Though I did not consider the cajack quite the soap bubble my wife
imagined it, I yet willingly agreed to assist her in the construction
of the dress.
The garment we produced was most curious in appearance, and I must own
that I doubted its efficiency. It was like a double waistcoat, made of
linen prepared with a solution of india-rubber, the seams being
likewise coated with caoutchouc, and the whole rendered perfectly
airtight. We so arranged it that one little hole was left, by means of
which air could be forced into the space between the outer covering and
the lining, and the dress inflated.
Meanwhile I perceived with pleasure the rapid vegetation the climate
was producing. The seeds we had scattered had germinated, and were now
promising magnificent crops. The verandah, too, was looking pleasant
with its gay and sweet-scented creepers, which were already aspiring to
the summit of the pillars. The air was full of birds, the earth seemed
teeming with life.
The dress was at length completed and Fritz, one fine afternoon,
offered publicly to prove it. We all assembled on the beach, the boy
gravely donned and inflated the garment, and amidst roars of laughter
from his brothers, entered the water. Quickly and easily he paddled
himself across the bay towards Shark Island, whither we followed in one
of our boats.
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