"
Robinson also found wild grapes in abundance. These he dried by
hanging them on the branches of trees. He thus had a store of raisins
for each rainy season.
XXX
ROBINSON AS POTTER
Robinson was now anxious to cook his food, to boil his rice and
vegetables and bake bread, but he could do nothing without cooking
vessels. He had tried to use cocoanut shells, but these were too small
and there was no way to keep them from falling over and spilling the
contents. He determined to try to make some clay vessels. He knew
where he could get a kind of clay that had the appearance of making
good ware. It was fine grained and without lumps or pebbles. He was
much perplexed to mould the clay into right shapes. He tried taking
a lump and shaping it into a vessel with his hands. He tried many times,
but each time the clay broke and he was forced to try some other way.
He recalled how he had made his basket out of strands of twisted grass
and wondered whether he could not make his pots in the same way.
He spun the clay out into a long rope and began to coil it around a
small basket forming the layers together with his hands. This was
easy, but he did not see clearly how he was going to get the basket
out from the inside of the pot. He found he could copy in this way
any form he wished, but he finally hit upon the plan of making a form
of wicker work and coiling the clay rope inside it, for he saw that
whether he succeeded or not in getting the clay free from the basket
he could use the pot, and besides if the pot would stand the fire the
basket would burn off.
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