Page 31 - An American Robinson Crusoe

As he did this he was surprised at the many forms of sea life, new to him, that he saw. He, however, was
careful and watchful. He walked along near the shore to a point where some rocks showed above the surface.
As he looked ahead he saw the single eye of a giant cuttle-fish glaring at him from among the rocks. It was
thrusting out its long arms towards him. He drew back quickly, but as he did so he was terrified to hear the
snap of some huge creature's jaws near him. A great shark had seen him and had thrown himself on his back
to seize him in his rows of sharp teeth, but was prevented reaching him by the shallowness of the water.

Robinson was too much terrified to continue longer his attempt at fishing. He went back to his cave with only
a few small ones, not worth the trouble of dressing for his dinner.

The next day undismayed he tried again. He succeeded in drawing in some very beautiful large fish. Their
sides shone as burnished gold and silver. "Now," he thought, "I will have a feast." He carried them home,
carefully cleaned and dressed them, seasoned them with his salt, and broiled them over his fire. Imagine his
disappointment when they proved unfit to eat. Their flesh was coarse and tough and ill-tasting. He saw that
the catching of fish for his table was a more difficult thing than he thought it. He must not only catch fish, but
catch ones that could be eaten. He could only tell the good from the bad by trying them.

He was more fortunate in his next venture. He was going along the shore at the mouth of the creek which ran
near his cave when he noticed a group of fishes, dark bluish above with silvery sides. The largest of them
were about two feet long. They were feeding on the bottom in the brackish water at the mouth of the creek,
which at its mouth opened out into quite a little bay or inlet. They would take up a mouthful of earth from the
bottom and let it wash through their mouths, keeping all the bits of food that happened to be in it. When one
fish got a good place to feed the others swam around it and tried to get some of the food.

Robinson watched his chance and slipped his net under a group, while each one was busy trying to get the
best mouthful of mud. He drew up three quite large fish, but just as he was about to lift them from the water,
one of the cords which bound the net to the poles broke and he saw his catch fall back into the creek and dart
away in the deepest water. But Robinson was not to be discouraged. He soon mended his net and at last was
successful. In a short time he drew out another catch of two fish.

These proved excellent food and were so abundant as to furnish Robinson with all the fish he wanted as long
as he stayed on the island.

XXX III

ROBINSON BUILDS A BOAT

Robinson had wished for a boat many times. He wished to explore the shore of his island. He wanted to go
clear around it so that he might see it on every side. But he knew the work of making a boat would be great, if
not wholly impossible.

The shaping of boards to build a boat with his rude tools was not to be thought of. He knew how the Indians
made boats out of bark of trees. But he saw that for his purpose so light a boat would not do. He finally
remembered a second Indian way of making a boat by hollowing out a large log. The forest was full of the
boles of trees that had been blown down. But they were far away from the shore. At first he did not think of
this very much. He had overcome so many difficulties that he thought, "Never mind, I will get my boat to
water, no matter where I make it, in some way." So he selected a tree trunk some distance from the bank of
the little creek near his cave and began work.

He had first to burn out his log the proper length and hack it into boat shape with his stone tools. This was
very slow and tedious work. He had to handle the fire with great care for there was always the danger of
spoiling the shape of the slowly forming boat. Both ends must be sharpened, but one more than the other to