches of the lower tip, where it was about 6 inches wide. The handle was about 1⅛ inches in diameter just above the blade, and then tapered in thickness until it first became oval and then flat in cross section. The width remained nearly constant to a point within 12 to 16 inches of the cross-grip, then gradually widened to nearly 3 inches at the top. The blade was 33 to 36 inches long and the whole paddle somewhere between 73 and 76 inches long. The cross-grips were sometimes round, at other times they were merely worked off in an oval shape to fit the upper hand. The usual width of the cross-grip was just under 3 inches.