This We Knew Was A Useless Weapon Against Such Armor;
However, In Our Endeavors To Perform Impossibilities, We Tickled
The Oyster And Broke The Knife.
After gazing for seine time in
blank despair at our useless prize, a bright thought struck one
of the party, and drawing his ramrod he began to screw it Into
the weakest part of an oyster; this, however, was proof, and the
ramrod broke.
Stupid enough it may appear, but it was full a quarter of an hour
before any of us thought of a successful plan of attack. I
noticed a lot of drift timber scattered upon the island, and then
the right idea was hit. We gathered the wood, which was bleached
and dry, an we piled it a few feet to windward of the mass of
oysters. Striking a light with a cap and some powder, we lit the
pile. It blazed and the wind blew the heat strong upon the
oysters, which accordingly began to squeak and hiss, until one by
one they gave up the ghost, and, opening their shells, exposed
their delightfully roasted bodies, which were eaten forthwith.
How very absurd and uninteresting this is! but nevertheless it is
one of those trifling incidents which sharpen the imagination
when you depend upon your own resources.
It is astonishing how perfectly helpless some people are if taken
from the artificial existence of every-day life and thrown
entirely upon themselves. One man would be in superlative misery
while another would enjoy the responsibility, and delight in the
fertility of his own invention in accommodating himself to
circumstances.
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