ments,
and they were within a quarter of a mile of the cove. I began my
investigation by hacking off a good stout branch, stripping off its
bark, and testing its working qualities. I found that the wood gave off
the characteristic odour of cedar; that it was close-grained; that it
was easily workable; and that it was, in short, everything I could
possibly desire. I therefore started work in earnest by felling the
tree that I had already attacked and trimming off its branches. This
brought my day's work to a close, and I returned to Eden with a mind
relieved of a heavy load of anxiety, for there was now no longer any
need to contemplate the breaking up of either the boat or the bungalow.

True, I had found the wood I required; but what I needed was thin
planks, not heavy balks of timber such as one might be able to hew out
of a tree trunk with an axe; and how was I to obtain those planks? I
considered the matter and suddenly remembered that cedar splits easily;
I therefore determined to ascertain by actual experiment whether it
would be possible to procure the planks I required by splitting the
felled trunk. The experiment was on the whole successful; for although
I wasted more timber than I anticipated I nevertheless succeeded in
securing several very fine planks that, when operated upon with the
plane, could be reduced to the exact thickness required. Thus
encouraged, I made an estimate of the quantity of planking required to
complete the hull of the cutter, and then proceeded to fell as many
trees as were needed to furnish that quantity.

It was while I was thus engaged that I one day received an urgent visit
from Bowata and his son, who came in great distress to inform me that
the watchers posted at the western extremity of Cliff Island, to guard
against a surprise attack on the part of the apes believed to have
retreated to West Island, had that morning reported that the anthropoids
were recrossing the Middle Channel to Apes' Island; and that, from
observation of the creatures' movements, it was strongly suspected that
they meditated an attack in force upon Cliff Island and its inhabitants.
Bowata concluded his communication with an entreaty that I would lend
my aid to repel the threatened attack. I at once acceded to this
request, and, with the two natives aboard the sailing boat and their
punt in tow, proceeded to Eden, where I collected all the arms and
ammunition we possessed, and, taking Billy with me,