DCHP-1 Online
maître canot Cdn French, Hist. 
a large freight canoe, measuring about 40 feet and capable of carrying 4 to 5 tons, used for the voyage from Montreal to the Grand Portage. [See picture at Montreal canoe.]
See also: canot du maître Montreal canoe
- 1791 Having . . . exchanged my large canoes, or maitre canots, for smaller ones . . . we proceeded to the Falls of St. Mary.
- 1836 Both our maitre-canôt, and the other, which was of smaller dimensions, were rather lumbered than loaded.
- 1791 Having . . . exchanged my large canoes, or maitre canots, for smaller ones . . . we proceeded to the Falls of St. Mary.