"'Twill take a day to mend un whatever, and she'll be none too safe.

'Twill be hard to make un water-tight." "We can mend un," Andy insisted.
A close examination of the tracks disclosed the fact that there had undoubtedly been two men in the party.

They had reached the island before the rain of two days before.

This was disclosed by the fact that some of the tracks were partly washed away by the rain, and the earth was caked where the wind and sun had dried it afterwards.
Natives of the coast, as was the case with David and Jamie and Andy, wore home-made sealskin boots in summer and buckskin moccasins in winter.

The sealskin boots had moccasin feet with one thickness of skin, and were soft and pliable.