The timber was collected and piled up in heaps that it might not be hidden under the snow, and two sledges were made on which to drag it to the site of the house. This was heavy work in which all took part, four of them in turn remaining by the ship, there being thirteen men to each party, five to each sledge, with three to help and lift the wood behind "to make us draw the better and with more ease," and at the end of the first week of it the carpenter died, so that only sixteen were left. But the wood was brought along day after day, some to build with, some for fuel; and the house was built, the frost so hard at times that "as we put a nail into our mouths, as carpenters do, there would ice hang thereon when we took it out again and made the blood follow"; and when a great fire was made to soften the ground, in order that earth might be dug to shovel round the house, "it was all lost labour for the earth was so hard and frozen so deep that we could not thaw it, and it would have cost us too much wood." The house was roofed with deals obtained by breaking up the lower deck of the fore part of the ship, and, to make it weather-tight, it was covered with a sail on which afterwards shingle was spread to keep it from being blown off; and the materials of the cabin yielded the wood for the door. Inside, the house was made as comfortable as possible, as shown in the illustration given in De Veer's book in 1598. Low shelves, with partitions between, along the side served for sleeping places; a cask on end with a square hole like a window in the upper half was frequently used as a bath; a striking clock and a time-glass marked the passing of the hours; the large fire in the centre with its frame and trivet and spit and copper pots and other kitchen utensils served for warmth and cooking; and over the fire hung a large lamp beneath the chimney, which terminated outside in a cask giving it the appearance of a crow's nest ashore.