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ANorth Canoe likely being used for a short voyage, given the lack of cargo or heavy clothing. The voyageur paddlers and steersman were nicknamed "porkeaters" because of this staple in their diet.



Peter Rindisbacher (1806-1834)
Two of the Companies Officers Traveling in a Canoe Made of Birchbark Manned by Canadians, c. 1823
Watercolour and pen and ink,
21.5 x 26.8 cm
National Gallery of Canada (23007)



Anne Brownell Jameson
The Canoe on Lake Huron, c. 1836-37
Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library (966-6L-35)

This freight canoe is either in passenger service or on an excursion. The vessel, riding high on the water, appears lightly loaded.


In this example, military officers are using either a North Canoe or a "Bastard" Canoe * to travel the Rideau Canal and River system, apparently hunting waterfowl along the way.

* a slightly shorter vessel than a Montreal Canoe; see the next page for more details.



Thomas Burrowes
Upper Rideau Lake; Canoe en Route to Bytown; Westport in the Distance, after 1832
Watercolour and pen and ink
Archives of Ontario (33)






Created: April 16, 1999. Last update: May 31, 2001
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