A HAFT OF GLASS 
each piece into four. It was most trying work in our 
worn-out condition. Then we had to go into the forest 
and collect some small liane, so that we could tie the pieces 
together, as we had no nails and no rope. 
On September twentieth, again without food — for we 
had eaten up all the fruit the previous day — we worked 
from morning till night in building the raft. Unfortu¬ 
nately, Benedicto stumbled against one of the bottles, 
which was on the edge of the river; it rolled down the 
steep bank and floated quickly down the stream, and we 
saw it disappear, unable to recover it. So only nine 
bottles were left. 
I made the raft of a triangular shape, with two 
parallel diagonal rows of three bottles each, at a distance 
of three feet apart; then one set of two bottles. One 
single garaffon formed the bow of the raft. Naturally 
I stopped up the necks of the bottles, so that no water 
should get inside. 
While I was constructing the raft I was all the time 
wondering whether it would have a sufficient floating 
capacity to carry us three men and our baggage. 
When the raft was finished we placed two parallel 
pieces of assahy from one end to the other, on which we 
could sit astride, with our legs dangling in the water. 
The lassitude with which we did our work and tore 
down part of the hut in order to build that raft, our 
only way of salvation, was too pitiful to watch. We ab¬ 
solutely had no strength at all. When we pulled the 
liane to fasten together the different pieces of palm wood, 
we were more exhausted than if we had lifted a weight 
of 200 pounds. As it was, we could not fasten the pieces 
of wood properly, and when the raft was finished it was 
indeed a shaky affair. 
By sunset on September twentieth the raft — 
strengthened by sundry knots all over-—was ready to 
be launched. I was more proud of her than if I had 
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