BAKING EXTRAORDINARY. 177

“of calico or muslin; and with some pieces of these I made three
small sieves, but proper enough for the work. And thus I made
shift for some years. How I did afterwards I shall show in its
place. :

The baking part was the next thing to be considered, and how
I should make bread when I came to have corn; for, first, I had
no yeast. As to that part, as there was no supplying the want,
so I did not concern myself much about it; but for an oven I
was indeed in great pain. At length I found out an experiment
for that also, which was this—I made some earthen vessels very
broad, but not deep; that is to say, about two feet diameter, and
not above nine inches deep, these I burned in the fire, as I had
done the other, and laid them by; and when I wanted to bake, I
made a great fire upon my hearth, which I had paved with some
square tiles of my own making and burning also—but I should
not call them square.

When the firewood was burned pretty much into embers, or
live coals, I drew them forward upon this hearth, so as to cover it
all over, and there I let them lie till the hearth was very hot;
then sweeping away all the embers, I set down my loaf or loaves,
and whelming down the earthen pot upon them, drew the embers
all round the outside of the pot, to keep in and add to the heat;
and thus, as well as in the best oven in the world, I baked my
barley loafs, and became in little time a mere pastry-cook into the
bargain ; for I made myself several cakes of the rice, and puddings.
Indeed I made no pies, neither had I anything to put into them
supposing I had, except the flesh either of fowls or goats.

It need not be wondered at if all these things took me up most part
of the third year of my abode here; for it is to be observed that,
in the intervals of these things, I had my new harvest and hus-
bandry to manage; for I reaped my corn in its season, and carried
it home as well as I could, and laid it up in the ear in my large
baskets till I had time to rub it out, for I had no floor to thrash
it on, or instrument to thrash it with.

And now indeed my stock of corn increasing, I really wanted to
build my barns bigger. I wanted a place to lay it up in, for the
increase of the corn now yielded me so much that I had of the