ach, staggered off with it. These large pieces
we placed near the end of the breakwater, and when we had denuded the
bay, we obtained, with "Eddy's" help, some large piece of massed rock
and mortar from the ruined boathouse. These pieces we took in the
sledge, and built into a kind of wall to form the outer shell of the
breakwater, while the interior we filled with any odds and ends of
rocks (none of them less than a man's head in size) which we could find
on the shore. The interstices we filled with shingle, and the detritus
of granite, but when we had raised our structure to the level of high
water our available stone gave out. This rather nonplussed us, but at
last we decided to open a small quarry and see what granite we could
obtain to raise our undertaking another four feet in height.

I had still several pounds of gunpowder left, and with part of this we
constructed some long thin cartridges for blasting. With these, a
pick-axe, and some long iron stanchions, which we used as levers, we
obtained a good supply of stone. The little quarry may still be seen, so
I am informed, although it is greatly covered with furze and weeds. It
is situated on the hill side, midway between the homestead and the ruins
of the boathouse. We chose an elevated position for our quarry, so that
we could roll the huge stones down the hill to the pathway below, where
we levered them up into the sledge, and dragged them to what we were
pleased to term "the works." Let it suffice to say that about the middle
of May our task was completed, and to commemorate the event we gave a
grand banquet on the pier head (for we called it a pier now, as it
sounded more dignified) to commemorate the event. Four of us sat down to
the banquet, or rather two stood and two sat. As architect I took the
head of the table (a wine cask), and Alec, as engineer, the foot; while
"Eddy," the donkey, as contractor, supported me on the right (dining
luxuriously on a bunch of carrots and some hay), and on my left was
dear old "Begum" as clerk of the works, enjoying two whole rabbits as
his share of the entertainment.

We drank "Success to Jethou Pier," and trusted it would take every care
of the "Anglo-Franc," which we now placed within its encircling arm for
the first time.

At low water we removed all the big stones from the little haven in
which our boat was now moored. This was for fear she might hurt her
bottom (as the tide left her careened half an hour before de