each day.
He was wet through as he worked. He had finally to stop work, for the
rain was too heavy.

XXII

ROBINSON'S DIARY

Robinson was much disturbed because he had no means of keeping a record
of things as they happened from day to day. He had his calendar, it is
true. He would not lose track of the time. But he wished for some way to
write down his thoughts and what happened. So he kept up keen search for
anything that would serve him for this purpose.

Every time he journeyed about the island he kept careful watch for
something that he might write upon. He thought of the leaves of the palm
tree, the white under surface of the shelf fungus. But these he found
would not do. He tried many kinds of bark and leaves. There was a kind
of tall reed or grass growing in the marshes whose rind seemed good when
dried. He examined the inner bark of many trees. He at last found that
the inner bark of a tree which resembled our elm tree worked best. He
would cut through the bark with his stone knife around the tree. At
about one foot from this he would cut another ring. He then would cut
through the bark lengthwise from one circular cut to the other. He could
then peel off the section easily. While it was yet full of sap he would
separate the soft, tough, thin inner layer of the bark. This usually
came off in sheets without a break. When these sheets of bark were
stretched and dried they could be used very nicely instead of paper.

Robinson next searched for something that would serve him as ink, and
this was much easier to find than paper. He had noticed many kinds of
galls of many different colors growing on trees. He did not know what
they were, or how they grew, but he had learned in his father's store
that ink was often made from galls gathered from trees. "Anyway," he
thought, "I can get ink from the cuttle-fish." He had watched this
animal get away from its enemies by sending out a cloud of purplish
fluid, in which to hide as it darted away. He had learned also that
indigo is made from the leaves of a plant. He had noticed a plant
growing in the open places in the forest whose leaves turned black when
dried.

Robinson gathered a quantity of gall-nuts and soaked them in water. To
the black fluid thus obtained he added a little rice water to make it
flow well, and this served very well as an ink. He kept his ink in a cup
made from a cocoanut shell.

He was not long in getting a pen, though the lack of a goo