xed other cocoa-nut trees cut down, and
about fourteen feet high, so as to form a palisade or stockade, which
could not be climbed over, and would protect them from any attack of the
savages.

As soon as the line of trees had been marked out, they set to work
cutting down all the trees within the line, and then outside to a
distance of ten yards, so as to give them room for their work. Ready
cut out cross-pieces, to nail from tree to tree, and now they found the
advantage of having saved so many of the large spike nails, without
which they never could have made so good or so quick a job of it. Mr
Seagrave cut down trees, William and Juno sawed them off at a proper
length with one of the cross-cut saws, and then carried them to Ready.
They soon had more cut out than he could use, and then they dragged away
the tops and branches, and piled them at a distance on the ground, to
use as winter fuel, while Mr Seagrave helped Ready in fixing up the
palisades. They worked very hard that day, and were not sorry to go to
bed. Ready, however, took an opportunity to speak to William.

"I think," said he, "that now we are here again, it will be necessary to
keep a sort of night-watch, in case of accident. I shall not go to bed
till it is quite dark, which it will be by nine o'clock, and shall have
my glass to examine the offing the last thing. You see, there is little
fear of the savages coming here in the night-time, but they may just
before night or very early in the morning, so one of us must be up again
before daybreak, that is between two and three o'clock in the morning,
to see if there is anything to be seen of them; if there is not, of
course we may go to bed again, as they cannot arrive till many hours
afterwards; and we must watch the wind and weather, if it is favourable
for them to come to us, which, indeed, the wind will not be except at
the commencement of the rainy season but it may be very light, and then
they would not care for its being against them. I've been thinking of
it, William, a great deal, and my idea is, that it will be at the
beginning of the rainy season that we shall have a visit, if we have one
at all; for you see that the wind don't blow regular from one quarter,
as it does now, but is variable, and then they can make sail in their
canoes, and come here easily, instead of pulling between thirty and
forty miles, which is hard work against wind and current. Still, we
must not be careless and we