Improve my lamp-tower. Make a bow and arrow, and fish-hooks and lines.
Capture a large turtle. Improve my steel and flint, and build a hut.
Procure some salt, and make arrangements to explore the island on the
morrow.
I arose at sunrise and found another lovely day commencing. God had
blessed me with pleasant weather each day so far. I went first to my
calendar, and with the point of my knife inscribed the day and date,
as usual; thence to my lamp-tower, and found all the lamps burning
splendidly, but with not oil enough to have lasted more than two or
three hours more. I foresaw that I must get a much larger and more
shallow dish to have any certainty of keeping them alight for any
length of time without replenishing them each morning and night. The
principle upon which they were built was exactly that which I had often
observed in the northern part of China, where the Chinese burn peanut
oil in exactly the same way in shallow dishes, with a pith wick hanging
over the side. The principle involved necessitated a shallow dish, and
that the wick should be in nearly a horizontal position, to suck up the
oil to its end which projected over the side of the clam-shell. If the
reservoir for the oil was deep instead of shallow, the receding of the
oil as it was consumed by the wick would soon let the lamp go out. I
saw that I should have to improve upon my lamp business, and concluded
to work out the problem whilst taking my morning bath and breakfast.
As I started towards the beach, I saw at a little distance to my left
a huge turtle, the first I had seen, making for the sea. I ran with my
utmost speed, and contrived to upset him upon his back before he had
reached it, and soon dragged him to my fireplace, and, although still
upon his back, for fear of any accident or escape, at once beheaded him
then and there. I then quietly took off my clothes and had my usual
bath, taking care, however, not to go out of my depth, as I saw several
dog-fish sharks, and possibly larger ones of their species might be in
the bay, but, from its shallowness, I did not much think it. Whilst
bathing, I solved my problem about the lamps, and returned in good
spirits to my fire and clothes, and soon had a nice turtle soup boiling
and a steak of the same broiling upon the embers.
This turtle was a godsend, and was just what I needed to change my
diet. I made a hearty meal, and with reluctance cut into the small
piece of tobacco left me and filled my pipe, and had a short smoke,
and then to work. I took two of my largest conch-shells, that would
hold nearly a quart a-piece, and filled the lips up with my mortar
that I had used the day before in the construction of the lamp-tower,
leaving an orifice at the larger end, of sufficient size to pour
liquid into easily, and one at the smaller end very small indeed. I
then thrust both of the shells into the hot embers, and hardened the
mortar or cement so that it was soon dry and compact. I then went to
my grass-field and chose some minute grass-straws of about a foot in
length, and inserted two in the small orifice of each shell, and fixed
them in with moist cement. I then went to my lamp-tower, took the roof
carefully off, and with a base of stones, and by means of twine with
which I fastened them to the central stake, soon had my shells lashed
and secured in an upright position, with the four straws pointing into
the four clam-shell lamps. I then went with my bailer to the large
sea-oyster shell and dipped up the oil that had distilled under the
rays of the sun from the dog-sharks' livers, and in several trips
filled my shell-reservoirs with oil, and had the satisfaction of seeing
each straw dropping oil into the clam-shell lamp beneath. The dropping
being rather fast, I easily regulated it by thrusting seaweed stoppers
into the upper orifice of the shells till the feeding was very slow,
but very perfect and exact. I felt now that I could leave my tower,
days without care, and be sure of finding the lamps burning upon my
return. I carefully replaced the roof, lighted the lamps again, and
made all snug and secure. I did all this work about the lamps to make
myself doubly sure of always having fire. I was well aware that with
my hardened knife I could strike fire much better than I at first did
with my shoe-nail, but I wanted to be sure and take every precaution,
and to that end I went to work upon the nails in the boat-planking,
and, finding one to my mind, I flattened it out at my anvil into a
narrow ribbon of iron, which I hardened and steeled in the fire and
water; and, after carefully testing it with my flint, which, by the
way, I broke into several fragments, I put it and a piece of the flint
into my pocket, and returned the remaining fragments with another
nail, hardened and heated in the same manner, to the custody of the
lamp-tower. I took thence a small quantity of the burned tinder I had
made of my clothing, some of the nigger-ball powder, and cotton of the
milkweed, and taking one of the numerous pods of last year's growth
that I had gathered of these, and also stored there out of the rain,
I split it lengthwise with my knife, and removed most of the core and
cotton, and in its place inserted the tinder and powder that I have
just mentioned, and secured the whole together by winding round about
it some manilla twine; and, not satisfied with that, I cut a small
piece from my flannel shirt and wrapped that also about it, and secured
it with twine. Thus I carried on my person the means of starting a
fire at any time; and, feeling secure, I allowed myself to throw this
terrible fear off my mind.
[Illustration: CAPTURING A TURTLE.--PAGE 66.]
All my energies were pointing to one direction,--to be able to arm
and equip myself, so as to make the tour of my island as speedily as
possible; but I foresaw that, with my utmost speed and care, I should
not be able to be ready to start until the morrow, if then. I went into
my grass-field and passed beyond it into the natural undergrowth of
trees, and soon had picked out exactly what I wanted, a sort of ash or
walnut tree, evidently dead some time since from some cause, the limbs
of which I tested and found of the right elasticity. I cut off with
my knife several portions that suited my purpose, and returning to my
fire, I soon had a handsome bow of fine elasticity, some six feet in
length, finished to my hand. From a lighter kind of wood, a sort of
alder, I manufactured without much difficulty some half-dozen arrows,
and sharpened and hardened as many nails to form heads for them, which
I securely lashed on with fine manilla twine. I then proceeded to my
gulls' nests retreat, and picked up such feathers as I thought might
suit me, and also brought back a load of fresh eggs in my bag.
I then took off my clothes again and waded into the sea with my
harpoon, and soon had on shore one of my dog-shark friends, and his
bladder and fins in a short time in my bailer over a slow fire, for I
wanted some glue badly. I took occasion, whilst this was preparing, to
thoroughly oil my bow and arrows and to wipe them off nice and clean
again with leaves and seaweed.
I soon had plenty of glue, and of a good quality also, which I poured
out into a large clam-shell, and filled my bailer again with water
to boil and cleanse it out. I then proceeded with great care to lay
up three strands of fine manilla, about ten feet long each, and made
each of them fast to a tree near each other; and, stretched as, they
were in this manner, I saturated them with the liquid glue, and then
brought them together and laid them up right-handed, so as to make a
very fine-looking and strong bowstring, with which I was delighted. By
means of the glue I easily fitted each arrow with three nice feathers,
and I also dipped the seizing round the heads, that held on the iron
barbs, into the same, which gave them a fine finish and smoothed down
all the standing fibres of the manilla twine, making all "ship-shape
and Bristol fashion," as sailors say.
Whilst my hand was in I made also a fishing-line of great strength and
of considerable length, and managed to forge out two quite respectable
fish-hooks from the wrought nails of the boat's planking. I took my
usual meal at noon, but it was of delicious turtle soup, instead of
fish, clams, or eggs, none of which did I, however, by any means
despise. After dinner I sat down and sharpened and perfected the points
of my arrow-heads and fish-hooks. I was not able to make any barbs to
the latter, but had to run the risk, when I hooked a fish, never to let
him have any slack line till he was landed.
Having finished these various labors and looked after my condenser,
I commenced another round tower similar to the one already built,
and near to it. I wanted a place of safety for books, and with the
stones at hand and some new mixed mortar, or cement, I in a few hours
completed my task, and had the pleasure of seeing them in safety from
rain or damp. I was afraid to put them in the lamp-tower for fear of
their catching fire in some unforeseen manner, and I would not risk the
chance, however remote it might be.
This being finished, I went to the wood and cut down with my knife
several small trees, about six feet in height, leaving a crotch like
the letter Y at the top of each. I brought these near my cedar-tree,
and with my hammer drove them into the ground, so that they stood at
an equal height of about four feet in the front row and one foot in
the rear row. I stopped this work for a season to fill the bailer,
which I had cleansed of the glue, with salt water, and let it, during
the afternoon, gradually boil down several times, till I had collected
quite a quantity of salt. After attending to this, I returned to my
hut-building, and soon had the uprights crossed with light sticks and
branches, and upon these I placed large masses of sedge as thatch,
which I kept in place by numerous flat stones that I placed upon the
roof. I wove into both the long sides, and one end, some manilla
strands and pliable small branches, working them in and out in a
horizontal position and at right angles to the uprights. To this rough
basket work, or trellis, I bound, by means of more manilla strands,
large bundles of sedge, till I had a nice hut of about eight feet in
length and six wide, with one end left open some two feet wide, and the
roof four feet high on one side fronting the sea and two feet high on
the land side. Into this hut I carried all my few earthly treasures,
and made me a nice bed of seaweed and sedge on one side, and with a
large clam-shell and the flukes of the anchor cut out a nice trench
round about it, under the overhanging eaves, and piled the spare
earth up against the sides of the hut. I was proud of my work. After
everything was all finished to my satisfaction, I sat down to a hearty
meal, and, being too tired even to smoke, I pulled a small cedar-tree
that I had cut down for the purpose, against the opening in the end of
my hut, from the inside, and threw myself upon my seaweed bed, and fell
instantly to sleep.