"Yes, I'll eat it! Now, then, my bow and two arrows are finished; so if
you are ready we had better turn in."
By this time Peterkin had thinned down his spear and tied an iron point
very cleverly to the end of it; I had formed a sling, the lines of
which were composed of thin strips of the cocoa-nut cloth, plaited; and
Jack had made a stout bow, nearly five feet long, with two arrows,
feathered with two or three large plumes which some bird had dropped.
They had no barbs, but Jack said that if arrows were well feathered
they did not require iron points, but would fly quite well if merely
sharpened at the point; which I did not know before.
"A feathered arrow without a barb," said he, "is a good weapon, but a
barbed arrow without feathers is utterly useless."
The string of the bow was formed of our piece of whipcord, part of
which, as he did not like to cut it, was rolled round the bow.
Although thus prepared for a start on the morrow, we thought it wise to
exercise ourselves a little in the use of our weapons before starting,
so we spent the whole of the next day in practising. And it was well we
did so, for we found that our arms were very imperfect, and that we
were far from perfect in the use of them. First, Jack found that the
bow was much too strong, and he had to thin it. Also the spear was much
too heavy, and so had to be reduced in thickness, although nothing
would induce Peterkin to have it shortened.
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