He first tried to find a stone large and hard enough out of which he
might hollow a vessel or kind of mortar. He thought he could put the
corn into this mortar and grind it by means of another stone or
pestle. It was with great difficulty that he could get a stone of
suitable size and form. After several days' trial he at last got one
cut out from some layers of rock near the shore. He made a hollow
place in it. Then he took a smaller oblong shaped rock for his pestle.
He took great pride in these new tools. "I shall soon be a
stone-cutter," he said to himself, "as well as a farmer and potter."
But his stone mortar was a failure. The rock was too soft. Every time
he thrust the pestle down, it loosened small pieces of the stone
vessel. These mixed with the ground corn or flour and made it unfit
to eat. There was no way to separate the sand from the crushed grain.
He resolved then to try to make a mortar and pestle of hard wood. Now
that he had fire, he could do this, though it cost him many a hard
day's work. He found not far away a log of very hard wood. By building
a fire at the right distance from one end he was able to separate a
piece of the log. He rolled this to his cave and made a good-sized
hollow in it by burning. This pestle was not so difficult to make.
He took a limb or branch of an ironwood tree, burned it in two at the
place to make it the right length. By burning also he rounded one end
and then he was ready for the grinding.
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