bject may
be attained."

"Oh, that will do capitally," said Walter; "and I am sure that we can
easily manufacture a sieve."

The mate and Dan had now brought up all the logs; and seeing how well
the doctor had succeeded, they heartily congratulated him.

In a short time the pith of the whole tree was turned into sago powder,
amounting, they calculated, to about one hundred pounds. The doctor
told them that this was but a small quantity compared with that which a
large tree produces, as frequently one tree alone yields five to six
hundred pounds' weight of sago. The greater part of the sago having
been buried in a quiet pool, where there was little fear of its being
disturbed, the party returned with the remainder late in the evening to
their house.

Walter was up next morning at daybreak, searching along the shore for a
flat stone to serve for the bottom of the pan he wished to make for
granulating the sago. To his great delight, he found one of
considerable size, almost circular, and with the edges washed smooth by
the action of the waves. He had brought some strips of the palm which
had been chopped off the sago tree on the previous day. One of these
was of sufficient length to bind round the stone; another served for the
rim of the sieve, and a number of large leaves cut into strips made the
bottom. Both contrivances had a rough look, but he hoped they would
answer the purpose. He placed the pan between two stones in the way the
mollusc had been fixed; and then hurrying to the doctor, brought him to
see what he had done. The fire was soon lighted under the stone, which
was heated without cracking; and the doctor then shook some flour from
the sieve on to the pan, and, greatly to his and Walter's delight, it
granulated perfectly.

"You have rendered our community a great service, Walter!" exclaimed the
doctor. "We may perhaps improve upon your contrivance, or, at all
events, make a number of pans and sieves, as the process at present is a
slow one, and it would take a long time to manufacture as much sago as
we shall require for the voyage."

Walter, however, begged that he might continue the manufacture, so that
he might be able to judge how much could be produced. Though he
laboured all day, he had only two or three pounds' weight to show; still
that was something, and no doubt remained that a supply of sago could be
obtained for the voyage. Alice, who had watched him at work, felt sure
that she c