Just then his log turned, and the great Pounder was seen with his feet in the air, kicking at the sun. Down he went head first into the water and out of sight. Soon, however, he reappeared, and after spitting out a mouthful of water, and shaking his locks, tried to regain his log. But he could not raise himself for awhile, and when at last he succeeded in remounting the log it turned again and buried him a second time out of sight.
“I would rather have hold of an alligator than of this thing,” he said, as he came up spitting and shivering.
Finding, however, that he could not mount the log securely, he abandoned it, and swam back to the shore; and all the rest who had not been thrown from their logs followed his example, lest they should meet a like disaster.
But the experiment was not lost, and the fruitless attempt to cross in this way suggested several improvements in navigation.
“Some logs float better than others,” observed Koree; and there was a long discussion about how to trim and hew them so as to make them hold a man. Many experiments were made. They used their stone wedges and bear’s teeth to hollow them into shape. This work continued for days, and as a result of their consultations and efforts, a crude canoe, or boat was formed, but not till after many failures to make it hold its contents. The first success was accomplished by Duco who managed, after many dangers, to cross the lake in a vessel of his own construction.
There was now an ambition in every one to construct a boat, and they almost forgot the war in their enthusiasm for this new industry. The art of ship-building was thus begun, and a navy put in process of construction.
CHAPTER XXIV.
