University of Virginia Library

7. CHAPTER VII.

The Sabbath ever dawns on the piously-inclined, with
hope and a devout gratitude to the Creator for all his mercies.
This is more apt to be the case in genial seasons,
and rural abodes, perhaps, than amidst the haunts of men,
and when the thoughts are diverted from the proper channels
by the presence of persons around us. Still greater
is the influence of absolute solitude, and that increased by
the knowledge of a direct and visible dependence on the
Providence of God, for the means of even prolonging existence.
In the world, men lose sight of this dependence,
fancying themselves and their powers of more account
than the truth would warrant, and even forgetting whence
these very boasted powers are derived; but man, when
alone, and in critical circumstances, is made to feel that
he is not sufficient for his own wants, and turns with humility
and hope to the divine hand that upholds him.

With feelings of this character, did Mark and Betts keep
their first Sabbath on the reef. The former read the
morning service, from beginning to end, while the latter
sat by, an attentive listener. The only proof given of any
difference in religious faith between our mariners, was of
so singular a nature as to merit notice. Notwithstanding
Bob's early familiarity with Mark, his greater age, and the
sort of community of feeling and interest created by their
common misfortune, the former had not ceased to treat the
last with the respect due to his office. This deference
never deserted him, and he had not once since the ship
was embayed, entered the cabin without pulling off his hat.
As soon as church commenced, however, Bob resumed his

tarpaulin, as a sort of sign of his own orthodoxy in the
faith of his fathers; making it a point to do as they had
done in meeting, and slightly concerned lest his companion
might fall into the error of supposing he was a man likely
to be converted. Mark also observed that, in the course
of that Sabbath, Bob used the pronouns `thee' and `thou,'
on two or three occasions, sounding oddly enough in the
mouth of the old salt.

Well did both our mariners prove the efficacy of the
divine provision of a day of rest, in a spiritual sense, on
the occasion of this their first Sabbath on the reef. Mark
felt far more resigned to his fate than he could have believed
possible, while Betts declared that he should be
absolutely happy, had he only a better boat than the dingui;
not that the dingui was at all a bad craft of its kind, but
it wanted size. After the religious services, for which
both our mariners had shaved and dressed, they took a
walk together, on the reef, conversing of their situation
and future proceedings. Bob then told Mark, for the first
time, that, in his opinion, there was the frame and the
other materials of a pinnace, or a large boat, somewhere
in the hold, which it was intended to put together, when
the ship reached the islands, as a convenience for cruising
about among them to trade with the savages, and to transport
sandal-wood. The mate had never heard of this boat,
but acknowledged that a part of the hold had been stowed
while he was up at Bristol, and it might have been taken
in then. Bob confessed that he had never seen it, though
he had worked in the stevedore's gang; but was confident
he had heard Friend Abraham White and Captain Crutchely
talking of its dimensions and uses. According to his
recollection it was to be a boat considerably larger than
the launch, and to be fitted with masts and sails, and to
have a half-deck. Mark listened to all this patiently,
though he firmly believed that the honest fellow was deceiving
himself the whole time. Such a craft could scarcely
be in the ship, and he not hear of it, if he did not actually
see it; though he thought it possible that the captain and
owners may have had some such plan in contemplation,
and conversed together on it, in Betts's presence. As
there were plenty of tools on board, however, by using

stuff of one sort or another, that was to be found in the
ship, Mark had strong hopes of their being able, between
them, to construct, in the course of time—though he believed
a long time might be necessary—a craft of some
sort, that should be of sufficient stability to withstand the
billows of that ordinarily mild sea, and enable them to return
to their homes and friends. In conversing of things
of this sort, in religious observances, and in speculating
on the probable fate of their shipmates, did our mariners
pass this holy day. Bob was sensibly impressed with the
pause in their ordinary pursuits, and lent himself to the
proper feelings of the occasion with a zeal and simplicity
that gave Mark great satisfaction; for, hitherto, while
aware that his friend was as honest a fellow as ever lived,
in the common acceptation of such a phrase, he had not
supposed him in the least susceptible of religious impressions.
But the world had suddenly lost its hold on Betts,
the barrier offered by the vast waters of the Pacific, being
almost as impassable, in his actual circumstances, as that
of the grave; and the human heart turns to God in its
direst distress, as to the only being who can administer
relief. It is when men are prosperous that they vainly
imagine they are sufficient for their own wants, and are
most apt to neglect the hand that alone can give durable
support.

The following morning our mariners resumed their more
worldly duties with renewed powers. While the kettle
was boiling for their tea, they rolled ashore a couple of
empty water-casks, and filled them with fresh water, at one
of the largest natural reservoirs on the reef; it having
rained hard in the night. After breakfast, Mark walked
round to examine his piles of loam, in the crater, while
Bob pulled away in the dingui, to catch a few fish, and to
get a new cargo of the earth; it being the intention of
Mark to join him at the next trip, with the raft, which required
some little arranging, however, previously to its
being used for such a purpose. The rain of the past night
had thoroughly washed the pile of earth, and, on tasting
it, Mark was convinced that much of the salt it contained
had been carried off. This encouraged him to persevere
in his gardening projects. As yet, the spring had only

just commenced, and he was in hopes of being able to
prepare one bed, at least, in time to obtain useful vegetables
from it.

The Rancocus had a great many planks and boards in
her hold, a part of the ample provision made by her owners
for the peculiar voyage on which she had been sent.
Of real cargo, indeed, she had very little, the commerce
between the civilized man and the savage being ordinarily
on those great principles of Free Trade, of which so much
is said of late years, while so little is understood, and which
usually give the lion's share of the profit to them who need
it least. With some of these planks, Mark made a staging
for his raft. By the time he was ready, Bob returned with
a load of loam, and, on the next outward voyage, the raft
was taken as well as the dingui. Mark had fitted pins and
grummets, by which the raft was rowed, he and Bob impelling
it, when light, very easily at the rate of two miles
in the hour.

Mark found Bett's deposit of decayed vegetable matter
even larger and more accessible than he had hoped for.
A hundred loads might be got without even using a wheelbarrow;
and to all appearances there was enough of it to
give a heavy dressing to many acres, possibly to the whole
area of the crater. The first thing the young man did was
to choose a suitable place, dig it well up, mixing a sufficiency
of guano with it, agreeably to Betts's directions,
and then to put in some of his asparagus roots. After this
he scattered a quantity of the seed, raking the ground well
after sowing. By the time this was done, Bob had both
dingui and raft loaded, when they pulled the last back to
the reef, towing the boat. In this manner our two mariners
continued to work most of the time, for the next fortnight,
making, daily, more or less trips to the `loam-rock,'
as they called the place where this precious deposit had
been made; though they neglected none of their other necessary
duties. As the distance was short, they could
come and go many times in a day, transporting at each
trip about as much of the loam as would make an ordinary
American cart-load of manure. In the whole, by Mark's
computation, they got across about fifty of these cargoes,
in the course of their twelve days' work. The entire day,

however, was on no occasion given up wholly to this pursuit.
On the contrary, many little odd tasks were completed,
which were set by their necessities, or by forethought
and prudence. All the empty water-casks, for one
thing, were rolled ashore, and filled at the largest pool;
the frequency of the rains admonishing them of the wisdom
of making a provision for the dry season. The Rancocus
had a good deal of water still left in her, some of it being
excellent Delaware river water, though she had filled up
at Valparaiso, after passing the Horn. Mark counted the
full casks, and allowing ten gallons a day for Bob and himself,
a good deal more than could be wanted, there remained
in the ship fresh water enough to last them two
years. It is true, it was not such water as the palate often
craved of a warm day; but they were accustomed to it, and
it was sweet. By keeping it altogether between decks, the
sun had no power on it, and it was even more palatable
than might have been supposed. Mark occasionally longed
for one good drink at some gushing spring that he remembered
at home, it is true; and Bob was a little in the habit
of extolling a particular well that, it would seem, his family
were reputed to have used for several generations. Notwithstanding
these little natural backslidings on this subject,
our mariners might be thought well off on the score
of water, having it in great abundance, and with no reasonable
fear of ever losing it altogether. The casks taken
ashore were filled for their preservation, as well as for convenience,
an old sail being spread over them, after they
were rolled together and chocked. As yet, no water was
given to any of the stock, all the animals finding it in
abundance, in the cavities of the lava.

Some of the time, moreover, Betts passed in fishing,
supplying not only Mark and himself, but the pigs and the
poultry, with as much food as was desired. Several of the
fish caught turned out to be delicious, while others were
of a quality that caused them to be thrown into the compost
heap. A cargo of guano was also imported, the rich
manure being mixed up in liberal quantities with the loam.
At the end of the first week of these voyages to `loam-rock,'
Betts went out to fish in a new direction, passing to
windward of the `sea-wall,' as they called the reef that

protected the ship, and pulling towards a bit of naked rock,
a short distance beyond it, where he fancied he might find
a particular sort of little fish, that greatly resembled the
Norfolk Hog-fish, one of the most delicious little creatures
for the pan that is to be found in all the finny tribe. He
had been gone a couple of hours, when Mark, who was at
work within the crater, picking up the encrusted ashes that
formed its surface, heard Bob's shout outside, as if he
wished assistance. Throwing down the pick, our young
man ran out, and was not a little surprised to see the sort
of cargo with which Bob was returning to port. It would
seem that a great collection of sea-weed had formed to
windward of the rock where Bob had gone to fish, at which
spot it ordinarily gathered in a pile until the heap became
too large to lodge any longer, when, owing to the form of
the rock, it invariably broke adrift, and passed to the
southward of the Reef, floating to leeward, to fetch up on
some other rock, or island, in that direction. Bob had
managed to get this raft round a particular point in the
reef, when the wind and current carried it, as near as
might be, directly towards the crater. He was calling to
Mark to come to his assistance, to help get the raft into a
sort of bay, ahead of him, where it might be lodged; else
would there be the danger of its drifting past the Reef,
after all his pains. Our young man saw, at once, what
was wanted, got a line, succeeded in throwing it to Bob,
and by hauling upon it brought the whole mass ashore in
the very spot Betts wished to see it landed.

This sea-weed proved to be a great acquisition on more
accounts than one. There was as much of it in quantity
as would have made two good-sized loads of hay. Then,
many small shell-fish were found among it, which the pigs
and poultry ate with avidity. It also contained seeds, that
the fowls picked up as readily as if it had been corn. The
hogs moreover masticated a good deal of the weed, and
poor Kitty, the only one of the domestic animals on the
Reef that was not now living to its heart's content, nibbled
at it, with a species of half-doubting faith in its salubrity.
Although it was getting to be late in the afternoon, Mark
and Bob got two of Friend Abraham White's pitchforks
(for the worthy Quaker had sent these, among other implements

of husbandry, as a peace-offering to the Fejee
savages), and went to work with a hearty good-will, landed
all this weed, loaded it up, and wheeled it into the crater,
leaving just enough outside to satisfy the pigs and the
poultry. This task concluded the first week of the labour
already mentioned.

At the termination of the second week, Mark and Betts
held a council on the subject of their future proceedings.
At this consultation it was decided that it would be better
to finish the picking up of a considerable plot of ground,
one of at least half an acre in extent, that was already
commenced, within the crater, scatter their compost over
it, and spade all up together, and plant, mixing in as much
of the sea-weed as they could conveniently spade under.
Nothwithstanding their success in finding the loam, and
this last discovery of a means of getting sea-weed in large
supplies to the Reef, Mark was not very sanguine of success
in his gardening. The loam appeared to him to be
cold and sour, as well as salt, though a good deal freshened
by the rain since it was put in the crater; and he
knew nothing of the effects of guano, except through the
somewhat confused accounts of Bob. Then the plain of
the crater offered nothing beside a coarse and shelly ashes.
These ashes were deep enough for any agricultural purpose,
it is true, for Mark could work a crowbar down into
them its entire length; but they appeared to him to be
totally wanting in the fertilizing principle. Nor could he
account for the absence of everything like vegetation, on
or about the reef, if the elements of plants of any sort were
to be found in the substances of which it was composed.
He had read, however, that the territory around active
volcanoes, and which was far enough removed from the
vent to escape from the destruction caused by lava, scoriæ
and heat, was usually highly fertile, in consequence of the
ashes and impalpable dust that was scattered in the air;
but seeing no proofs of any such fertility here, he supposed
that the adjacent sea had swallowed up whatever there
might have been of these bountiful gifts. With these impressions,
it is not surprising that Mark was disposed to
satisfy himself with a moderate beginning, in preference

to throwing away time and labour in endeavouring to produce
resources which after all would fail them.

Mark's plan, as laid before his companion, on the occasion
of the council mentioned, was briefly this:—He proposed
to pass the next month in preparing the half-acre
they had commenced upon, and in getting in seed; after
which they could do no more than trust their husbandry
to Providence and the seasons. As soon as done with the
tillage, it was his idea that they ought to overhaul the ship
thoroughly, ascertain what was actually in her, and, if the
materials of the boat mentioned by Betts were really to be
found, to set that craft up as soon as possible, and to get
it into the water. Should they not find the frame and
planks of the pinnace, as Betts seemed to think they would,
they must go to work and get out the best frame they
could themselves, and construct such a craft as their own
skill could contrive. After building such a boat, it was
Mark's opinion that he and Bob could navigate her across
that tranquil ocean, until they reached the coast of South
America, or some of the islands that were known to be
friendly to the white man; for, fifty years ago, it will be
remembered, we did not possess the same knowledge of
the Pacific that we possess to-day, and mariners did not
trust themselves always with confidence among the natives
of its islands. With this plan pretty well sketched out,
then, our mariners saw the first month of their captivity
among the unknown reefs of this remote quarter of the
world, draw to its close.

Mark was a little surprised by a proposal that he received
from Bob, next morning, which was the Sabbath, of
course. “Friends have monthly meetings,” Betts observed,
“and he thought they ought to set up some such day on
the Reef. He was willing to keep Christmas, if Mark
saw fit, but rather wished to pay proper respect to all the
festivals and observances of Friends.” Mark was secretly
amused with this proposition, even while it pleased him.
The monthly meeting of the Quakers was for the secular
part of church business, as much as for the purposes of
religious worship; and Bob having all those concerns in
his own hands, it was not so easy to see how a stated day
was to aid him any in carrying out his church government.

But Mark understood the feeling which dictated this request,
and was disposed to deal gently by it. Betts was
becoming daily more and more conscious of his dependence
on a Divine Providence, in the situation in which he
was thrown; and his mind, as well as his feelings, naturally
enough reverted to early impressions and habits, in
their search for present relief. Bob had not the clearest
notions of either the theory or practice of his sect, but he
remembered much of the last, and believed he should be
acting right by conforming as closely as possible to the
`usages of Friends.' Mark promised to take the matter
into consideration, and to come to some decision on it, at
an early day.

The following Monday it rained nearly the whole morning,
confining our mariners to the ship. They took that
occasion to overhaul the `'twixt-deck' more thoroughly
than had yet been done, and particularly to give the seed-boxes
a close examination. Much of the lumber, and most
of the tools too, were stowed on this deck, and something
like a survey was also made of them. The frame and
other materials of the pinnace were looked for, in addition,
but without any success. If in the ship at all, they were
certainly not betwixt decks. Mark was still of opinion no
such articles would ever be found; but Betts insisted on
the conversation he had overheard, and on his having
rightly understood it. The provision of tools was very
ample, and, in some respects, a little exaggerated in the
way of Friend White's expectations of civilizing the people
of Fejee. It may be well, here, to say a word concerning
the reason that the Rancocus contained so many of these
tributes to civilization. The voyage of the ship, it will
be remembered, was in quest of sandal-wood. This sandal-wood
was to be carried to Canton and sold, and a cargo
of teas taken in with the avails. Now, sandal-wood was
supposed to be used for the purposes of idolatry, being said
to be burned before the gods of that heathenish people.
Idolatry being one of the chiefest of all sins, Friend Abraham
White had many compunctions and misgivings of
conscience touching the propriety of embarking in the
trade at all. It was true, that our knowledge of the Chinese
customs did not extend far enough to render it certain

that the wood was used for the purpose of burning
before idols, some pretending it was made into ornamental
furniture; but Friend Abraham White had heard the first,
and was disposed to provide a set-off, in the event of the
report's being true, by endeavouring to do something towards
the civilization of the heathen. Had he been a
Presbyterian merchant, of a religious turn, it is probable
a quantity of tracts would have been made to answer the
purpose; but, belonging to a sect whose practice was
generally as perfect as its theory is imperfect, Friend
Abraham White's conscience was not to be satisfied with
any such shallow contrivance. It is true that he expected
to make many thousands of dollars by the voyage, and
doubtless would so have done, had not the accident befallen
the ship, or had poor Captain Crutchely drank less
in honour of his wedding-day; but the investment in tools,
seeds, pigs, wheelbarrows, and other matters, honestly intended
to better the condition of the natives of Vanua
Levu and Viti Levu, did not amount to a single cent less
than one thousand dollars, lawful money of the republic.

In looking over the packages, Mark found white clover
seed, and Timothy seed, among other things, in sufficient
quantity to cover most of the mount of the crater. The
weather temporarily clearing off, he called to Bob, and
they went ashore together, Mark carrying some of the
grass seed in a pail, while Betts followed with a vessel to
hold guano. Providing a quantity of the last from a barrel
that had been previously filled with it, and covered to protect
it from the rain, they clambered up the side of the crater.
This was the first time either had ascended since the day
they finished planting there, and Mark approached his hills
with a good deal of freshly-revived interest in their fate.
From them he expected very little, having had no loam to
mix with the ashes; but, by dwelling so much of late on
the subject of tillage, he was not without faint hopes of
meeting with some little reward for the pains he had taken.
The reader will judge of the rapture then, as well as of the
surprise, with which he first saw a hill of melons, already
in the fourth leaf. Here, then, was the great problem
successfully solved. Vegetation had actually commenced
on that hitherto barren mount, and the spot which had lain

—how long, Mark knew not, but probably for a thousand
years, if not for thousands of years, in its nakedness—was
about to be covered with verdure, and blest with fruitfulness.
The inert principles which, brought to act together,
had produced this sudden change from barrenness to fertility,
had probably been near neighbours to each other all
that time, but had failed of bringing forth their fruits, for
the want of absolute contact. So Mark reasoned, for he
nothing doubted that it was Betts's guano that had stimulated
the otherwise barren deposit of the volcano, and
caused his seed to germinate. The tillage may have aided,
as well as the admission of air, light and water; but something
more than this, our young gardener fancied, was
wanting to success. That something the manure of birds,
meliorated and altered by time, had supplied, and lo! the
glorious results were before his eyes.

It would not be easy to pourtray to the reader all the-delight
which these specks of incipient verdure conveyed
to the mind of Mark Woolston. It far exceeded the joy
that would be apt to be awakened by a relief from an apprehension
of wanting food at a distant day, for it resembled
something of the character of a new creation. He
went from hill to hill, and everywhere did he discover
plants, some just peeping through the ashes, others already
in leaf, and all seemingly growing and thriving. Fortunately,
Kitty had not been on the mount for the last fortnight,
her acquired habits, and the total nakedness of the
hills, having kept her below with the other animals, since
her first visits. Mark saw the necessity of keeping her
off the elevation, which she would certainly climb the instant
anything like verdure caught her eyes from below.
He determined, therefore, to confine her to the ship, until
he had taken the precautions necessary to prevent her ascending
the mount. This last was easily enough done.
On the exterior of the hills there were but three places
where even a goat could get up. This was owing to the
circumstance that the base of the ascent rose like a wall,
for some ten or twelve feet, everywhere but at the three
points mentioned. It appeared to Mark as if the sea had
formerly washed around the crater, giving this form to its
bottom, for so wall-like was the rock for these ten or twelve

feet, that it would have defied the efforts of a man for a
long time, to overcome the difficulties of the ascent. At
two of the places where the débris had made a rough footing,
half an hour's work would remove the material, and
leave these spots as impassable as the others. At the third
point, it might require a good deal of labour to effect the
object. At this last place, Mark told Betts it would be
necessary, for the moment, to make some sort of a fence.
Within the crater, it was equally difficult to ascend, except
at one or two places; but these ascents our mariners
thought of improving, by making steps, as the animals
were effectually excluded from the plain within by means
of the sail which served for a curtain at the gateway, or
hole of entrance.

As soon as Mark had recovered a little from his first
surprise, he sent Bob below to bring up some buckets filled
with the earth brought from Loam Rock, or island. This
soil was laid carefully around each of the plants, the two
working alternately at the task, until a bucket-full had
been laid in each hill. Mark did not know it at the time,
but subsequent experience gave him reason to suspect, that
this forethought saved most of his favourites from premature
deaths. Seed might germinate, and the plants shoot
luxuriantly from out of the ashes of the volcano, under the
united influence of the sun and rains, in that low latitude;
but it was questionable whether the nourishment to be derived
from such a soil, if soil it could yet be called, would
prove to be sufficient to sustain the plants, when they got
to be of an age and size to demand all the support they
wanted. So convinced did Mark become, as the season
advanced, of the prudence of what he then did out of a
mere impulse, that he passed hours, subsequently, in raising
loam to the summit of the mount, in order to place it in
the different hills. For this purpose, Bob rigged a little
derrick, and fitted a whip, so that the buckets were whipped
up, sailor-fashion, after two or three experiments made in
lugging them up by hand had suggested to the honest fellow
that there might be a cheaper mode of attaining their
wishes.

When Mark was temporarily satisfied with gazing at his
new-found treasures, he went to work to scatter the grass-seed

over the summit and sides of the crater. Inside, there
was not much motive for sowing anything, the rock being
so nearly perpendicular; but on the outside of the hill, or
`mountain,' as Bob invariably called it, the first ten or
twelve feet excepted, there could be no obstacle to the
seeds taking; though from the want of soil much of it, Mark
knew, must be lost; but, if it only took in spots, and gave
him a few green patches for the eye to rest on, he felt he
should be amply rewarded for his trouble. Bob scattered
guano wherever he scattered grass-seed, and in this way
they walked entirely round the crater, Mark using up at
least half of Friend Abraham White's provision in behalf
of the savages of Fejee, in the way of the grasses. A
genial, soft rain soon came to moisten this seed, and to embed
it with whatever there was of soil on the surface, giving
it every chance to take root that circumstances would
allow.

This preliminary step taken towards covering the face
of the mount with verdure, our mariners went to work to
lay out their garden, regularly, within the crater. Mark
manifested a good deal of ingenuity in this matter. With
occasional exceptions the surface of the plain, or the bottom
of the crater, was an even crust of no great thickness,
composed of concrete ashes, scoriæ, &c., but which
might have borne the weight of a loaded wagon. This
crust once broken, which it was not very difficult to do by
means of picks and crows, the materials beneath were found
loose enough for the purposes of agriculture, almost without
using the spade. Now, space being abundant, Mark drew
lines, in fanciful and winding paths, leaving the crust for
his walks, and only breaking into the loose materials beneath,
wherever he wished to form a bed. This variety
served to amuse him and Betts, and they worked with so
much the greater zeal, as their labours produced objects
that were agreeable to the eye, and which amused them
now, while they promised to benefit them hereafter. As
each bed, whether oval, winding or straight, was dug, the
loam and sea-weed was mixed up in it, in great abundance,
after which it was sown, or planted.

Mark was fully aware that many of Friend Abraham
White's seeds, if they grew and brought their fruits to

maturity, would necessarily change their properties in that
climate; some for the worse, and others for the better.
From the Irish potato, the cabbage, and most of the more
northern vegetables, he did not expect much, under any
circumstances; but, he thought he would try all, and
having several regularly assorted boxes of garden-seeds,
just as they had been purchased out of the shops of Philadelphia,
his garden scarce wanted any plant that was then
known to the kitchens of America.

Our mariners were quite a fortnight preparing, manuring,
and sowing their parterre, which, when complete, occupied
fully half an acre in the very centre of the crater,
Mark intending it for the nucleus of future similar works,
that might convert the whole hundred acres into a garden.
By the time the work was done, the rains were
less frequent, though it still came in showers, and those
that were still more favourable to vegetation. In that fortnight
the plants on the mount had made great advances,
showing the exuberance and growth of a tropical climate.
It sometimes, nay, it often happens, that when the sun is
the most genial for vegetation, moisture is wanting to aid
its power, and, in some respects, to counteract its influence.
These long and periodical droughts, however, are
not so much owing to heat as to other and local causes.
Mark now began to hope, as the spring advanced, that his
little territory was to be exempt, in a great measure, from
the curse of droughts, the trades, and some other causes
that to him were unknown, bringing clouds so often that
not only shed their rain upon his garden, but which served
in a great measure to mitigate a heat that, without shade
of some sort or other, would be really intolerable.

With a view to the approaching summer, our mariners
turned their attention to the constructing of a tent within
the crater. They got some old sails and some spars ashore,
and soon had a spacious, as well as a comfortable habitation
of this sort erected. Not only did they spread a spacious
tent for themselves, within the crater, but they erected
another, or a sort of canopy rather, on its outside, for the
use of the animals, which took refuge beneath it, during
the heats of the day, with an avidity that proved how welcome
it was. This outside shed, or canopy, required a

good deal of care in its construction, to resist the wind;
while that inside scarce ever felt the breeze. This want
of wind, or of air in motion, indeed, formed the most serious
objection to the crater, as a place of residence, in the
hot months; and the want of breeze that was suffered in
the tent, set Mark to work to devise expedients for building
some sort of tent, or habitation, on the mount itself,
where it would be always cool, provided one could get a
protection from the fierce rays of the sun.

After a good deal of search, Mark selected a spot on the
`Summit,' as he began to term the place, and pitched his
tent on it. Holes were made in the soft rocks, and pieces
of spars were inserted, to answer for posts. With a commencement
as solid as this, it was not difficult to make the
walls of the tent (or marquee would be the better word,
since both habitations had nearly upright sides) by means
of an old fore-course. In order to get the canvas up there,
however, it was found necessary to cut out the pieces below,
when, by means of the purchase at the derrick, it was
all hoisted to the Summit.

These several arrangements occupied Mark and Bob
another fortnight, completing the first quarter of a year
they had passed on the Reef. By this time they had got
accustomed to their situation, and had fallen into regular
courses of duty, though the increasing heats admonished
both of the prudence of not exposing themselves too much
beneath the fiery sun at noon-day.