It was arranged to contain several bedrooms
and a large dining-hall. One of the rooms was destined for Joam and
his wife, another for Lina and Cybele near those of their mistresses,
and a third room for Benito and Manoel. Minha had a room away from
the others, which was not by any means the least comfortably
designed.
This, the principal house, was carefully made of weather-boarding,
saturated with boiling resin, and thus rendered water-tight
throughout. It was capitally lighted with windows on all sides. In
front, the entrance-door gave immediate access to the common room. A
light veranda, resting on slender bamboos, protected the exterior
from the direct action of the solar rays. The whole was painted a
light-ocher color, which reflected the heat instead of absorbing it,
and kept down the temperature of the interior.
But when the heavy work, so to speak, had been completed, Minha
intervened with:
"Father, now your care has inclosed and covered us, you must allow us
to arrange our dwelling to please ourselves. The outside belongs to
you, the inside to us.
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