l. By this process the
leather became soft, pliant, and supple--proper for answering every
purpose they wanted it for. Those skins which they designed for furs
they only soaked one day, to prepare them for being wrought, and then
proceeded in the manner before-mentioned, except only that they did not
remove the hair. Thus they soon provided themselves with the necessary
materials for all the parts of dress they wanted. But here another
difficulty occurred; they had neither awls for making shoes or boots,
nor needles for sewing their garments. This want, however, they soon
supplied by means of the pieces of iron they had occasionally collected.
Out of these they made both, and by their industry even brought them to
a certain degree of perfection. The making eyes to their needles gave
them indeed no little trouble, but this they also performed with the
assistance of their knife; for, having ground it to a very sharp point,
and heated red-hot a kind of wire forged for that purpose, they pierced
a hole through one end; and by whetting and smoothing it on stones,
brought the other to a point, and thus gave the whole needle a very
tolerable form. Scissors to cut out the skin were what they next had
occasion for; but having none, their place they supplied with the knife;
and, though there was neither shoemaker nor tailor amongst them, yet
they had contrived to cut out the leather and furs well enough for their
purpose. The sinews of the bears and the reindeer--which, as I mentioned
before, they had found means to split--served them for thread; and thus,
provided with the necessary implements, they proceeded to make their new
clothes."

"These," said Mr Barlow, "are the extracts which I have made from this
very extraordinary story; and they are sufficient to show both the many
accidents to which men are exposed, and the wonderful expedients which
may be found out, even in the most dismal circumstances." "It is very
true, indeed," answered Tommy; "but pray what became of these poor men
at last?" "After they had lived more than six years upon this dreary and
inhospitable coast," answered Mr Barlow, "a ship arrived there by
accident, which took three of them on board, and carried them in safety
to their own country." "And what became of the fourth?" said Tommy.
"He," said Mr Barlow, "was seized with a dangerous disease, called the
scurvy; and, being of an indolent temper, and therefore not using the
exercise which was necessary to