CHAPTER X.
After dinner, as I found we could not ascend at present, I suspended our hammocks under the arched roots of our tree, and, covering the whole with sailcloth, we had a shelter from the dew and the insects.
While my wife was employed making harness for the cow and ass, I went with my sons to the shore, to look for wood fit for our use next day.

We saw a great quantity of wreck, but none fit for our purpose, till Ernest met with a heap of bamboo canes, half buried in sand and mud.

These were exactly what I wanted.

I drew them out of the sand, stripped them of their leaves, cut them in pieces of about four or five feet long, and my sons each made up a bundle to carry home.

I then set out to seek some slender stalks to make arrows, which I should need in my project.
We went towards a thick grove, which appeared likely to contain something for my purpose.