CHAPTER VII.

"I will spare you the history of the first day," said my good Elizabeth,
"spent in anxiety about you, and attending to the signals; but this
morning, being satisfied that all was going right, I sought, before the
boys got up, a shady place to rest in, but in vain; I believe this
barren shore has not a single tree on it. Then I began to consider on
the necessity of searching for a more comfortable spot for our
residence; and determined, after a slight repast, to set out with my
children across the river, on a journey of discovery. The day before,
Jack had busied himself in skinning the jackal with his knife, sharpened
on the rock; Ernest declining to assist him in his dirty work, for which
I reproved him, sorry that any fastidiousness should deter him from a
labour of benefit to society.

"Jack proceeded to clean the skin as well as he was able; then procured
from the nail-chest some long flat-headed nails, and inserted them
closely through the long pieces of skin he had cut for collars; he then
cut some sailcloth, and made a double lining over the heads of the
nails; and finished by giving me the delicate office of sewing them
together, which I could not but comply with.

"His belt he first stretched on a plank, nailing it down, and exposing
it to the sun, lest it should shrink in drying.

"Now for our journey: we took our game-bags and some hunting-knives. The
boys carried provisions, and I had a large flask of water. I took a