But these he
found would not do. He tried many kinds of bark and leaves. There was
a kind of tall reed or grass growing in the marshes whose rind seemed
good when dried. He examined the inner bark of many trees. He at last
found that the inner bark of a tree which resembled our elm tree
worked best. He would cut through the bark with his stone knife around
the tree. At about one foot from this he would cut another ring. He
then would cut through the bark lengthwise from one circular cut to
the other. He could then peel off the section easily. While it was
yet full of sap he would separate the soft, tough, thin inner layer
of the bark. This usually came off in sheets without a break. When
these sheets of bark were stretched and dried they could be used very
nicely instead of paper.
Robinson next searched for something that would serve him as ink, and
this was much easier to find than paper. He had noticed many kinds
of galls of many different colors growing on trees. He did not know
what they were, or how they grew, but he had learned in his father's
store that ink was often made from galls gathered from trees. "Anyway,"
he thought, "I can get ink from the cuttle-fish." He had watched this
animal get away from its enemies by sending out a cloud of purplish
fluid, in which to hide as it darted away. He had learned also that
indigo is made from the leaves of a plant. He had noticed a plant
growing in the open places in the forest whose leaves turned black
when dried.
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