tz, by means of the rope ladder we had
brought with us, and attached to the lower branches of the tree,
ascended, and cut a similar circle eighteen feet above mine. We then cut
out, perpendicularly, a slip the whole length, and, removing it, we had
room to insert the necessary tools, and, with wedges, we finally
succeeded in loosening the whole. The first part was easy enough, but
there was greater difficulty as we advanced. We sustained it as we
proceeded with ropes, and then gently let it down on the grass. I
immediately began to form my boat while the bark was fresh and flexible.
My sons, in their impatience, thought it would do very well if we nailed
a board at each end of the roll; but this would have been merely a heavy
trough, inelegant and unserviceable; I wished to have one that would
look well by the side of the pinnace; and this idea at once rendered my
boys patient and obedient. We began by cutting out at each end of the
roll of bark a triangular piece of about five feet long; then, placing
the sloping parts one over the other, I united them with pegs and strong
glue, and thus finished the ends of my boat in a pointed form. This
operation having widened it too much in the middle, we passed strong
ropes round it, and drew it into the form we required. We then exposed
it to the sun, which dried and fixed it in the proper shape.

As many things were necessary to complete my work, I sent Fritz and Jack
to Tent House for the sledge, to convey it there, that we might finish
it more conveniently. I had the good fortune to meet with some very
hard, crooked wood, the natural curve of which would be admirably
suitable for supporting the sides of the boat. We found also a resinous
tree, which distilled a sort of pitch, easy to manage, and which soon
hardened in the sun. My wife and Francis collected sufficient of it for
my work. It was almost night when our two messengers returned. We had
only time to sup and retire to our rest.

We were all early at work next morning. We loaded the sledge, placing on
it the canoe, the wood for the sides, the pitch, and some young trees,
which I had transplanted for our plantation at Tent House, and which we
put into the boat. But, before we set out, I wished to erect a sort of
fortification at the pass of the rock, for the double purpose of
securing us against the attacks of wild beasts or of savages, and for
keeping enclosed, in the savannah beyond the rocks, some young pigs,
that w