They formed a long square; the long side facing
the sea. The dimensions of the whole were about twenty-four feet by
sixteen. I cut deep mortices in the trees, about ten feet distant from
the ground, and again ten feet higher, to form a second story; I then
placed in them strong poles: this was the skeleton of my house--solid,
if not elegant; I placed over this a rude roof of bark, cut in squares,
and placed sloping, that the rain might run off. We fastened these with
the thorn of the acacia, as our nails were too precious to be lavished.
While procuring the bark, we made many discoveries. The first was that
of two remarkable trees,--the _Pistacia terebinthus_ and the _Pistacia
atlantica;_ the next, the thorny acacia, from which we got the
substitute for nails.
The instinct of my goats led us also to find out, among the pieces of
bark, that of the cinnamon, not perhaps equal to that of Ceylon, but
very fragrant and agreeable. But this was of little value, compared to
the turpentine and mastic I hoped to procure from the pistachios, to
compose a sort of pitch to complete our intended boat.
We continued our work at the house, which occupied us several days. We
formed the walls of thin laths interwoven with long pliant reeds for
about six feet from the ground; the rest was merely a sort of light
trellis-work, to admit light and air.
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