До Адама

           Isatdownandwatchedandwaiteduntilhegainedtheshore.

           Buthehadlearnedsomething,whichwasmorethanIhaddone.Laterintheafternoon,hedeliberatelylaunchedoutfromshoreonthelog.Stilllaterhepersuadedmetojoinhim,andI,too,learnedthetrickofpaddling.Forthenextseveraldayswecouldnottearourselvesawayfromtheslough.Soabsorbedwereweinournewgamethatwealmostneglectedtoeat.Weevenroostedinanearbytreeatnight.AndweforgotthatRed-Eyeexisted.

           Wewerealwaystryingnewlogs,andwelearnedthatthesmallerthelogthefasterwecouldmakeitgo.Also,welearnedthatthesmallerthelogthemoreliableitwastorolloverandgiveusaducking.Stillanotherthingaboutsmalllogswelearned.Onedaywepaddledourindividuallogsalongsideeachother.Andthen,quitebyaccident,inthecourseofplay,wediscoveredthatwheneach,withonehandandfoot,heldontotheother’slog,thelogsweresteadiedanddidnotturnover.Lyingsidebysideinthisposition,ouroutsidehandsandfeetwereleftfreeforpaddling.Ourfinaldiscoverywasthatthisarrangementenabledustousestillsmallerlogsandtherebygaingreaterspeed.Andthereourdiscoveriesended.Wehadinventedthemostprimitivecatamaran,andwedidnothavesenseenoughtoknowit.Itneverenteredourheadstolashthelogstogetherwithtoughvinesorstringyroots.Wewerecontenttoholdthelogstogetherwithourhandsandfeet.

           Itwasnotuntilwegotoverourfirstenthusiasmfornavigationandhadbeguntoreturntoourtree-sheltertosleepatnight,thatwefoundtheSwiftOne.