144 Ancient Giants 



trunk over twenty feet long with a large enough 

 diameter to make a comfortable dug-out. Luckily 

 it was just above high tide, near the mouth of a 

 bayou. With my hand pick I cut off the bark 

 and fashioned bow and stern. Fortunately I 

 had some matches in my vest pocket, I built a 

 fire against the huge hollow trunk of a redwood, 

 and was careful not to let it go out entirely. 



Along the shore, washed up by the tide from 

 the sandstone ledge, were numerous iron concre- 

 tions, usually round and flattened on two sides. 

 These proved invaluable. They would get red- 

 hot in my fire, and I used them for burning out 

 the boat. A flake of flinty rock served as a 

 shovel when fastened into a split stick, and two 

 tied together at the ends made a serviceable pair 

 of tongs. With these simple tools, my work pro- 

 ceeded famously. Paddles and scull, too, I 

 made from strips of strong and pliable young 

 poplars. With my fire kept burning, I had no 

 trouble about food. I had always been a meat 

 lover, and in camp a breakfast without bacon 

 was a failure. So instead, I made turtle soup, 

 or broiled fishes on the coals, or on sharp sticks 

 before the fire. I found nuts, too, and fruit, 

 especially figs, the old ripe fruit hanging among 

 the flowers and green figs. From tough bark I 

 made sails and put sheets over all, to keep out 

 the damp. With ropes of the aralia vine, I fas- 

 tened my dug-out to a tree. One stormy night 

 a very high tide floated her, and the next morn- 



