"
Taking one of our pails he broke a hole in the bottom of it and stuffed a
sponge in the hole. A layer of small stones was then placed in the pail,
over this a layer of broken charcoal with the dust carefully blown out,
then a layer of clean sand, and finally a layer of gravel. Each layer was
about two inches thick. The pail was suspended from a branch in a cool
place and proved an excellent filter, the water trickling out through the
sponge being perfectly pure and sweet, no matter how dirty it had been
when poured in; but the capacity of the filter was too small, and Uncle Ed
said he would make us a larger one on the morrow if no spring was
discovered in the meantime.
The sun was getting low in the west, and we therefore postponed the
exploration of our island until the following day. We had been up since
four o'clock that morning and had done some pretty hard work; so,
immediately after supper, we turned in and, lulled by the murmuring of the
river, were soon fast asleep.
[Illustration: Fig. 68. The Small Filter.]
The Barrel Filter.
Immediately after breakfast the next day we started out in two parties to
search the island. The only discovery of any moment was that made by
Dutchy's party, which found a small island separated from ours by a narrow
channel, through which the water ran like a mill-race.
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