During this half year there was a great removal of discomforts. In particular the minister’s lot was improved. For nearly two years, he and his family had been cooped up in the small hut already alluded to, which contained less space than one ordinary room in a civilised land. A fourth of the hut was filled with boxes, another quarter was a bed-room too small to be healthy: while the remaining half, though occupied very fully by an enormous table, had to serve not only for dining-room, but also for nursery and study. At the beginning of April we bade adieu to our old home and entered a larger house built of stone. This was an acceptable change for the purposes of study, as well as for many other reasons. It had the advantage of being much cooler than the grass huts, its thick walls apparently warding off the rays of the sun better than the wattle and daub. Being one of the largest houses the natives had ever seen, it was an object of great admiration from the outside. But when inside, the natives did not feel at ease; since they saw none of the posts that they were accustomed to in their own houses, they feared that the roof would fall on their heads! Unfortunately we shared their apprehensions, for the roof had not been well bound together and threatened to push out the walls. Cloth windows began to disappear while the introduction of glass gave the settlement a different appearance. These new windows were a great marvel to the natives few of whom knew that glass could be broken. Thieves, especially, were disappointed as they feared they would not be able to cut the glass as they had done the calico. But soon the natives became aware that glass was brittle. As it was no breach of etiquette to gaze into windows, a girl one day pressed her head through, and as there was no glass to mend the pane, it remained a standing text to convince all and sundry that windows would not resist every force. So when an inquisitive chief asked what would happen if he struck a window, we had simply to point to what had happened, and to warn him against cutting his hand.