Page:Castaway on the Auckland Isles (IA castawayonauckla01musg).pdf/32

16 one, made of inch boards. The floor is also boarded, and tolerably good. There are two small squares of glass, which were taken out of the cabin of the vessel. The rafters are sticks out of the bush, placed two feet apart. There is a double cover on the roof, with two sets of rafters and two ridge poles. The fireplace is built of stone, as high as the walls of the house; above, it is made of copper, tin, zinc, and boards towards the top, and is 15 feet high. The fireplace inside the walls is 6 feet, with four walls 1 foot thick. Furniture—stretchers to sleep on, six feet from floor; large dining table in centre, 7 feet by 3 feet, with benches on each side. I sit on a keg at the head. A table at one end, at which I am now writing, and where I keep my writing-desk, chronometer, barometer, books, &c. This, the north end of the house, is occupied by Mr. Raynal and myself; the men occupy the other end. A cook's dressing table stands behind the door which opens towards the men's end. There are also two or three shelves round the place, which, with a pair of bellows and my looking-glass, complete the furniture. It is now just four o'clock in the afternoon (three in Sydney), and it has commenced to rain heavily, with every appearance of continuing for the night. We have trenches all round the house two feet deep, which keep the floor perfectly dry, and no water has yet come through the roof. The barometer is now at 29⋅15. Thermometer 48°, which is 16° above freezing and 6° below temperate.

Sunday, February 28, 1864.—Another dreary week has passed. We have had very bad weather. It has rained every day. We have not been able to do much at the thatching; but we made a commencement yesterday, and worked at it between the showers. Last night it blew a very heavy gale from S.S.W., with frequent heavy showers. On Wednesday Mr. Raynal went across the bay in the boat, and got a one-year-old seal and two dozen widgeons; these we find very good, salted and smoke-dried. He also tried