Before discussing the methods of construction, the loading and equipment of the fur-trade canoes should be described from contemporary fur trade accounts. The goods carried in these canoes were packed into easily handled bundles, or packages, of from 90 to 100 pounds weight. Wines and liquor were carried in 9-gallon kegs, the most awkward of all cargo to portage. In some cases the furs were packed into 80-or 90-pound bundles in the Northwest, and were repacked into 100-pound bundles before being placed on the large canoes of the Montreal-Great Lakes route, but bundles lighter than 90 pounds were made up for the shipment of small quantities of individual goods to isolated posts. The bundles, or packs, of furs were formed under screw presses so that 500 mink skins, for example, were made into a package 24 inches long, 21 inches wide and 15 inches deep, weighing very close to 90 pounds. Buffalo hides formed a larger pack, of course. In the canoe, packs were covered by a _parala_, a heavy, oiled red-canvas tarpaulin. Boxes called _cassettes_ were carried; these were 28 inches long and 16 inches in width and depth, made of ¾-inch seasoned pine dovetailed and iron-strapped, with the lid tightly fitted. The top, and sometimes the bottom too, was bevelled along the edges. The lids were fitted with hasps and padlocks and the boxes were as watertight as possible. Each box was painted and marked; in these were placed cash and other valuables. Also carried was a travelling case--a lined box for medicine, refreshments for the officers, and what would be needed quickly on the road. [Illustration: Figure 135 HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 4½-FATHOM NORTH CANOE, of the type built by Crees at posts near James Bay in the middle of the 19th century, for cargo-carrying.] Provisions such as meat, sugar, flour, etc. were carried in tins and were stowed in baskets which were usually of the form known to woodsmen as pack-baskets. Baskets also served to carry cooking utensils and other loose articles. Bedrolls consisted of blankets or robes, made up in a tarpaulin or oilskin groundsheet and were used in the canoe as pads or seats. The voyageur's term for the canoe equipment--paddles, setting poles, sail, mast, and yard, and the rigging and hauling lines--was _agrès_, or _agrets_.