“Even if we could get our boats ready,” replied Pounder, “we could not rely on them to carry us safely across. Duco waited long for a good wind, and when it came it blowed him in many directions before landing him on the opposite shore. If we entered such vessels, we would be scattered and lost.” “Let us go back,” said Oko, “or we will lose all.” Koree at this moment observed that several of the logs had floated together, and were being driven about in a cluster. The boys were amusing themselves by jumping from one to another, and all were being carried along by the flood. “If we could fasten those logs together,” he said, “they would hold many of us, and by making several such collections we could all get across.” This was a new idea which was immediately acted upon by the Ammi. It did not take our early ancestors long to adopt a suggestion or introduce an improvement. From the thought to the act was only a step, and, though most steps were failures, they made so many that occasionally they achieved a success. “Collect all the logs,” he said, “and get willows and bark to fasten them together.” They were, therefore, soon busy collecting the logs that were in the water, and rolling others from the land with their clubs, which they used as levers, thus learning incidentally an important mechanical principle. With their hatchets of flint they chopped off branches, shaped the timber into the desired form, and even felled trees for their bark or trunks. It was obvious that a raft would soon be constructed and set afloat. They had shortly before built in a similar manner a small bridge near their dwellings to enable them to cross to a dry point in the Swamp; and, seeing a flood carry it away, (when it floated on the water), they were not wholly unprepared to see this new raft also float. “If one log floats why will not more?” asked Koree. “If our bridge floated away, this also will do so,” replied another; and they thenceforth called it the “floating bridge.” The raft was soon finished, and a large number of men and women at once rushed upon it, so many, indeed, that it began to sink. This was looked upon as a failure, and the disappointment of the whole human race was no less than when Fulton’s first steamer failed to move. “The thing will not float,” observed Oko. “It floated,” replied Duco, “until we all got upon it. If some would get off it would float again.” “But we must all cross over, or none,” replied Abroo, the Family-man. “Let us build more rafts,” interposed Koree, “and in several of them we can all cross.” “Instead of this,” said Abroo, the Family-man, “let part of our hosts cross at once, when this structure can be brought back for the others to cross. I and my party will cross first.” This was agreed to, except that, instead of Abroo and his clan, Duco was chosen to take charge of the first load. The next difficulty was in getting the raft started. It lay motionless with its load.