e, that all was going on well at
Falcon's Nest, and that the boys had had the forethought to leave the
animals with provisions for ten days. This enabled me to complete my
farmhouse. We remained four days longer, in which time I finished the
interior, and my wife arranged in our own apartment the cotton
mattresses, to be ready for our visits, and put into the houses the
fodder and grain for their respective tenants. We then loaded our cart,
and began our march. The animals wished to follow us, but Fritz, on
Lightfoot, covered our retreat, and kept them at the farm till we were
out of sight.

We did not proceed directly, but went towards the wood of monkeys. These
mischievous creatures assaulted us with showers of the fir-apples; but a
few shots dispersed our assailants.

Fritz collected some of these new fruits they had flung at us, and I
recognized them as those of the stone Pine, the kernel of which is good
to eat, and produces an excellent oil. We gathered a bag of these, and
continued our journey till we reached the neighbourhood of Cape
Disappointment. There we ascended a little hill, from the summit of
which we looked upon rich plains, rivers, and woods clothed with verdure
and brilliant flowers, and gay birds that fluttered among the bushes.
"Here, my children," cried I, "here we will build our summer house. This
is truly Arcadia." Here we placed our tent, and immediately began to
erect a new building, formed in the same manner as the Farm House, but
now executed more quickly. We raised the roof in the middle, and made
four sloped sides. The interior was divided into eating and sleeping
apartments, stables, and a store-room for provisions; the whole was
completed and provisioned in ten days; and we had now another mansion
for ourselves, and a shelter for new colonies of animals. This new
erection received the name of Prospect Hill, to gratify Ernest, who
thought it had an English appearance.

However, the end for which our expedition was planned was not yet
fulfilled. I had not yet met with a tree likely to suit me for a boat.
We returned then to inspect the trees, and I fixed on a sort of oak, the
bark of which was closer than that of the European oak, resembling more
that of the cork-tree. The trunk was at least five feet in diameter, and
I fancied its coating, if I could obtain it whole, would perfectly
answer my purpose. I traced a circle at the foot, and with a small saw
cut the bark entirely through; Fri