After Comte de La Perouse
Plan d Port de St. Francois
Paris 1797
Plan d Port de St. Francois
Paris 1797
The two engravings are from an English publication of La Perouse's journal and Atlas. They illustrate two canoes of different construction as observed in present-day Lituya Bay (north of Icy Strait in southeast Alaska), which was named Port des Francais by La Perouse. The top engraving illustrates a typical northwest-coast dugout canoe; the lower engraving shows an unusual, large-framed canoe with its sealskin cover shown along side. Both show native costumes of the day, including the conical hats of tightly woven cedar-root bark.