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XXII
ROBINSON'S DIARY
Robinson was much disturbed because he had no means of keeping a
record of things as they happened from day to day. He had his
calendar, it is true. He would not lose track of the time. But he
wished for some way to write down his thoughts and what happened. So
he kept up keen search for anything that would serve him for this
purpose.
Every time he journeyed about the island he kept careful watch for
something that he might write upon. He thought of the leaves of the
palm tree, the white under surface of the shelf fungus. But these he
found would not do. He tried many kinds of bark and leaves. There was
a kind of tall reed or grass growing in the marshes whose rind seemed
good when dried. He examined the inner bark of many trees. He at last
found that the inner bark of a tree which resembled our elm tree
worked best. He would cut through the bark with his stone knife around
the tree. At about one foot from this he would cut another ring. He
then would cut through the bark lengthwise from one circular cut to
the other. He could then peel off the section easily. While it was
yet full of sap he would separate the soft, tough, thin inner layer
of the bark. This usually came off in sheets without a break. When
these sheets of bark were stretched and dried they could be used very
nicely instead of paper.
Robinson next searched for something that would serve him as ink, and
this was much easier to find than paper. He had noticed many kinds
of galls of many different colors growing on trees. He did not know
what they were, or how they grew, but he had learned in his father's
store that ink was often made from galls gathered from trees. "Anyway,"
he thought, "I can get ink from the cuttle-fish." He had watched this
animal get away from its enemies by sending out a cloud of purplish
fluid, in which to hide as it darted away. He had learned also that
indigo is made from the leaves of a plant. He had noticed a plant
growing in the open places in the forest whose leaves turned black
when dried.
Robinson gathered a quantity of gall-nuts and soaked them in water.
To the black fluid thus obtained he added a little rice water to make
it flow well, and this served very well as an ink. He kept his ink
in a cup made from a cocoanut shell.
He was not long in getting a pen, though the lack of a good sharp
knife made it hard to make a good one. In going about he had gathered
a quantity of large feathers. He saved these for the time when he
should have his paper and ink ready. Now, he cut away a quill to a
point and split it up a little way. He was now supplied with writing
materials. "Is it not wonderful," he thought, "how all our wants are
filled? We have only to want a thing badly enough and it comes."
Robinson began at once to write down the date for each day and the
main thing he did or that happened on it. He called this his diary.
He had now a better way of keeping time than on his tree calendar.
He did not need it any more.
You have no doubt wondered how Robinson could work in his cave,
especially at night without a light. The truth is, it was a great
source of discomfort to him. At sunset he was in total darkness in
his cave. During the day light enough streamed in from the open doorway.
To be alone in total darkness is not pleasant. "If I only had fire!"
he said again and again.
He watched the many large beetles and fireflies flash their light in
the dark of the evening as he sat in front of his shelter. The thought
came to him that if he only had some way of keeping together a number
of them, they would serve very well for a candle in his cave at night.
How he longed for a glass bottle such as he had so often wantonly
broken when at home! Back of his shelter there was a hill where the
rock layers jutted out. He had noticed here several times the thin
transparent rock that he had seen in his father's store. It is called
isinglass.
"I will make a living lantern," he said aloud in his eagerness.
He soon had a suitable piece pried loose. He cut a part of a cocoanut
shell away and in its place he put a sheet of isinglass. That evening
at dark he gathered several handfuls of the great fire beetles and
put them in his lantern. What joy their glow gave him in his cave at
night. It was almost as much comfort as a companion. But while it
lighted up the deep dark of the cave and enabled him to move about,
he was unable after all to write in his diary at night. Every morning
he set his captives free. In the evening he would go out and capture
his light.
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Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
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