ere skimmed off, and thrown away as refuse; and the process was
repeated with fresh water--until the whole substance, which was of a
mucilaginous character, was rendered pure, and soft to the touch. The
next and last operation was in fact the making of the paper; and was
performed by Karl himself. It was simple enough, though requiring a
certain dexterity, or sleight of hand, to do it well. It consisted in
placing a quantity of the pulp upon the sieve before mentioned; and
cradling the frame about--all the time held under water--until the
substance became equally and uniformly spread over the whole surface.
The sieve was then taken out of the water--being raised gently and kept
in a horizontal position--so as not to derange the even stratum of pulp
that severed it. This done, nothing more remained but to place the
frame across a pair of bars, and leave the pulp to get drained and
eventually become dry. When dry, it would be _paper_!

Of course, with one sieve, the whole quantity required could not be made
at a single cast; but, as soon as one sheet became sufficiently dry to
be taken off the frame, the sieve was again repulped; and so on, till
the whole of the boiled bark was converted into paper; and they found
themselves in possession of a sufficient number of broad sheets to make
a kite as big as a coach-house-door.

In consequence of their having to wait for the drying of each sheet, the
process occupied them for several days; but during this time they had
not been either idle or inactive. Karl and Caspar had been hard at
work, in getting up the "bones" of the kite; while Ossaroo had
undertaken to fabricate the tail.

The rope with which it was to be "flyed," occupied more time, and
required more care, than any other portion of their work. Every strand
had to be twisted with the greatest exactness; and almost every fibre
tested, as to its strength and fitness. Could they have used a rope of
stouter build, it would not have been necessary to be so particular; but
a thick rope would have been too heavy for the kite to carry--just as it
had been too heavy for the strength of the eagle. A slender cord,
therefore, like that they were obliged to make, required to be
faultless--else the life of some one of them might be sacrificed while
attempting the ascent.

With a foreknowledge of this, it is hardly necessary to say that Ossaroo
did his best in the manufacture of that rope--every strand of it being
twisted