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 form the prow or
forward going end. After he had shaped his boat, he began hollowing
it out. This he did also by burning for the most part. He used the
branches of pitch bearing trees for this purpose. But it was so slow.
He worked at his boat all the time he could spare from his regular
duties in attending to his goats, his garden and his cave. He was
always making his cave larger. Every time he made a piece of furniture
or stored away grain he must make more room in his cave by digging
away the earth and carrying it out. He had made a large strong wicker
basket for this purpose.
He had had a vague idea that when he got his boat done he would dig
a trench back from the bank of the creek and thus float his boat. But
he had not thought it out clearly. "Or anyway," he thought, "I can
in some way manage to roll it to the water.
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