We were
painfully crowded in the small space; the stores of provisions, the
cooking-utensils, and especially the neighbourhood of the animals, and
the various offensive smells, made our retreat almost insupportable. We
were choked with smoke if we lighted a fire, and inundated with rain if
we opened a door. For the first time since our misfortune, we sighed for
the comforts of our native home; but action was necessary, and we set
about endeavouring to amend our condition.
The winding staircase was very useful to us; the upper part was crowded
with things we did not want, and my wife frequently worked in the lower
part, at one of the windows. We crowded our beasts a little more, and
gave a current of air to the places they had left. I placed outside the
enclosure the animals of the country, which could bear the inclemency of
the season; thus I gave a half-liberty to the buffalo and the onagra,
tying their legs loosely, to prevent them straying, the boughs of the
tree affording them a shelter. We made as few fires as possible, as,
fortunately it was never cold, and we had no provisions that required a
long process of cookery. We had milk in abundance, smoked meat, and
fish, the preserved ortolans, and cassava cakes. As we sent out some of
our animals in the morning, with bells round their necks, Fritz and I
had to seek them and bring them in every evening, when we were
invariably wet through.
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