s of two or three cocoas
apiece, and then, lying down under the canoe, which they had taken
the precaution of turning bottom upwards, enjoyed a peaceful sleep
till morning.

Chapter 20: A Portuguese Settlement.

The day broke bright and sunny. The first care of the boys was to
examine their canoe; and they found, as they had feared, that a
huge hole had been made, in her bottom, by the crash against the
rocks on landing. They looked for some time with rueful
countenances at it; and then, as usual, turned to Ned, to ask him
what he thought had best be done.

"There can be no doubt," he said, "that the natives make a sort of
glue out of some trees or shrubs growing in these islands, and we
shall have to endeavor to discover the tree from which they obtain
it. We can, of course, easily pull off the bark from some tree,
which will do to cover the hole. The great point is to find some
substance which will make it water tight."

The grove was a very large one, and appeared to extend along the
whole coast. Seaward, it was formed entirely of cocoa trees, but
inland a large number of other trees were mingled with the palms.
All day the boys attempted to find some semblance of gum oozing
from these trees. With sharp pieces of shell they made incisions in
the bark of each variety that they met with, to see if any fluid
exuded which might be useful for this purpose, but in vain.

"If we can kill some animal or other," Ned said, "we might boil
down its sinews and skin and make glue; as Tom and myself did, to
mend our bows with, among the Indians on the pampas. But even then,
I question whether the glue would stand the action of the water."

As to their subsistence they had no uneasiness. Besides the cocoas,
fruit of all sorts abounded. In the woods parrots and other birds
flew screaming among the branches at their approach, and although
at present they had no means of shooting or snaring these
creatures, they agreed that it would be easy to construct bows and
arrows, should their stay be prolonged. This, however, they shrank
from doing, as long as any possible method of escape presented
itself. Were it absolutely necessary, they agreed that they could
burn down a tree and construct a fresh canoe; but they were by no
means sanguine as to their boat-building capabilities, and were
reluctant to give up the idea of continuing their voyage in their
present craft, as long as a possibility of so doing remained.

So they