The crater, or, Vulcan's Peak : a tale of the Pacific |
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| 10. | CHAPTER X. |
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 | CHAPTER X. The crater, or, Vulcan's Peak : |  |
10. CHAPTER X.
Of sturdy woodman's axe;
The earth receives the white man's yoke,
And pays her willing tax
Of fruits, and flowers, and golden harvest fields,
And all that nature to blithe labour yields.”
Paulding.
Notwithstanding the great success which attended the
beginning of the whaling, it was six months before the
Rancocus was loaded, and ready to sail for Hamburgh
with her cargo. This time the ship went east, at once,
done—taking with her a crew composed partly of colonists
and partly of Kannakas. Six boys, however, went in the
ship, the children of reputable settlers; all of whom the
governor intended should be officers, hereafter, on board
of colony vessels. To prevent difficulties on the score of
national character, on leaving America the last time,
Saunders had cleared for the islands of the Pacific and a
market; meaning to cover his vessel, let her go where she
might, by the latter reservation. This question of nationality
offered a good deal of embarrassment in the long run,
and the council foresaw future embarrassments as connected
with the subject; but, every one of the colonists
being of American birth, and America being then neutral,
and all the American-built vessels having American papers,
it was thought most prudent to let things take their natural
course, under the existing arrangement, until something
occurred to render a more decided policy advisable.
As soon as the Rancocus got off, the Henlopen went
out again, to cruise about two hundred leagues to windward;
while the inshore fishery was carried on by Betts,
in the Martha, with great spirit and most extraordinary
success. So alive did the people get to be to the profit
and sport of this sort of business, that boats were constructed,
and crews formed all over the colony, there being
often as many as a dozen different parties out, taking
whales near the coasts. The furor existed on the Peak,
as well as in the low lands, and Bridget and Anne could
not but marvel that men would quit the delicious coolness,
the beautiful groves, and all the fruits and bountiful products
of that most delightful plain, to go out on the ocean,
in narrow quarters, and under a hot sun, to risk their lives
in chase of the whale! This did the colonists, nevertheless,
until the governor himself began to feel the necessity
of striking a whale, if he would maintain his proper place
in the public opinion.
As respects the governor, and the other high functionaries
of the colony, some indulgence was entertained; it
being the popular notion that men who lived so much
within doors, and whose hands got to be so soft, were not
exactly the sort of persons who would be most useful at
two younger Woolstons, with the clergyman, were easily
excused in the popular mind; but the governor was known
to be a prime seaman, and a silent expectation appeared to
prevail, that some day he would be seen in the bow of a
boat, lancing a whale. Before the first season was over,
this expectation was fully realized; Governor Woolston
heading no less than four of what were called the colony
boats, or boats that belonged to the state, and fished as
much for honour as profit, taking a fine whale on each
occasion. These exploits of the governor's capped the
climax, in the way of giving a tone to the public mind, on
the subject of taking whales. No man could any longer
doubt of its being honourable, as well as useful, and even
the boys petitioned to be allowed to go out. The Kannakas,
more or less of whom were employed in each vessel,
rose greatly in the public estimation, and no young man
could expect to escape animadversion, unless he had been
present at least once at the taking of a whale. Those who
had struck or lanced a fish were now held in a proportionate
degree of repute. It was, in fact, in this group
that the custom originally obtained, which prohibited a
young man from standing at the head of the dance who
had not struck his fish; and not at Nantucket, as has been
erroneously supposed.
In a community where such a spirit was awakened, it is
not surprising that great success attended the fisheries.
The Henlopen did well, bringing in eight hundred barrels;
but she found six hundred more in waiting for her, that
had been taken by the in-shore fishermen; some using the
Abraham, some the Martha, some the Anne, and others
again nothing but the boats, in which they pursued their
game. In the latter cases, however, when a fish was
taken, one of the larger vessels was usually employed to
take the creature into the Bight. In this way was the oil
obtained, which went to make up a cargo for the Henlopen.
The governor had his doubts about sending this
brig on so distant a voyage, the vessel being so slow; but
there was no choice, since she must go, or the cargo must
remain a long time where it was. The brig was accordingly
filled up, taking in seventeen hundred barrels; and
man named Thomas. Walker remained behind, preferring
to superintend the whaling affairs at home.
So high did the fever run, by this time, that it was determined
to build a couple of vessels, each to measure about
a hundred and eighty tons, with the sole object of using
them to take the whale. Six months after laying their
keels, these little brigs were launched; and lucky it was
that the governor had ordered copper for a ship to be
brought out, since it now came handy for using on these
two craft. But, the whaling business had not been suffered
to lag while the Jonas and the Dragon were on the stocks;
the Anne, and the Martha, and the single boats, being out
near half the time. Five hundred barrels were taken in
this way; and Betts, in particular, had made so much
money, or, what was the same thing, had got so much oil,
that he came one morning to his friend the governor, when
the following interesting dialogue took place between them,
in the audience-chamber of the Colony House. It may as
well be said here, that the accommodations for the chief
magistrate had been materially enlarged, and that he now
dwelt in a suite of apartments that would have been deemed
respectable even in Philadelphia. Bridget had a taste for
furniture, and the wood of Rancocus Island admitted of
many articles being made that were really beautiful, and
which might have adorned a palace. Fine mats had been
brought from China, such as are, and long have been, in
common use in America; neat and quaint chairs and settees
had also been in the governor's invoices, to say nothing
of large quantities of fine and massive earthenware. In a
word, the governor was getting to be rich, and like all
wealthy men, he had a disposition to possess, in a proportionate
degree, the comforts and elegancies of civilized life.
But to come to our dialogue—
“Walk in, Captain Betts—walk in, sir, and do me the
favour to take a chair,” said the governor, motioning to
his old friend to be seated. “You are always welcome,
here; for I do not forget old times, I can assure you, my
friend.”
“Thankee, governor; thankee, with all my heart. I
do find everything changed, now-a-days, if the truth must
and Mr. Woolston, and we seem to sail along in company,
much as we did the time you first went out a foremast-lad,
and I teached you the difference between a flat-knot and a
granny.”
“No, no, Bob, everything is not so much changed as
you pretend—I am not changed, in the first place.”
“I confess it—you be the same, governor, blow high,
or blow low.”
“Then Martha is not changed, or nothing worth mentioning.
A little more matronly, perhaps, and not quite
as much of a girl as when you first made her acquaintance;
but Martha, nevertheless. And, as for her heart, I 'll answer
for it, that is just the colour it was at sixteen.”
“Why, yes, governor; 'tis much as you say. Marthy
is now the mother of four children, and that confarms a
woman's appearance, depend on 't. But, Marthy is Marthy;
and, for that matter, Miss Bridget is Miss Bridget,
as much as one pea is like another. Madam Woolston
does full credit to the climate, governor, and looks more
like eighteen than ever.”
“My wife enjoys excellent health, Betts; and grateful
am I God that it is so. But I think all our women have
a fresh and sea-air sort of look, a cheerful freshness about
them, that I ascribe to the salt and the sea-breezes. Then
we have mountain air, in addition, on the Peak.”
“Ay, ay, sir—I dare say you 've got it right, as you do
most matters. Well, governor, I don't know which counts
up the fastest in the colony, children or whales?”
“Both flourish,” answered Mark, smiling, “as our reports
show. Mr. Secretary tells me that there were, on the
first of the last month, three hundred and eighteen children
in the colony under the age of ten years; of whom no less
than one hundred and ninety-seven are born here—pure
Craterinos, including your children and mine, Betts.”
“It 's a fine beginning, governor—a most capital start;
and, though the young 'uns can't do much at taking a
whale, or securing the ile, just now, they'll come on in
their turns, and be useful when we 're in dock as hulks,
sir.”
“Talking of oil, you must be getting rich, Captain
last week!”
“Times is altered with me, governor; and times is
altered with you, too, sir, since you and I rafted loam and
sea-weed, to raise a few cucumbers, and squashes, and
melons. Then, we should have been as happy as princes
to have had a good roof over our heads.”
“I trust we are both thankful, where thanks are due, for
all this, Betts?”
“Why, yes, sir, I endivour so to be; though men is desperate
apt to believe they desarve all they get but the ill
luck. I and Marthy try to think of what is all in all to us,
and I believe Marthy does make out pretty well, in that
partic'lar, accordin' to Friends' ways; though I am often
jammed in religion, and all for want of taking to it early,
as I sometimes think, sir.”
“There is no doubt, Betts, that men grow in Christian
character, as well as in evil; and the most natural growth,
in all things, is that of the young. A great deal is to be
undone and unlearned, if we put off the important hour to
a late period in life.”
“Well, as to unl'arnin', I suppose a fellow that had as
little edication as myself will have an easy time of it,” answered
Betts, with perfect simplicity and good faith; “for
most of my schoolin' was drowned in salt water by the time
I was twelve.”
“I am glad of one thing,” put in the governor, half in
a congratulating way, and half inquiringly; “and that is,
that the Rev. Mr. Hornblower takes so well with the people.
Everybody appears to be satisfied with his ministrations;
and I do not see that any one is the worse for them,
although he is an Episcopalian.”
Betts twisted about on his chair, and seemed at first unwilling
to answer; but his natural frankness, and his long
habits of intimacy and confidence with Mark Woolston,
both as man and boy, forbade his attempting anything
seriously in the way of concealment.
“Well, governor, they do say that `many men, many
minds,”' he replied, after a brief pause; “and I suppose
it 's as true about religion, as in a judgment of ships, or in
a ch'ice of a wife. If all men took to the same woman, or
and a crowded and onhealthy vessel, would be the
upshot on't.”
“We have a choice given us by Providence, both as to
ships and as to wives, Captain Betts; but no choice is
allowed any of us in what relates to religion. In that, we
are to mind the sailor's maxim, `to obey orders if we break
owners.”'
“Little fear of `breaking owners,' I fancy, governor.
But, the difficulty is to know what orders is. Now, Friends
doesn't hold, at all, to dressing and undressing in church
time; and I think, myself, books is out of place in praying
to God.”
“And is there much said among the people, Captain
Betts, about the parson's gown and surplice, and about his
reading his prayers, instead of writing them out, and getting
them by heart?”
There was a little malice in the governor's question, for
he was too much behind the curtain to be the dupe of any
pretending claims to sudden inspirations, and well knew
that every sect had its liturgy, though only half-a-dozen
have the honesty to print them. The answer of his friend
was, as usual, frank, and to the point.
“I cannot say but there is, Mr. Mark. As for the
clothes, women will talk about them, as you well know,
sir; it being their natur' to be dressing themselves out, so
much. Then as to praying from the book, quite half of
our people think it is not any better than no praying at all.
A little worse, perhaps, if truth was spoken.”
“I am sorry to hear this, Betts. From the manner in
which they attend the services, I was in hopes that prejudices
were abating, and that everybody was satisfied.”
“I don't think, governor, that there is any great danger
of a mutiny; though, many men, many minds, as I said
before. But, my business here is forgotten all this time;
and I know it is n't with your honour now as it used to be
with us both, when we had nothing to think of but the
means of getting away from this place, into some other
that we fancied might be better. I wish you joy, sir, in
having got the two new brigs into the water.”
“Thank you, Captain Betts. Does your present visit
relate to either of those brigs?”
“Why, to come to the p'int, it does, sir. I 've taken
a fancy to the Dragon, and should like to buy her.”
“Buy her! Have you any notion what such a vessel
will cost, Betts?”
“Not a great way from eight thousand dollars, I should
think, governor, now that the copper is on. Some things
is charged high, in this part of the world, about a wessel,
and other some is n't. Take away the copper, and I should
think a good deal less would buy either.”
“And have you eight thousand dollars at command, my
friend, with which to purchase the brig?”
“If ile is money, yes; if ile is n't money, no. I 've got
three hundred barrels on hand, one hundred of which is
head-matter.”
“I rejoice to hear this, Captain Betts, and the brig you
shall have. I thought to have sold both to the merchants,
for I did not suppose any one else, here, could purchase
them; but I would greatly prefer to see one of them in the
hands of an old friend. You shall have the Dragon, Betts,
since you like her.”
“Done and done between gentlemen, is enough, sir;
not that I set myself up for a gentleman, governor, but I 've
lived too long and too much in your respected society not
to have l'arn'd some of the ways. The brig 's mine, if ile
will pay for her. And now, sir, having completed the
trade, I should like to know if your judgment and mine be
the same. I say the Dragon will beat the Jonas half a
knot, the best day the Jonas ever seed.”
“I do not know but you are right, Bob. In looking at
the two craft, last evening, I gave the preference to the
Dragon, though I kept my opinion to myself, lest I might
mortify those who built the Jonas.”
“Well, sir, I 'm better pleased to hear this, than to be
able to pay for the brig! It is something to a plain body
like myself, to find his judgment upheld by them that know
all about a matter.”
In this friendly and perfectly confidential way did Mark
Woolston still act with his old and long-tried friend, Robert
Betts. The Dragon was cheap at the money mentioned,
at the very top of the market. This purchase at once elevated
Betts in the colony, to a rank but a little below that
of the `gentlemen,' if his modesty disposed him to decline
being classed absolutely with them. What was more, it
put him in the way of almost coining money. The brig
he purchased turned out to be as fast as he expected, and
what was more, the character of a lucky vessel, which she
got the very first cruise, never left her, and gave her commander
and owner, at all times, a choice of hands.
The governor sold the Jonas to the merchants, and took
the Martha off Betts' hands, causing this latter craft to
run regularly, and at stated hours, from point to point
among the islands, in the character of a packet. Twice a
week she passed from the Reef to the Cove at the Peak,
and once a fortnight she went to Rancocus Island. In
addition to her other duties, this sloop now carried the
mail.
A post-office law was passed by the council, and was
approved of by the governor. In that day, and in a community
so simple and practical, new-fangled theories concerning
human rights were not allowed to interfere with
regulations that were obviously necessary to the comfort
and convenience of the public.
Fortunately, there was yet no newspaper, a species of
luxury, which, like the gallows, comes in only as society
advances to the corrupt condition; or which, if it happen
to precede it a little, is very certain soon to conduct it
there. If every institution became no more than what it
was designed to be, by those who originally framed it, the
state of man on earth would be very different from what it
is. The unchecked means of publicity, out of all question,
are indispensable to the circulation of truths; and it is
equally certain that the unrestrained means of publicity
are equally favourable to the circulation of lies. If we
cannot get along safely without the possession of one of
these advantages, neither can we get along very safely
while existing under the daily, hourly, increasing influence
of the other—call it what you will. If truth is all-important,
in one sense, falsehood is all-important too, in a contrary
sense.
Had there been a newspaper at the Crater, under the
control of some philosopher, who had neither native talent,
nor its substitute education, but who had been struck out
of a printer's devil by the rap of a composing-stick, as
Minerva is reported to have been struck, full-grown, out
of Jupiter's head by the hammer of Vulcan, it is probable
that the wiseacre might have discovered that it was an
inexcusable interference with the rights of the colonists,
to enact that no one should carry letters for hire, but those
connected with the regular post-office. But, no such person
existing, the public mind was left to the enjoyment of
its common-sense ignorance, which remained satisfied with
the fact that, though it might be possible to get a letter
carried from the Reef to the Cove, between which places
the communications were constant and regular, for half the
money charged by the office, yet it was not possible to get
letters carried between some of the other points in the
colony for twenty times the regulated postage. It is probable,
therefore, that the people of the Crater and the Peak felt,
that in supporting a general system, which embraced the
good of all, they did more towards extending civilization,
than if they killed the hen, at once, in order to come at
the depository of the golden eggs, in the shortest way.
In the middle ages, he who wished to send a missive,
was compelled, more than half the time, to be at the expense
of a special messenger. The butchers, and a class
of traders that corresponds, in part, to the modern English
traveller, took charge of letters, on the glorious Free Trade
principle; and sometimes public establishments hired messengers
to go back and forth, for their own purposes.
Then, the governments, perceiving the utility of such arrangements,
imperfect as they were, had a sort of post-offices
for their use, which have reached down to our own
times, in the shape of government messengers. There can
be little doubt that the man who found he could get a letter
safely and promptly conveyed five hundred miles for a
crown, after having been obliged previously to pay twenty
for the same service, felt that he was the obliged party,
and never fancied for a moment, that, in virtue of his
patronage, he was entitled to give himself airs, and to
stand upon his natural right to have a post-office of his
and the very men who receive the highest favours
from the post-offices of this country, in which a letter is
carried five-and-twenty hundred miles for ten cents, penetrating,
through some fourteen or fifteen thousand offices,
into every cranny of a region large as half Europe, kicks
and grows restive because he has not the liberty of doing
a few favoured portions of the vast enterprise for himself;
while he imposes on the public the office of doing that
which is laborious and unprofitable! Such is man; such
did he become when he fell from his first estate; and such
is he likely to continue to be until some far better panacea
shall be discovered for his selfishness and cupidity, than
what is called `self-government.'
But the Craterinos were thankful when they found that
the Martha was set to running regularly, from place to
place, carrying passengers and the mails. The two businesses
were blended together for the sake of economy, and
at the end of a twelvemonth it was found that the colony
had nothing extra to pay. On the whole, the enterprise
may be said to have succeeded; and as practice usually
improves all such matters, in a few months it was ascertained
that another very important step had been taken on
the high-road of civilization. Certainly, the colonists could
not be called a letter-writing people, considered as a whole,
but the facilities offered a temptation to improve, and, in
time, the character of the entire community received a
beneficial impression from the introduction of the mails.
It was not long after the two brigs were sold, and just
as the Martha came into government possession, that all
the principal functionaries made a tour of the whole settlements,
using the sloop for that purpose. One of the
objects was to obtain statistical facts; though personal observation,
with a view to future laws, was the principal
motive. The governor, secretary, attorney-general, and
most of the council were along; and pleasure and business
being thus united, their wives were also of the party.
There being no necessity for remaining in the Martha at
night, that vessel was found amply sufficient for all other
purposes, though the “progress” occupied fully a fortnight.
As a brief relation of its details will give the reader a full
now began to call their territories, we propose to accompany
the travellers, day by day, and to give some short account
of what they saw, and of what they did. The
Martha sailed from the cove about eight in the morning,
having on board seventeen passengers, in addition to two
or three who were going over to Rancocus Island on their
regular business. The sloop did not sail, however, directly
for the last-named island, but made towards the volcano,
which had of late ceased to be as active as formerly, and
into the condition of which it was now deemed important
to make some inquiries. The Martha was a very fast vessel,
and was soon quietly anchored in a small bay, on the
leeward side of the island, where landing was not only
practicable but easy. For the first time since its existence
the crater was ascended. All the gentlemen went up,
and Heaton took its measurement by means of instruments.
The accumulation of materials, principally ashes
and scoriæ, though lava had begun to appear in one or two
small streams, had been very great since the governor's
first visit to the spot. The island now measured about two
miles in diameter, and being nearly round, might be said
to be somewhere near six in circumference. The crater
itself was fully half a mile in diameter, and, at that moment,
was quite a thousand feet in height above the sea.
In the centre of this vast valley, were three smaller craters
or chimneys, which served as outlets to the fires beneath.
A plain had formed within the crater, some four hundred
feet below its summit, and it already began to assume that
sulphur-tinged and unearthly hue, that is so common in
and about active volcanoes. Occasionally, a deep roaring
would be succeeded by a hissing sound, not unlike that
produced by a sudden escape of steam from a boiler, and
then a report would follow, accompanied by smoke and
stones; some of the latter of which were projected several
hundred yards into the air, and fell on the plain of the
crater. But these explosions were not one-tenth as frequent
as formerly.
The result of all the observations was to create an impression
that this outlet to the fires beneath was approaching
a period when it would become inactive, and when,
made. After passing half-a-day on and around the volcano,
even Bridget and Anne mustered courage and
strength to ascend it, supported by the willing arms of
their husbands. The females were rewarded for their
trouble, though both declared that they should ever feel a
most profound respect for the place after this near view of
its terrors as well as of its beauties.
On quitting the volcano, the Martha proceeded directly
to leeward, reaching Rancocus Island about sunset. Here
the sloop anchored in the customary haven, and everybody
but her crew landed. The fort was still kept up at this
place, on account of the small number of the persons who
dwelt there, though little apprehension now existed of a
visit from the natives; with the exception of the Kannakas,
who went back and forth constantly on board the different
craft in which they were employed, not a native had been
near either island of the colony since the public visit of
young Ooroony, on the occasion of bringing over labourers
to help to form the grounds of Colony House. The number
and force of the different vessels would seem to have permanently
settled the question of ascendency in those seas,
and no one any longer believed it was a point to be controverted.
The population on Rancocus Island did not amount to
more than fifty souls, and these included women and
children. Of the latter, however, there were not yet
many; though five or six were born annually, and scarcely
one died. The men kept the mill going, cutting lumber
of all sorts; and they made both bricks and lime, in sufficient
quantities to supply the wants of the two other
islands. At first, it had been found necessary to keep a
greater force there, but, long before the moment of which
we are writing, the people had all got into their regular
dwellings, and the materials now required for building
were merely such as were used in additions, or new constructions.
The last, however, kept the men quite actively
employed; but, as they got well paid for their work,
everybody seemed contented. The Martha never arrived
without bringing over quantities of fruits, as well as vegetables,
the Rancocusers, lumber-men like, paying but little
productions, and there was available land enough, perhaps,
to support a few thousand people, but, after the group and
the Peak, the place seemed so little tempting to the farmers,
that no one yet thought of using it for the ordinary
means of supporting life. The “visitors,” as the party
called themselves, had an inquiry made into the state of
the animals that had been turned loose, on the pastures and
mountain-sides of the island, to seek their own living.
The hogs, as usual, had increased largely; it was supposed
there might be near two hundred of these animals,
near half of which, however, were still grunters. The
labourers occasionally killed one, but the number grew so
fast that it was foreseen it would be necessary to have an
annual hunt, in order to keep it down. The goats did
particularily well, though they remained so much on the
highest peaks as to be seldom approached by any of the
men. The cow had also increased her progeny, there
being now no less than four younger animals, all of whom
yielded milk to the people. The poultry flourished here,
as it did in all that region, the great abundance of fruit,
worms, insects, &c. rendering it unnecessary to feed them,
though Indian-corn was almost to be had for the asking,
throughout all the islands. This grain was rarely harvested,
except as it was wanted, and the hogs that were
fattened were usually turned in upon it in the fields.
It may be well to say, that practice and experience had
taught the colonists something in the way of fattening their
pork. The animals were kept in the group until they were
about eighteen months old, when they were regularly transported
to the cove, in large droves, and made to ascend the
steps, passing the last two months of their lives amid the
delightful groves of the Peak. Here they had acorns in
abundance, though their principal food was Indian corn,
being regularly attended by Kannakas who had been trained
to the business. At killing-time, each man either came
himself, or sent some one to claim his hogs; all of which
were slaughtered on the Peak, and carried away in the
form of pork. The effect of this change was to make
much finer meat, by giving the animals a cooler atmosphere
and purer food.
From Rancocus Island the Martha sailed for the group,
which was visited and inspected in all its settlements by the
governor and council. The policy adopted by the government
of the colony was very much unlike that resorted to
in America, in connection with the extension of the settlements.
Here a vast extent of surface is loosely overrun,
rendering the progress of civilization rapid, but very imperfect.
Were the people of the United States confined to
one-half the territory they now occupy, there can be little
question that they would be happier, more powerful, more
civilized, and less rude in manners and feelings; although
it may be high treason to insinuate that they are not all,
men, women and children, already at the ne plus ultra of
each of those attainments. But there is a just medium in
the density of human population, as well as in other things;
and that has not yet been reached, perhaps, even in the
most thickly peopled of any one of the Old Thirteen.
Now, Mark Woolston had seen enough of the fruits of a
concentrated physical force, in Europe, to comprehend their
value; and he early set his face against the purely skimming
process. He was resolved that the settlements should
not extend faster than was necessary, and that as much of
civilization should go with them as was attainable. In
consequence of this policy, the country soon obtained a
polished aspect, as far as the settlements reached. There
were four or five distinct points that formed exceptions to
this rule, it having been considered convenient to make
establishments there, principally on account of the whalers.
One, and the largest of these isolated settlements, was in
the Whaling Bight, quite near to Blubber Island, where a
village had sprung up, containing the houses and shops
of coopers, rope-makers, boat-builders, carpenters, blacksmiths,
&c.; men employed in making casks, whaling
gear, and boats. There also were the dwellings of three
or four masters and mates of vessels, as well as of sundry
boat-steerers. In the whole, there might have been fifty
habitations at this particular point; of which about two-thirds
were in a straggling village, while the remainder
composed so many farm-houses. Everything at this place
denoted activity and a prosperous business; the merchants
taking the oil as fast as it was ready, and returning for it,
wanted for the trade.
By this time, the Rancocus had returned, and had discharged
her inward-bound cargo at the Reef, bringing
excellent returns for the oil sent to Hamburgh. She now
lay in Whaling Bight, being about to load anew with oil
that had been taken during her absence. Saunders was as
busy as a bee; and Mrs. Saunders, who had come across
from her own residence on the Peak, in order to remain as
long as possible with her husband, was as happy as the day
was long; seeming never to tire of exhibiting her presents
to the other women of the Bight.
At the Reef itself, an exceedingly well-built little town
was springing up. Since the removal of the whaling operations
to the Bight, all nuisances were abated, and the
streets, quays, and public walks were as neat as could be
desired. The trees had grown wonderfully, and the gardens
appeared as verdant and fresh as if they had a hundred
feet of loam beneath them, instead of resting on solid
lava, as was the fact. These gardens had increased in
numbers and extent, so that the whole town was embedded
in verdure and young trees. That spot, on which the sun
had once beaten so fiercely as to render it often too hot to
be supported by the naked foot, was now verdant, cool,
and refreshing, equally to the eye and to the feelings. The
streets were narrow, as is desirable in warm climates —
thus creating shade, as well as increasing the draughts of
air through them; it being in the rear that the houses obtained
space for ventilation as well as for vegetation. The
whole number of dwellings on the Reef now amounted to
sixty-four; while the warehouses, public buildings, ships,
offices, and other constructions, brought the number of the
roofs up to one hundred. These buildings, Colony House
and the warehouses excepted, were not very large certainly;
but they were of respectable dimensions, and neat
and well put together. Colony House was large, as has
been mentioned; and though plain, certain ornaments had
been completed, which contributed much to its appearance.
Every building, without exception, had some sort
of verandah to it; and as most of these additions were
now embowered in shrubs or vines, they formed delightful
places of retreat during the heat of the day.
By a very simple process, water was pumped up from the
largest spring by means of wind-sails, and conveyed in
wooden logs to every building in the place. The logs
were laid through the gardens, for the double purpose of
getting soil to cover them, and to put them out of the way.
Without the town, a regular system had been adopted, by
which to continue to increase the soil. The rock was
blown out, as stone was wanted; leaving, however, a quay
around the margin of the island. As soon as low enough,
the cavities became the receptacles of everything that could
contribute to form soil; and one day in each month was
set apart for a “bee;” during which little was done but to
transport earth from Loam Island, which was far from
being exhausted yet, or even levelled, and scattering it on
those hollow spots. In this manner, a considerable extent
of surface, nearest to the town, had already been covered,
and seeded, and planted, so that it was now possible to walk
from the town to the crater, a distance of a quarter of a
mile, and be the whole time amid flowering shrubs, young
trees, and rich grasses!
As for the crater itself, it was now quite a gem in the
way of vegetation. Its cocoa-nut trees bore profusely; and
its figs, oranges, limes, shaddocks, &c. &c., were not only
abundant, but rich and large. The Summit was in spots
covered with delicious groves, and the openings were of as
dark a verdure, the year round, as if the place lay twenty
degrees farther from the equator than was actually the
case. Here Kitty, followed by a flock of descendants, was
permitted still to rove at large, the governor deeming her
rights in the place equal to his own. The plain of the
crater was mostly under tillage, being used as a common
garden for all who dwelt in the town. Each person was
taxed so many days, in work, or in money, agreeably to a
village ordinance, and by such means was the spot tilled;
in return, each person, according to a scale that was regulated
by the amount of the contribution, was allowed to
come or send daily, and dig and carry away a stated quantity
of fruits and vegetables. All this was strictly regulated
by a town law, and the gardener had charge of the
execution of the ordinance; but the governor had privately
very particular, so long as the people were so few, and the
products so abundant. The entire population of the Reef
proper amounted, at this visitation, to just three hundred
and twenty-six persons, of whom near a hundred were
under twelve years of age. This, however, was exclusively
of Kannakas, but included the absent seamen, whose families
dwelt there permanently.
The settlement at Dunks' Cove has been mentioned, and
nothing need be said of it, beyond the fact that its agriculture
had improved and been extended, its trees had
grown, and its population increased. There was another
similar settlement at East Cove—or Bay would be the better
name—which was at the place where Mark Woolston
had found his way out to sea, by passing through a narrow
and half-concealed inlet. This entrance to the group was
now much used by the whalers, who fell in with a great
many fish in the offing, and who found it very convenient
to tow them into this large basin, and cut them up. Thence
the blubber was sent down in lighters to Whaling Bight, to
be tryed out. This arrangement saved a tow of some five-and-twenty
miles, and often prevented a loss of the fish, as
sometimes occurred in the outside passage, by having it
blown on an iron-bound coast. In consequence of these
uses of the place, a settlement had grown up near it, and
it already began to look like a spot to be civilized. As
yet, however, it was the least advanced of all the settlements
in the group.
At the West Bay, there was a sort of naval station and
look-out port, to watch the people of the neighbouring islands.
The improvements did not amount to much, however,
being limited to one farm, a small battery that commanded
the roads, and a fortified house, which was also a
tavern.
The agricultural, or strictly rural population of the
group, were seated along the different channels nearest to
the Reef. Some attention had been paid, in the choice, to
the condition of the soil; but, on the whole, few unoccupied
spots could now be found within a league of the Reef, and
on any of the principal passages that communicated with
the different islands. There were foot-paths, which might
margins of the channels; but the channels themselves were
the ordinary means of communicating between neighbours.
Boats of all sorts abounded, and were constantly passing
and repassing. Here, as elsewhere, the vegetation was
luxuriant and marvellous. Trees were to be seen around
the houses, that elsewhere might have required three times
the number of years that these had existed, to attain the
same height.
The visitation terminated at the Peak. This place, so
aptly likened to the garden of Eden, and frequently so
called, could receive very little addition to its picturesque
beauties from the hand of man. Parts of it were cultivated,
it is true; enough to supply its population (rather
more than three hundred souls) with food; but much the
greater portion of its surface was in pasture. The buildings
were principally of stones quarried out of the cliffs,
and were cool as well as solid edifices. They were low,
however, and of no great size on the ground. At the governor's
farm, his private property, there was a dwelling of
some pretension; low, like all the rest, but of considerable
extent. Here Bridget now passed much of her time; for
here it was thought best to keep the children. So cool and
salubrious was the air on the Peak, that two schools were
formed here; and a large portion of the children of the
colony, of a suitable age, were kept in them constantly.
The governor encouraged this plan, not only on account
of the health of the children, but because great care was
taken to teach nothing but what the children ought to
learn. The art of reading may be made an instrument of
evil, as well as of good; and if a people imbibe false principles—if
they are taught, for instance, that this or that
religious sect should be tolerated, or the reverse, because it
was most or least in conformity with certain political institutions,
thus rendering an institution of God's subservient
to the institutions of men, instead of making the last subservient
to the first—why, the less they know of letters, the
better. Everything false was carefully avoided, and, with
no great pretensions in the way of acquisitions, the schools
of the Peak were made to be useful, and at least innocent.
One thing the governor strictly enjoined; and that was, to
carefully avoiding the modern fallacy of supposing that an
infallible whole could be formed of fallible parts.
Such is an outline of the condition of the colony at the
period which we have now reached. Everything appeared
to be going on well. The Henlopen arrived, discharged,
loaded, and went out again, carrying with her the last barrel
of oil in the Bight. The whalers had a jubilee, for
their adventures made large returns; and the business was
carried on with renewed spirit. In a word, the colony had
reached a point where every interest was said to be presperous—a
state of things with communities, as with individuals,
when they are, perhaps, in the greatest danger of
meeting with reverses, by means of their own abuses.
| CHAPTER X. The crater, or, Vulcan's Peak : | |