 Apart from the animal oil, this method of roof construction continues to be used.The walls, likewise, were often whitewashed, giving the island a faux snowcover if seen from a distance, though American author Mark Twain preferred to liken it to cake icing, "the white of marble...modest and retiring [in comparison]".French botanist André Michaux, on the other hand, found the reflective glare of the roofs fatiguing.