The mouth of this hollow was at the bottom of a great rock, where, by mere accident (I would say, if I did not see abundant reason to ascribe all such things now to Providence), I was cutting down some thick branches of trees to make charcoal; and before I go on I must observe the reason of my making this charcoal, which was this—I was afraid of making a smoke about my habitation, as I said before; and yet I could not live there without baking my bread, cooking my meat, &c.; so I contrived to burn some wood here, as I had seen done in England, under turf, till it became chark or dry coal: and then putting the fire out, I preserved the coal to carry home, and perform the other services for which fire was wanting, without danger of smoke.
Vooraf moet ik zeggen waarom ik houtskolen maakte. Ik was bevreesd bij mijne woning vuur te stoken, gelijk ik zeide, en toch kon ik niet leven zonder mijn brood te bakken, mijn vleesch te koken enz.; en dus beproefde ik eenig hout, gelijk ik in Engeland gezien had, met aarde overdekt, te branden tot het kolen waren, alsdan doofde ik het vuur uit, bragt de houtskolen naar huis, en gebruikte die om vuur te maken, zonder gevaar van den rook.