Uncle Ed's Departure.
Owing to a sudden business call Uncle Ed left us after he had been with us
nearly three weeks. But, before going, he explained carefully to Bill just
how to construct a canvas canoe. Jack, the cook, who was anxious to lay in
a second supply of provisions, accompanied Uncle Ed as far as Millville,
the next town below Lamington. Here Uncle Ed bought five yards of canvas,
42 inches wide, several cans of paint and a quantity of brass and copper
nails and tacks. These supplies, together with the food provisions that
Jack had collected, were brought to us late in the afternoon by Mr.
Schreiner. Mr. Schreiner also brought the necessary boards and strips of
wood for the framework of our canoe.
A Visit from Mr. Schreiner.
We invited Mr. Schreiner to spend the night with us, and this he did after
fording with some difficulty the swift-running river. In the morning we
showed him our quarters, our filter, the roads we had built, the spar
bridge across to Kite Island, our surveying instrument and the chart we
had made of the vicinity. He was greatly pleased with our work, and it was
then that he gave us an order for the bridge over the gorge. From that day
on he became our staunchest ally, so that when my father and Mr.
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