Their jaws were roomy and strong as those of any
shark; but they never closed on us.
Thus we had four of the large backbones and two smaller ones.
Next we wanted a covering, and for that purpose we visited the
remains of the reptile which had first led us into the cavern.
Its hide was half an inch thick and tough as the toughest
leather. There was no difficulty in loosening it, for by that
time the flesh was so decayed and sunken that it literally fell
off. That job was the worst of all.
Time and again, after cutting away with the points of our
spears--our only tools--until we could stand it no longer, we
staggered off to the stream like drunken men, sick and faint with
the sight and smell of the mess.
But that, too, came to an end, and finally we marched off to the
camp, which we had removed a half-mile upstream, dragging after
us a piece of the hide about thirty feet long and half as wide.
It was not as heavy as we had thought, which made it all the
better for our purpose.
The remainder of our task, though tedious, was not unpleasant.
We first made the larger bones, which were to serve as the beams
of our raft, exactly the same length by filing off the ends of
the longer ones with rough bits of granite.
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