“We could only be attacked on one side here,” he said. “And though we could not cut down the trees, we might make a defence with creepers twined in and out among the trunks that would be quite sufficient against a sudden attack; and with such a store of muskets as we have got we might keep a whole tribe at bay. The question is how to get the casks and things up here.”
Going to the edge he found that one of the trees had a large arm overhanging the cliff.
“By fixing a block there,” he said, “we might bring them up from below without difficulty.”
Looking over, he shouted to the two men below.
“I have found a place here,” he said, “where we can make ourselves very comfortable, and with a little labour defend ourselves from any number of savages.”
“How can we get the things up?” the captain shouted back.
“Easily enough. We have but to fix a block to the arm of this tree over my head, and we can then run them up without difficulty. Come up, captain. You will see at once the advantages of the position.”
In a quarter of an hour the Peruvian captain joined him, and, when Stephen explained his plan, agreed that it was a good one.
“As you say,” he said, “we can only be attacked along this narrow place, and we could strengthen it so that they would [pg 197]hardly venture to try it.” He broke off suddenly. “There are two cases of swords in the hold. I never thought of them before. They might not be much good for cutting trees, but they would do for chopping down bushes, and especially those long creepers, which, being as tough as cables, would blunt our knives in no time. If I remember rightly, the cases were stowed just under the barrels of ammunition we got out, so there won’t be much trouble in getting at them.”
“That would be first-rate,” Stephen said. “As there is nothing to do now, we had better go back to the ship, and get one of the cases out at once. When we have done that we can begin the work of rolling the barrels along the sand to the stream.”