CANOE (from Carib. candoa, the

See also:

• WEST
• WEST, BENJAMIN (1738-1820)
• WEST, NICHOLAS (1461-1533)

West

See also:

• INDIAN

Indian name found in use by

See also:

• COLUMBUS
• COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER [in Spanish CRISTOBAL COLON] (c. 1446, or perhaps rather 1451, -15o6)

Columbus; the Fr. canot,

See also:

• BOAT (0. Eng. bdt; the true etymological connexion with Dutch and Ger. boot, Fr. bateau, Ital. battello presents great difficulties; Celtic forms are from O. Eng.)

boat, and Ger.

See also:

• KAHN, GUSTAVE (1859- )

Kahn, are derived from the

See also:

• LAT

Lat. canna,

See also:

• REED
• REED, ANDREW (1787-1862)
• REED, ISAAC (1742—1807)
• REED, JOSEPH (1741—1785)
• REED, THOMAS BRACKETT (1839—1902)

reed,

See also:

• VESSEL (O. Fr. vaissel, from a rare Lat. vascellum, dim. of vas, vase, urn)

vessel)  , a sort of general term for a boat sharp at both ends, originally designed for propulsion by one or more paddles (not oars) held without a fixed fulcrum, the paddler facing the bow . As the historical native name for certain types of boat used by savages, it is applied in such cases to those which, like other boats, are open within from end to end, and the modern " Canadian canoe " preserves this sense; but a more specific usage of the name is for such craft as differ essentially from open boats by being covered in with a deck, except for a " well " where the paddler sits . Modern developments are the cruising canoe, combining the use of paddle and sails, and the racing canoe, equipped with sails only . The primitive canoes were light frames of wood over which skins (as in the Eskimo canoe) or the bark of trees (as in the NorthAmericanlndians' birch-bark canoe) 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 Mac-Gregor (q.v.) designed the canoe "Rob Roy " for long journeys by water, using both double-bladed paddle and sails, yet light enough (about 701b) to be carried over land .

The general type of this canoe is built of

oak with a cedar deck; the length is from The Demi-Cannon weighs about 6000 pound and shoots a bullet of 28 or 30 pound . . . . These three several guns are called cannons of eight, cannons of seven and cannons of six." The generic sense of " cannon, " in which the word is now exclusively used, is found along with the special sense above mentioned as early as 1474 . A warrant of that year issued by Edward IV. of England to Richard Copcote orders him to provide "bumbardos, canones, culverynes . . . et alios canones quoscumque, ac pulveres, sulfa . . . . pro eisdem canonibus necessaries." " Artillery " and " ordnance," however, were the more usual terms up to the time of Louis XIV . (c . 1670), about which time heavy ordnance began to be classified according to the weight of its shot, and the special sense of " cannon " disappears . CANNON-BALL TREE (Couroupita guianensis), a native of tropical South America (French Guiana), which bears large spherical woody fruits, containing numerous seeds, as in the allied genus Bertholletia (Brazil nut) .