long, two feet
wide, and two and a half feet deep.

That night I went to bed early, so as to have a good "think" as to how I
could make a boat of these boxes, with the help of my deal boards and
tools.

I soon hit on a plan, and could scarcely get a wink of sleep for
thinking and maturing my plans; in fact, at two a.m. I got up, dressed,
and went and re-measured the cases and re-inspected them, to see if they
were really eligible for my purpose. They were, and I retired to bed
again perfectly overjoyed, so that I only dozed and woke continually
till five a.m., when I finally arose and commenced operations in the
boathouse.

"Begum" knew there was something in the wind, for I had little to say to
him, so full was I of my scheme.

I found my cases with their tin linings were quite water-tight, which
was a necessary condition for keeping my craft afloat, and having
prepared my tools and got my timber ready for a start, went homeward to
breakfast, shooting a very fine pigeon on the way, which had probably
strayed over from Guernsey. Here was a dinner provided for me which only
required cooking. Indeed, it frequently happened that at breakfast time
my dinner would be flying about round the island.

To help me in the description of the building of my craft I here give
sketches of her construction. First I took my cases 2, 3, and 4, and
firmly screwed them together, and afterwards added number 5, which was
not so wide by six inches, but still served admirably for a stern. Then
came my first difficulty. How should I form the bows? This I got over by
making another case, No. 1, of a triangular form with a bulkhead
running across, to which I nailed my side timbers, so as to give them an
outward curve. These streaks I put on clinker-wise--that is,
overlapping, and thoroughly caulked them with oakum soaked in grease.

[Illustration: The Yellow-Boy]

Next, to strengthen the hull and hold everything firmly in position, I
nailed a top streak along from stem to stern, so as to form a gunwale,
and another at the lower edges of the cases, tarring everything as I
proceeded, including myself; but as the weather was hot a pair of old
pants cut off at the knee, and a ragged shirt, were my only encumbrance
in the way of clothing. Now I proceeded to cut down the partitions
between the various sections for a depth of six inches. I then carefully
caulked the tiny crack between each of these bulkheads, and turning the
surplus tin over, n