a sort of Indian boat formed of the trunk of a tree hollowed, and sometimes of several pieces of the bark put together. Canoes are of various sizes, according to the uses for which they are designed. The largest are made of the cotton tree; and some of them will carry from twenty to thirty hogsheads of sugar or molasses. Others are made to carry sail, and for this purpose are steeped in water till they become pliant, after which their sides are extended, and strong beams placed between them, on which a deck is laid. The smaller kinds rarely carry sail, unless when going before the wind; their sails are made of a sort of short silk grass or rushes. They are commonly rowed with paddles, which are worked in the water perpendicularly. The small canoes are very narrow, having only breadth enough for one person, and length for seven or eight. The Indians are very expert in managing their paddles, and adjusting their bodies so as to balance their canoes, which are extremely light, and liable to be overturned. The American Indians, when their progress is impeded by a waterfall or a shallow, or in crossing the land from one river to another, carry their canoes on their heads till they arrive at a place where they can launch them again. Some nations have small vessels under the name of canoes, which differ considerably from the above, as the inhabitants of Greenland, Hudson's Bay, Otaheite, and other places.