manifested in the disposition of the timber of which the building
was constructed and which afforded a protection much greater than
was usual to the ordinary log-cabins of the frontier. The sides
and ends were composed of the trunks of large pines, cut about nine
feet long, and placed upright, instead of being laid horizontally,
as was the practice of the country. These logs were squared on
three sides, and had large tenons on each end. Massive sills were
secured on the heads of the piles, with suitable grooves dug out
of their upper surfaces, which had been squared for the purpose,
and the lower tenons of the upright pieces were placed in these
grooves, giving them secure fastening below. Plates had been laid
on the upper ends of the upright logs, and were kept in their places
by a similar contrivance; the several corners of the structure
being well fastened by scarfing and pinning the sills and plates.
The doors were made of smaller logs, similarly squared, and the
roof was composed of light poles, firmly united, and well covered
with bark.

The effect of this ingenious arrangement was to give its owner a
house that could be approached only by water, the sides of which
were composed of logs closely wedged together, which were two feet
thick in their thinnest parts, and which could be separated only
by a deliberate and laborious use of human hands, or by the slow
operation of time. The outer surface of the building was rude and
uneven, the logs being of unequal sizes; but the squared surfaces
within gave both the sides and door as uniform an appearance as was
desired, either for use or show. The chimney was not the least
singular portion of the castle, as Hurry made his companion observe,
while he explained the process by which it had been made. The
material was a stiff clay, properly worked, which had been put