ARRANGEMENTS FOR WINTERING. 167 



shed, built of stout materials, and roofed with 

 tiles, which had been erected for the use of 

 the company's artificers. It was too large for 

 them to live in, being fifty feet by forty-eight, 

 but they very wisely built their own house 

 within it ; two sides were of brick, and the other 

 two of stout plank, nailed a foot apart and filled 

 in with sand ; the ceiling consisted of stout layers 

 of plank. The only light that was admitted 

 came through the chimney, to which it found 

 access by the removal of some tiles from the 

 outer roof. Four cabins were built within this 

 dwelling, and the door was rendered tight by the 

 application of a mattress which was found there. 



Thus did the party contrive to convert to their 

 purpose, in the best manner, the various materials 

 which fell within their reach ; and to construct 

 a dwelling between which and the external 

 atmosphere there was an intermediate stratum 

 of air, which, in a very great degree, moderated 

 the intensity of the cold, so that we do not 

 find them once complaining of the severity of 

 the weather during the winter. Next to a supply 

 of provision, nothing could have been more for- 

 tunate than their meeting with this shed and 

 the building materials ; for whilst it interposed 

 a medium between their dwelling and the outer 

 atmosphere, it at the same time afforded them a 



