_Canoes._--Some crannogs appear to have been veritable islands, the only means of communication with the land being by canoes; of these, in Irish and Scottish waters alike, remains have been frequently found near the dwelling, in some instances alongside the landing-stage, as if sunk at their moorings.[67] A canoe formed by hollowing out the trunk of a tree seems to have been almost universally the first attempt at boat-building, and to effect this, a people even in the rudest state of existence would possess sufficient ingenuity. Canoes are so universally found associated with crannogs, that their discovery in lakes and bogs in Ireland has been considered an indication of the existence of lacustrine dwellings in the immediate vicinity; but it may be safely concluded that, unless implements or articles of stone or bronze are found with “dug-outs,” they do not of themselves carry us back to prehistoric times, nor do they necessarily indicate the great antiquity commonly attributed to them. Canoes have been found of the oldest type known, and yet containing articles of iron of very modern form; therefore, it may be surmised that a people of primitive habits like the lake dwellers clung tenaciously to old customs, and their models remained unchanged during many ages. Irish single-piece canoes may be roughly divided into three classes or varieties--(1) the first, generally either sharp or rounded at both extremities, averages twenty feet in length, and about two in breadth, some however have been discovered square at both ends. Again, some are flat-bottomed and others round: the inside depth varies according to their state of preservation; (2) the second kind is generally of much greater length; one found, measuring forty feet, was round in the bow, but square in the stern, which was formed of a separate piece, let into a groove within a few inches of the extremity: this make is altogether more heavy and clumsy than the preceding; (3) the third variety is trough-shaped, and has been appropriately designated “the portable canoe”; the length is from eight to twelve feet; it is square at both ends, round in the bottom, and having projecting handles at either extremity, apparently for the convenience of carrying it from lake to lake. All alike seem to have been hollowed out of a single tree, probably in the fashion described by Captain Speke, in his _Travels in Central Africa_, wherein he says the negroes fell a large tree, lop off the branches, shape the timber, then cover its upper surface with wet mud, as it lies on the ground, and set fire to it, burning out the core, and finishing off with roughly-constructed hatchets the part unconsumed by fire.[68] In Lough Owel, county Westmeath, in the immediate neighbourhood of a crannog, a very large canoe was found in company with two of smaller size. The prow was in shape like a curved beak; it might be expected that the principle of the curve