As I did not, in 1814, suppose that on the following year I should be recalled, I began to make some addition to my cottage, for it was too small for me; and besides it was old, and was constructed of bad timber, which caused it to be much infested by the ants and the _copim_. I had a considerable quantity of timber of excellent quality at Jaguaribe, which had been prepared by me for building there, and therefore I determined to send for it. Permission was also obtained from the owner of the Engenho Novo, to cut down some trees in his woods, for which he ultimately refused to be paid. The woods of his plantation came down nearly to the water’s edge near to Camboa, and were consequently very conveniently situated for my purpose. The building was to be constructed of wood and mud,—that is, of thick posts supporting the roof and smaller posts at fixed distances between the principal ones, and the openings between each of them were to be filled up with mud. I could not help regretting that such beautiful woods as those which were used should be employed in purposes so much beneath their worth. The _pao ferro_ or iron wood, which is also called the _coraçam de negro_ or the negro’s heart[125], was the most valuable of those which I employed. The outward coat of the wood of this tree is not particularly hard, but the heart destroys many hatchets. I have seen some of this timber taken out of the ground after standing for many years as a supporter to the roof of a house; and though the outward coat was crumbling into dust, the black heart seemed to be literally of iron, or to have increased rather than decreased in hardness[126]. This wood admits of considerable polish; but the black wood, which is most esteemed for furniture, is the _jacaranda_; this is also hard, but is much more penetrable than the _pao ferro_, and the polish to which it may be brought is more complete.[127] The _pao d’arco_ is another valuable wood, and is so called, I imagine, from the use which the Indians made of it for their bows; it is much used in building, and is accounted almost as durable as the _pao ferro_. It admits of being cleft into splinters, which are flexible without breaking. The _pao d’arco_ has the property of retaining fire for a long time without being stirred, and of yielding a bright light if the log be occasionally touched. The peasantry take advantage of this, and cleave the logs into several narrow splinters, of which they form a bunch; this being lighted, serves them as a flambeau. Formerly, likewise, when every thing was in a ruder state even than it is now in Brazil, the sugar-works were lighted with logs of _pao d’arco_ instead of oil; indeed I have heard that some of the mills in the back settlements still continue this practice. The ashes of this tree are used as _temper_ in the boiling houses of the mills. The number of fine species of timber in Brazil is very great, but I am myself acquainted only with a few of them.[128]