air was perfumed
with the odour of countless beautiful flowers; and lively with the songs
and cries of hundreds of brilliant birds, all busy building their nests.
This was really spring in all its glory.

We began our summer occupation by cleaning and putting in order our
dormitory in the tree, which the rain and the scattered leaves had
greatly deranged; and in a few days we were able to inhabit it again. My
wife immediately began with her flax; while my sons were leading the
cattle to the pasture, I took the bundles of flax into the open air,
where I constructed a sort of oven of stone, which dried it completely.
We began that very evening to strip, beat, and comb it; and I drew out
such handfuls of soft, fine flax, ready for spinning, that my wife was
overjoyed, and begged me to make her a wheel, that she might commence.

I had formerly had a little taste for turning, and though I had now
neither lathe nor any other of the tools, yet I knew how a
spinning-wheel and reel should be made, and, by dint of application, I
succeeded in completing these two machines to her satisfaction. She
began to spin with so much earnestness, that she would hardly take a
walk, and reluctantly left her wheel to make dinner ready. She employed
Francis to reel off the thread as she spun it, and would willingly have
had the elder boys to take her place when she was called off; but they
rebelled at the effeminate work, except Ernest, whose indolent habits
made him prefer it to more laborious occupation.

In the mean time we walked over to Tent House to see the state of
things, and found that winter had done more damage there than at
Falcon's Nest. The storm had overthrown the tent, carried away some of
the sailcloth, and injured our provisions so much, that great part was
good for nothing, and the rest required to be immediately dried.
Fortunately our beautiful pinnace had not suffered much,--it was still
safe at anchor, and fit for use; but our tub boat was entirely
destroyed.

Our most important loss was two barrels of gunpowder, which had been
left in the tent, instead of under the shelter of the rock, and which
the rain had rendered wholly useless. This made us feel still more
strongly the necessity of securing for the future a more suitable
shelter than a canvas tent, or a roof of foliage. Still I had small hope
from the gigantic plan of Fritz or the boldness of Jack. I could not be
blind to the difficulties of the undertaking. The