Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/180

HOW CANOES ARE PADDLED. 169 while the skin is new and pliable and can be shaped in most any manner wished. A canoe thus made would not weigh to exceed forty pounds, and by rea- son of the direction being opposite to the way the hair lays, it was remarkable how the duck-like bark sped over the water; in fact, the hair resembled the feathers on a duck, and tlae oil which remained in the skin and hair made it glide through the water without friction. Uncle Sam's book says on page 202: "The pad- dles employed are the same as for the birch canoe, the blade and handle being each about two feet in length. When a single oarsman uses a canoe he al- ways kneels at the stern, etc. The oarsman places , a small bunch of grass on the bottom, on this he kneels and paddles on one side, readily keeping the canoe in a straight course by following each stroke with a slight upward turn, thus compensating for the divergence of the bow from a true course." Again our Uncle Sam; "Generally the top of the handle has two projecting pieces resembling the letter T, giving the oarsman an easy and effective means of us- ing the paddle." Is this not the first time you ever heard that our Indians propeUed a canoe by dipping in one side only? There is aothing wonderful about that, for the Venetians in their gondolas use one oar on one side only and make fast time; but although sculls and oars have been used, upon attempting to operate a gondola on the Grand Canal it v<i.s dis- covered it took another class of experience, for the prow of the boat would insist upon going the wrong way.