were tightly stretched. The modern painted
canvas canoe, built on Indian lines, was a natural development of this
idea. The Indian also used, and the African still uses, the "dug-out,"
made from a tree hollowed by fire after the manner of Robinson Crusoe.
Many of these are of considerable size and carrying capacity; one in the
New York Natural History Museum from Queen Charlotte's Island is 63 ft.
long, 8 ft. 3 in. wide, and 5 ft. deep, cut from a single log. The "war
canoe" of paddling races is its modern successor. In the islands of the
Pacific primitive canoes are wonderfully handled by the natives, who
make long sea voyages in them, often stiffening them by attaching
another hull (see CATAMARAN).

In the earlier part of the 19th century, what was known as a "canoe" in
England was the short covered-in craft, with a "well" for the paddler to
sit in, which was popularly used for short river practice; and this type
still survives. But the sport of canoeing in any real sense dates from
1865, when John MacGregor (q.v.) designed the canoe "Rob Roy" for long
journeys by water, using both double-bladed paddle and sails, yet light
enough (about 70 lb) to be carried over land. The general type of this
canoe is built of oak with a cedar deck; the length is from 12 ft. to
15 ft., the beam from 26 in. to 30 in., the depth 10 in. to 16 in. The
paddle is 7 ft. long and 6 in. wide in the blade, the canoeist sits low
in a cockpit, and in paddling dips the blades first on one side and then
the other. The rig is generally yawl.

In 1866 the Royal Canoe Club was formed in England, and the prince of
Wales (afterwards Edward VII.) became commodore. Its headquarters are at
Kingston-on-Thames and it is still the leading organization. There is
also the British Canoe Association, devoted to cruising. After the
English canoes were seen in Paris at the Exhibition of 1867, others like
them were built in France. Branches and clubs were formed also at the
English universities, and in Liverpool, Hull, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The
New York Canoe Club was founded in 1871. One member of the Royal Canoe
Club crossed the English Channel in his canoe, another the Irish Channel
from Scotland to Ireland, and many rivers were explored in inaccessible
parts, like the Jordan, the Kishon, and the Abana and the Pharpar at
Damascus, as well as the Lake Menzaleh in the Delta of the Nile, and the
Lake of Galilee and Waters of Merom in Syria.

W. Baden Powell modi