of three hundred pounds, will float in four to six inches of water.

The favorite material for boat-building in the United States is white
cedar (Cupressus thyoides), which grows in dense forests in the swamps
along the coast of New Jersey, as well as in other parts of North
America. The wood is both white and brown, soft, fine-grained, and
very light and durable. No wood used in boat-building can compare with
the white cedar in resisting the changes from a wet to a dry state,
and vice versa. The tree grows tall and straight. The lower part of
the trunk with the diverging roots furnish knee timbers and carlines
for the sneak-box. The ribs or timbers, and the carlines, are usually
1 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches in dimension, and are placed about ten inches
apart. The frame above and below is covered with half-inch cedar
sheathing, which is not less than six inches in width. The boat is
strong enough to support a heavy man upon its deck, and when well
built will rank next to the seamless paper boats of Mr. Waters of
Troy, and the seamless wooden canoes of Messrs. Herald, Gordon &
Stephenson, of the province of Ontario, Canada, in freedom from
leakage.

During a cruise of twenty-six hundred miles not one drop of water
leaked through the seams of the Centennial Republic. Her under
planking was nicely joined, and the seams calked with cotton wicking,
and afterwards filled with white-lead paint and putty. The deck
planks, of seven inches width, were not joined, but were tongued and
grooved, the tongues and grooves being well covered with a thick coat
of white-lead paint.

The item of cost is another thing to be considered in regard to this
boat. The usual cost of a first-class canoe of seventy pounds' weight,