this was
strained through a bag into the cask, and left standing all night to
cool. The next morning the wax had risen to the top, and formed a hard
and solid cake, which we easily removed; and beneath was the most pure
and delicious honey. The barrel was then carefully closed, and placed in
a cool place. We now proceeded to examine the interior of the tree. I
took a long pole, and tried the height from the window I had made; and
tied a stone to a string to sound the depth. To my surprise, the pole
penetrated without resistance to the very branches where our dwelling
was, and the stone went to the roots. It was entirely hollow, and I
thought I could easily fix a winding staircase in this wide tunnel. It
would seem, that this huge tree, like the willow of our country, is
nourished through the bark, for it was flourishing in luxuriant beauty.

We began by cutting a doorway, on the side facing the sea, of the size
of the door we had brought from the captain's cabin, with its
framework, thus securing ourselves from invasion on that side. We then
cleansed, and perfectly smoothed the cavity, fixing in the middle the
trunk of a tree about ten feet high, to serve for the axis of the
staircase. We had prepared, the evening before, a number of boards from
the staves of a large barrel, to form our steps. By the aid of the
chisel and mallet, we made deep notches in the inner part of our tree,
and corresponding notches in the central pillar; I placed my steps in
these notches, riveting them with large nails; I raised myself in this
manner step after step, but always turning round the pillar, till we got
to the top. We then fixed on the central pillar another trunk of the
same height, prepared beforehand, and continued our winding steps. Four
times we had to repeat this operation, and, finally, we reached our
branches, and terminated the staircase on the level of the floor of our
apartment. I cleared the entrance by some strokes of my axe. To render
it more solid, I filled up the spaces between the steps with planks, and
fastened two strong cords from above, to each side of the staircase, to
hold by. Towards different points, I made openings; in which were placed
the windows taken from the cabin, which gave light to the interior, and
favoured our observations outside.

The construction of this solid and convenient staircase occupied us
during a month of patient industry; not that we laboured like slaves,
for we had no one to constra