The Crater; or, Vulcan's Peak. A Tale of the Pacific

James Fenimore Cooper

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  • CHAPTER I.
  • CHAPTER II.
  • CHAPTER III.
  • CHAPTER IV.
  • CHAPTER V.
  • CHAPTER VI.
  • CHAPTER VII.
  • CHAPTER VIII.
  • CHAPTER IX.
  • CHAPTER X.
  • CHAPTER XI.
  • CHAPTER XII.
  • CHAPTER XIII.
  • CHAPTER XIV.
  • CHAPTER XV.


  •        "THUS ARISE
    RACES OF LIVING THINGS, GLORIOUS IN STRENGTH,
    AND PERISH, AS THE QUICKENING BREATH OF GOD
    FILLS THEM, OR IS WITHDRAWN."

    BRYANT.

    CHAPTER I.


    "Forthwith a guard at every gun
           Was placed along the wall;
    The beacon blazed upon the roof
           Of Edgecombe's lofty hall;
    And many a fishing bark put out,
           To pry along the coast;
    And with loose rein, and bloody spur
           Rode inland many a post."

    The Spanish Armada. Macauley.

    The building of the houses, and of the schooner, was occupation for everybody, for a long time. The first were completed in season to escape the rains; but the last was on the stocks fully six months after her keel had been laid. The fine weather had returned, even, and she was not yet launched. So long a period had intervened since Waally's visit to Rancocus Island without bringing any results, that the council began to hope the Indians had given up their enterprises, from the consciousness of not having the means to carry them out; and almost every one ceased to apprehend danger from that quarter. In a word, so smoothly did the current of life flow, on the Reef and at Vulcan's Peak, that there was probably more danger of their inhabitants falling into the common and fatal error of men in prosperity, than of anything else; or, of their beginning to fancy that they deserved all the blessings that were conferred on them, and forgetting the hand that bestowed them. As is to recall them to a better sense of things, events now occurred which it is our business to relate, and which aroused the whole colony from the sort of pleasing trance into which they had fallen, by the united influence of security, abundance, and a most seductive climate.

    As time rolled on, in the first place, the number of the colony had begun to augment by natural means. Friend Martha had presented Friend Robert with a little Robert; and Bridget made Mark the happy parent of a very charming girl. This last event occurred about the commencement of the summer, and just a twelvemonth after the happy reunion of the young couple. According to Mark's prophecy, Jones had succeeded with Joan, and they were married even before the expiration of the six months mentioned. On the subject of a marriage ceremony there was no difficulty, Robert and Martha holding a Friends' meeting especially to quiet the scruples of the bride, though she was assured the form could do no good, since the bridegroom did not belong to meeting. The governor read the church service on the occasion, too, which did no harm, if it did no good. About this time, poor Peters, envying the happiness of all around him, and still pining for his Petrina, or Peggy, as he called her himself, begged of the governor the use of the Dido, in order that he might make a voyage to Waally's group in quest of his lost companion. Mark knew how to feel for one in the poor fellow's situation, and he could not think of letting him go alone on an expedition of so much peril. After deliberating on the matter, he determined to visit Rancocus Island himself — not having been in that direction, now, for months—and to go in the Neshamony, in order to take a couple of hogs over; it having long been decided to commence breeding that valuable animal, in the wild state, on the hills of that uninhabited land.

    The intelligence that a voyage was to be made to Rancocus Island seemed to infuse new life into the men of the colony, every one of whom wished to be of the party. The governor had no objection to indulging as many as it might be prudent to permit to go; but he saw the necessity of putting some restraint on the movement. After canvassing the matter in the council, it was determined that, in addition to Mark and Peters, who went of course, the party should consist of Bob, Bigelow, and Socrates. The carpenter was taken to look for trees that might serve to make the ways of the schooner, which had yet to be launched; and the latter was thought necessary in his capacity of a cook. As for Betts, he went along as the governor's counsellor and companion.

    Bridget's little girl was born in the cabin of the ship; and the week preceding that set for the voyage, she and the child were taken across to the Peak, that the former might spend the period of ner husband's absence with Anne, in the Garden of Eden. These absences and occasional visits gave a zest to lives that might otherwise have become too monotonous, and were rather encouraged than avoided. It was, perhaps, a little strange that Bridget rather preferred the Reef than the Peak for a permanent residence; but there was her much-beloved ship, and there she ever had her still more beloved husband for a companion.

    On the appointed day, the Neshamony set sail, having on board a family of three of the swine. The plan for the excursion included a trip to the volcano, which had not yet been actually visited by any of the colonists. Mark had been within a league of it, and Bob had passed quite near to it in his voyage to the Peak; but no one had ever positively landed, or made any of those close examinations of the place, which, besides being of interest in a general way, was doubly so to those who were such near neighbours to a place of the kind. This visit Mark now decided to make on his way to leeward, taking the volcano in his course to Rancocus Island. The détour would lead the Neshamony some fifteen or eighteen leagues on one side; but there was abundance of time, and the volcano ought to be no longer neglected.

    The wind did not blow as fresh as in common, and the Neshamony did not draw near to the volcano until late in the afternoon of the day she sailed. The party approached this place with due caution, and not without a good deal of awe. As the lead was used, it was found that the water shoaled gradually for several leagues, becoming less and less deep as the boat drew near to the cone, which was itself a circular and very regular mountain, of some six or eight hundred feet in height, with a foundation of dry rock and lava, that might have contained a thousand acres. Everything seemed solid and permanent; and our mariners were of opinion there was very little danger of this formation ever disappearing below the surface of the sea again.

    The volcano being in activity, some care was necessary in landing. Mark took the Neshamony to windward, and found a curvature in the rocks where it was possible to get ashore without having the boat knocked to pieces. He and Bob then went as near the cone as the falling stones would allow, and took as good a survey of the place as could be done under the circumstances. That there would be soil, and plenty of it, sooner or later, was plain enough; and that the island might become a scene of fertility and loveliness, in the course of ages, like so many others of volcanic origin in that quarter of the world, was probable. But that day was distant; and Mark was soon satisfied that the great use of the spot was its being a vent to what would otherwise be the pent and dangerous forces that were in the course of a constant accumulation beneath.

    The party had been about an hour on the island, and was about to quit it, when a most startling discovery was made. Bob saw a canoe drawn close in among the rocks to leeward, and, on a further examination, a man was seen near it. At first, this was taken as an indication of hostilities, but, on getting a second look, our mariners were satisfied that nothing of that sort was to be seriously apprehended. It was determined to go nearer to the stranger, at once, and learn the whole truth.

    A cry from Peters, followed by his immediately springing forward to meet a second person, who had left the canoe, and who was bounding like a young antelope to meet him, rendered everything clear sooner even than had been anticipated. All supposed that this eager visiter was a woman, and no one doubted that it was Peggy, the poor fellow's Indian wife. Peggy it proved to be; and after the weeping, and laughing, and caressing of the meeting were a little abated, the following explanation was made by Peters, who spoke the language of his wife with a good leal of facility, and who acted as interpreter.

    According to the accounts now given by Peggy, the warfare between Ooroony and Waally had been kept up with renewed vigour, subsequently to the escape of Jones and her own husband. Fortune had proved fickle, as so often happens, and Waally got to be in the ascendant. His enemy was reduced to great straits, and had been compelled to confine himself to one of the smallest islands of the group, where he was barely able to maintain his party, by means of the most vigilant watchfulness. This left Waally at liberty to pursue his intention of following the party of whites, which was known to have gone to the southward, with so much valuable property, as well as to extend his conquests, by taking possession of the mountain visited by him the year previously. A grand expedition was accordingly planned, and a hundred canoes had actually sailed from the group, with more than a thousand warriors on board, bent on achieving a great exploit. In this expedition, Unus, the brother of Peggy, had been compelled to join, being a warrior of some note, and the sister had come along, in common with some fifty other women; the rank of Unus and Peggy not being sufficient to attract attention to their proceedings. Waally had postponed this, which he intended for the great enterprise of a very turbulent life, to the most favourable season of the year. There was a period of a few weeks every summer, when the trades blew much less violently than was usually the case, and when, indeed, it was no unusual thing to have shifts of wind, as well as light breezes. All this the Indians perfectly well understood, for they were bold navigators, when the sizes and qualities of their vessels were considered. As it appeared, the voyage from the group to Rancocus Island, a distance of fully a hundred leagues, was effected without any accident, and the whole of that formidable force was safely landed at the very spot where Betts had encamped on his arrival out with the colonists. Nearly a month had been passed in exploring the mountain, the first considerable eminence most of the Indians had ever beheld; and in making their preparations for further proceedings. During that time, hundreds had seen Vulcan's Peak, as well as the smoke of the volcano, though the reef, with all its islands, lay too low to be discerned from such a distance. The Peak was now the great object to be attained, for there it was universally believed that Betto (meaning Betts) and his companions had concealed themselves and their much-coveted treasures. Rancocus Island was well enough, and Waally made all his plans for colonizing it at once, but the other, and distant mountain, no doubt was the most desirable territory to possess, or white men would not have brought their women so far in order to occupy it.

    As a matter of course, Unus and Peggy learned the nature of the intended proceedings. The last might have been content to wait for the slower movements of the expedition, had she not ascertained that threats of severely punishing the two deserters, one of whom was her own husband, had been heard to fall from the lips of the dread Waally himself. No sooner, therefore, did this faithful Indian girl become mistress of the intended plan, than she gave her brother no peace until he consented to put off into the ocean with her, in a canoe she had brought from home, and which was her own property. Had not Unus been disaffected to his new chief, this might not so easily have been done, but the young Indian was deadly hostile to Waally, and was a secret friend of Ooroony; a state of feeling which disposed him to desert the former, at the first good opportunity.

    The two adventurers put off from Rancocus Island just at dark, and paddled in the direction that they believed would carry them to the Peak. It will be remembered that the last could not be seen from the ocean, until about half the passage between the islands was made, though it was plainly apparent from the heights of Rancocus, as already mentioned. Next morning, when day returned, the smoke of the volcano was in sight, but no Peak. There is little question that the canoe had been set too much to the southward, and was diagonally receding from its desired point of debarkation, instead of approaching it. Towards the smoke, Unus and his sister continued to paddle, and, after thirty-six hours of nearly unremitted labour, they succeeded in landing at the volcano, ignorant of its nature, awe-struck and trembling, but compelled to seek a refuge there, as the land-bird rests its tired wing on the ship's spars, when driven from the coast by the unexpected gale. When discovered, Peggy and her brother were about to take a fresh start from their resting-place, the Peak being visible from the volcano.

    Mark questioned these two friends concerning the contemplated movement of Waally, with great minuteness, Unsus was intelligent for a savage, and appeared to understand himself perfectly. He was of opinion that his countrymen would endeavour to cross, the first calm day, or the first day when the breeze should be light; and that was just the time when our colonists did not desire to meet the savages out at sea. He described the party as formidable by numbers and resolution, though possessing few arms besides those of savages. There were half a dozen old muskets in the canoes, with a small supply of ammunition; but, since the desertion of Jones and Peters, no one remained who knew how to turn these weapons to much account. Nevertheless, the natives were so numerous, possessed so many weapons that were formidable in their own modes of fighting, and were so bent on success, that Unus did not hesitate to give it as his opinion, the colonists would act wisely in standing off for some other island, if they knew where another lay, even at the cost of abandoning most of their effects.

    But, our governor had no idea of following any such advice. He was fully aware of the strength of his position on the Peak, and felt no disposition to abandon it. His great apprehension was for the Reef, where his territories were much more assailable. It was not easy to see how the crater, and ship, and the schooner on the stocks, and all the other property that, in the shape of hogs, poultry, &c., was scattered far and wide in that group, could be protected against a hundred canoes, by any force at his command. Even with the addition of Unus, who took service at once, with all his heart, among his new friends, Mark could muster but eight men; viz., himself, Heaton, Betts, Bigelow, Socrates, Peters, Jones and Unus. To these might possibly be added two or three of the women, who might be serviceable in carrying ammunition, and as sentinels, while the remainder would be required to look after the children, to care for the stock, &c. All these facts passed through Mark's mind, as Peters translated the communication of Unus, sentence by sentence.

    It was indispensable to come to some speedy decision. Peters was now happy and contented with his nice little Peggy, and there was no longer any necessity for pursuing the voyage on his account. As for the project of placing the hogs on Rancocus, this was certainly not the time to do it, even if it were now to be done at all; we say `now,' since the visits of the savages would make any species of property on that island, from this time henceforth, very insecure. It was therefore determined to abandon the voyage, and to shape their course back to the Peak, with as little delay as possible. As there were indications of shell-fish, sea-weed, &c., being thrown ashore at the Volcano, two of the hogs were put ashore there to seek their fortunes. According to the new plan, the Neshamony made sail on her return passage, about an hour before the sun set. As was usual in that strait, the trades blew pretty fresh, and the boat, although it had the canoe of Unus in tow, came under the frowning cliffs some time before the day reappeared. By the time the sun rose, the Neshamony was off the cove, into which she hastened with the least possible delay. It was the governor's apprehension that his sails might be seen from the canoes of Waally, long before the canoes could be seen from his boat, and he was glad to get within the cover of his little haven. Once there, the different crafts were quite concealed from the view of persons outside, and it now remained to be proved whether their cover was not so complete as effectually to baffle a hostile attempt to find it.

    The quick and unexpected return of the Neshamony produced a great deal of surprise on the Plain. She had not been seen to enter the cove, and the first intimation any one in the settlement had of such an occurrence, was the appearance of Mark before the door of the dwelling. Bigelow was immediately sent to the Peak with a glass, to look out for canoes, while Heaton was called in from the woods by means of a conch. In twenty minutes the council was regulary in session, while the men began to collect and to look to their arms. Peters and Jones were ordered to go down to the magazine, procure cartridges, and then proceed to the batteries and load the carronades. In a word, orders were given to make all the arrangements necessary for the occasion.

    It was not long ere a report came down from Bigelow. It was brought by his Spanish wife, who had accompanied her husband to the Peak, and who came running in, half breathless, to say that the ocean was covered with canoes and catamarans; a fleet of which was paddling directly for the island, being already within three leagues of it. Although this intelligence was expected, it certainly caused long faces and a deep gloom to pervade that little community. Mark's fears were always for the Reef, where there happened to be no one just at that moment but the black women, who were altogether insufficient to defend it, under the most favourable circumstances, but who were now without a head. There was the hope, however, of the Indians not seeing those low islands, which they certainly could not do as long as they remained in their canoes. On the other hand, there was the danger that some one might cross from the Reef in one of the boats, a thing that was done as often as once a week, in which case a chase might ensue, and the canoes be led directly towards the spot that it was so desirable to conceal. Juno could sail a boat as well as any man among them, and, as is usually the case, that which she knew she could do so well, she was fond of doing; and she had not now been across for nearly a week. The cow kept at the crater gave a large mess of milk, and the butter produced by her means was delicious when eaten fresh, but did not keep quite as well in so warm a climate as it might have done in one that was colder, and Dido was ever anxious to send it to Miss Bridget, as she still called her mistress, by every available opportunity. The boat used by the negresses on such occasions, was the Dido, a perfectly safe craft in moderate weather, but she was just the dullest sailer of all those owned by the colony. This created the additional danger of a capture, in the event of a chase. Taking all things into consideration therefore, Mark adjourned the council to the Peak, a feverish desire to look out upon the sea, causing him to be too uneasy where he was, to remain there in consultation with any comfort to himself. To the Peak, then, everybody repaired, with the exception of Bigelow, Peters, and Jones, who were now regularly stationed at the carronades to watch the entrance of the cove. In saying everybody, we include not only all the women, but even their children.

    So long as the colonists remained on the plain, there was not the smallest danger of any one of them being seen from the surrounding ocean. This the woods, and their great elevation, prevented. Nor was there much danger of the party in the batteries being seen, though so much lower, and necessarily on the side of the cliff, since a strict order had been given to keep out of sight, among the trees, where they could see everything that was going on, without being seen themselves. But on the naked Peak it was different. High as it was, a man might be seen from the ocean, if moving about, and the observer was tolerably near by. Bob had seen Mark, when his attention was drawn to the spot by the report of the latter's fowling-piece; and the governor had often seen Bridget, on the look-out for him, as he left the island, though her fluttering dress probably made her a more conspicuous object than most persons would have been. From all this, then, the importance of directing the movements of the party that followed him became apparent to Mark, who took his measures accordingly.

    By the time the governor reached the Peak, having ascended it on its eastern side, so as to keep his person concealed, the hostile fleet was plainly to be seen with the naked eye. It came on in a tolerably accurate line, or lines, abreast; being three deep, one distant from the other about a cable's length. It steered directly for the centre of the island, whereas the cove was much nearer to its northern than to its southern end; and the course showed that the canoes were coming on at random, having nothing in view but the island.

    But Mark's eyes were turned with the greatest interest to the northward, or in the direction of the Reef. As they came up the ascent, Bridget had communicated to him the fact that she expected Juno over that day, and that it was understood she would come quite alone. Bridget was much opposed to the girl's taking this risk; but Juno had now done it so often successfully, that nothing short of a positive command to the contrary would be likely to stop her. This command, most unfortunately, as Mark now felt, had not been given; and great was his concern when Betts declared that he saw a white speck to the northward, which looked like a sail. The glass was soon levelled in that direction, and no doubt any longer remained on the subject. It was the Dido, steering across from the Reef, distant then about ten miles; and she might be expected to arrive in about two hours! In other words, judging by the progress of the canoes, there might be a difference of merely half an hour or so between the time of the arrival of the boat and that of the canoes.

    This was a very serious matter; and never before had the council a question before it which gave its members so much concern, or which so urgently called for action, as this of the course that was now to be taken to avert a danger so imminent. Not only was Juno's safety involved; but the discovery of the cove and the reef, one or both, was very likely to be involved in the issue, and the existence of the whole colony placed in extreme jeopardy. As the canoes were still more than a league from the island, Bob thought there was time to go out with the Bridget, and meet the Dido, when both boats could ply to windward until it was dark; after which, they might go into the reef, or come into the cove, as circumstances permitted. The governor was about to acquiesce in this suggestion, little as he liked it, when a new proposition was made, that at first seemed so strange that no one believed it could be put in execution, but to which all assented in the end.

    Among the party on the Peak were Unus and Peggy. The latter understood a good deal of English, and that which she did not comprehend, in the course of the discussions on this interesting occasion, Bob, who had picked up something of the language of her group, explained to her, as well as he could. After a time, the girl ran down to the battery and brought up her husband, through whom the proposal was made that, at first, excited so much wonder. Peggy had told Unus what was going on, and had pointed out to him the boat of Juno, now sensibly drawing nearer to the island, and Unus volunteered to swim out and meet the girl, so as to give her timely warning, as well as instructions how to proceed!

    Although Mark, and Heaton, and Bridget, and all present indeed, were fully aware that the natives of the South Seas could, and often did pass hours in the water, this proposal struck them all, at first, as so wild, that no one believed it could be accepted. Reflection, however, did its usual office, and wrought a change in these opinions. Peters assured the governor that he had often known Unus to swim from island to island in the group, and that on the score of danger to him, there was not the least necessity of feeling any uneasiness. He did not question the Indian's power to swim the entire distance to the Reef, should it be necessary.

    Another difficulty arose, however, when the first was overcome. Unus could speak no English, and how was he to communicate with Juno, even after he had entered her boat? The girl, moreover, was both resolute and strong, as her present expedition sufficiently proved, and would be very apt to knock a nearly naked savage on the head, when she saw him attempting to enter her boat. From this last opinion, however, Bridget dissented. Juno was kind-hearted, and would be more disposed, she thought, to pick up a man found in the water at sea, than to injure him. But Juno could read writing. Bridget herself had taught her slaves to read and write, and Juno in particular was a sort of `expert,' in her way. She wrote and read half the nigger-letters of Bristol, previously to quitting America. She would now write a short note, which would put the girl on her guard, and give her confidence in Unus. Juno knew the whole history of Peters and Peggy, having taken great interest in the fate of the latter. To own the truth, the girl had manifested a very creditable degree of principle on the subject, for Jones had tried to persuade his friend to take Juno, a nice, tidy, light-coloured black, to wife, and to forget Peggy, when Juno repelled the attempt with spirit and principle. It is due to Peters, moreover, to add that he was always true to his island bride. But the occurrence had made Juno acquainted with the whole history of Peggy; and Bridget, in the few lines she now wrote to the girl, took care to tell her that the Indian was the brother of Peggy. In that capacity, he would be almost certain of a friendly reception. The rest of the note was merely an outline of their situation, with an injunction to let Unis direct the movements.

    No sooner was this important note written, than Unus hastened down to the cove. He was accompanied by Mark, Peters and Peggy; the former to give his instructions, and the two latter to act as interpreters. Nor was the sister without feeling for the brother on the occasion. She certainly did not regard his enterprise as it would have been looked upon by a civilized woman, but she manifested a proper degree of interest in its success. Her parting words to her brother, were advice to keep well to windward, in order that, as he got near the boat, he might float down upon it with the greater facility, aided by the waves.

    The young Indian was soon ready. The note was secured in his hair, and moving gently in the water, he swam out of the cove with the ease, if not with the rapidity of a fish. Peggy clapped her hands and laughed, and otherwise manifested a sort of childish delight, as if pleased that one of her race should so early make himself useful to the countrymen of her husband. She and Peters repaired to the battery, which was the proper station of the man, while Mark went nimbly up the Stairs, on his way to the Peak. And here we might put in a passing word on the subject of these ascents and descents. The governor had now been accustomed to them more than a twelvemonth, and he found that the effect they produced on the muscles of his lower limbs was absolutely surprising. He could now ascend the Stairs in half the time he had taken on his first trials, and he could carry burthens up and down them, that at first he would not have dreamed of attempting even to take on his shoulders. The same was true with all the colonists, male and female, who began to run about the cliffs like so many goats—chamois would be more poetical — and who made as light of the Stairs as the governor himself.

    When Mark reached the Peak again, he found matters drawing near to a crisis. The canoes were within a league of the island, coming on steadily in line, and paddling with measured sweeps of their paddles. As yet, the sail of Juno's boat had escaped them. This was doubtless owing to their lowness in the water, and the distance that still separated them. The Dido was about five miles from the northern end of the island, while the fleet was some five more to the southward of it. This placed the two almost ten miles apart; though each seemed so near, seen from the elevation of the Peak, that one might have fancied that he could throw a shot into either.

    Unus was the great point of interest for the moment. He was just coming out clear of the island, and might be seen with the naked eye, in that pure atmosphere, a dark speck floating on the undulating surface of the ocean. By the aid of the glass, there was no difficulty in watching his smallest movement. With a steady and sinewy stroke of his arms, the young savage pursued his way, keeping to windward, as instructed by his sister, and making a progress in the midst of those rolling billows that was really wonderful. The wind was not very fresh, nor were the seas high; but the restless ocean, even in its slumbers, exhibits the repose of a giant, whose gentlest heavings are formidable and to be looked to. In one particular, our colonists were favoured. Owing to some accidental circumstances of position, a current set round the northern end of the island, and diffused itself on its western side by expanding towards the south. This carried the canoes from the boat and the cove, and insomuch increased Juno's chance of escape.

    The meeting between Unus and the boat took place when the latter was within a league of the land. As the sailing directions were for every craft to fall in with the island rather to windward of the Peak, on account of the very current just mentioned, it was questionable with Mark and Betts whether any in the canoes could now perceive the boat, on account of the intervening heights. It was pretty certain no one, as yet, had made this important discovery, for the impetuosity of savages would instantly have let the fact be known through their shouts and their eagerness to chase. On the contrary, all remained tranquil in the fleet, which continued to approach the land with a steady but regulated movement, that looked as if a secret awe pervaded the savages as they drew nearer and nearer to that unknown and mysterious world. To them the approaching revelations were doubtless of vast import; and the stoutest heart among them must have entertained some such sensations as were impressed on the spirits of Columbus and his companions, when they drew near to the shores of Guanahani.

    In the mean time, Juno came confidingly on, shaping her course rather more to windward than usual even, on account of the lightness of the breeze. This effectually prevented her seeing or being seen from the canoes; the parties diagonally drawing nearer, in utter ignorance of each other's existence. As for Unus, he manoeuvred quite skilfully. After getting a couple of miles off the land, he swam directly to windward; and it was well he did, the course of the boat barely permitting his getting well on her weather-bow, when it was time to think of boarding.

    Unus displayed great judgment in this critical part of the affair. So accurately did he measure distances, that he got alongside of the Dido, with his hand on her weather gunwale, without Juno's having the least idea that he was anywhere near her. At one effort he was in the boat; and while the girl was still uttering her scream of alarm, he stood holding out the note, pronouncing the word "Missus" as well as he could. The girl had acquired too much knowledge of the habits of the South Sea islanders, while passing through and sojourning in the different groups she had visited, to be overwhelmed with the occurrence. What is more, she recognised the young Indian at a glance; some passages of gallantry having actually taken place between them during the two months Heaton and his party remained among Ooroony's people. To be frank with the reader, the first impression of Juno was, that the note thus tendered to her was a love-letter, though its contents instantly undeceived her. The exclamation and changed manner of the girl told Unus that all was right; and he went quietly to work to take in the sail, as the most effectual method of concealing the presence of the boat from the thousand hostile and searching eyes in the canoes. The moment Mark saw the canvas come in, he cried out `all is well,' and descended swiftly from the Peak, to hasten to a point where he could give the necessary attentions to the movements of Waally and his fleet.

    CHAPTER II.


    "Ho! strike the flag-staff deep, Sir Knight,—
           Ho! scatter flowers, fair maids,—
    Ho! gunners fire a loud salute—
           Ho! gallants, draw your blades;—"

    Macaulay.

    So much time had passed in the execution of the plan of Unus, that the canoes were close under the cliffs, when the governor and his party reached the wood that fringed their summits, directly over the northern end of their line. Even this extremity of their formation was a mile or two to leeward of the cove, and all the craft, catamarans included, were drifting still further south, under the influence of the current. So long as this state of things continued, there was nothing for the colonists to apprehend, since they knew landing at any other spot than the cove was out of the question. The strictest orders had been given for every one to keep concealed, a task that was by no means difficult, the whole plain being environed with woods, and its elevation more than a thousand feet above the sea. In short, nothing but a wanton exposure of the person, could render it possible for one on the water to get a glimpse of another on the heights above him.

    The fleet of Waally presented an imposing sight. Not only were his canoes large, and well filled with men, but they were garnished with the usual embellishments of savage magnificence. Feathers and flags, and symbols of war and power, were waving and floating over the prows of most of them, while the warriors they contained were gay in their trappings. It was apparent, however, to the members of the council, who watched every movement of the fleet with the utmost vigilance, that their foes were oppressed with doubts concerning the character of the place they had ventured so far to visit. The smoke of the Volcano was visible to them, beyond a doubt, and here was a wall of rock interposed between them and the accomplishment of their desire to land. In this last respect, Rancocus Island offered a shore very different from that of Vulcan's Peak. The first, in addition to the long, low point so often mentioned, had everywhere a beach of some sort or other; while, on the last, the waves of the Pacific rose and fell as against a precipice, marking their power merely by a slight discoloration of the iron-bound coast. Those superstitious and ignorant beings naturally would connect all these unusual circumstances with some supernatural agencies; and Heaton early gave it as his opinion that Waally, of whom he had some personal knowledge, was hesitating, and doubtful of the course he ought to pursue, on account of this feeling of superstition. When this opinion was expressed, the governor suggested the expediency of firing one of the carronades, under the supposition that the roar of the gun, and most especially the echo, of which there was one in particular that was truly terrific, might have the effect to frighten away the whole party. Heaton was in doubt about the result, for Waally and his people knew something of artillery, though of echoes they could not know anything at all. Nothing like an echo, or indeed a hill, was to be found in the low coral islands of their group, and the physical agents of producing such sounds were absolutely wanting among them. It might be that something like an echo had been heard at Rancocus Island, but it must have been of a very different calibre from that which Heaton and Mark were in the habit of making for the amusement of the females, by firing their fowling-pieces down the Stairs. As yet neither of the guns had been fired from the proper point, which was the outer battery, or that on the shelf of rock, though a very formidable roaring had been made by the report of the gun formerly fired, as an experiment to ascertain how far it would command the entrance of the cove. After a good deal of discussion, it was decided to try the experiment, and Betts, who knew all about the means necessary to produce the greatest reverberations, was despatched to the shelf-battery with instructions to scale its gun, by pointing it along the cliff and making all the uproar he could.

    This plan was carried out just as Waally had assembled his chiefs around his own canoe, whither he had called them by an order, to consult on the manner in which the entire coast of the island ought to be examined, that a landing might be effected. The report of the gun came quite unexpectedly to all parties; the echo, which rolled along the cliffs for miles, being absolutely terrific! Owing to the woods and intervening rocks, the natives could see no smoke, which added to their surprise, and was doubtless one reason they did not, at first, comprehend the long, cracking, thundering sounds that, as it might be, rolled out towards them from the island. A cry arose that the strange rocks were speaking, and that the Gods of the place were angry. This was followed by a general and confused flight; — the canoes, paddling away as if their people were apprehensive of being buried beneath the tumbling rocks. For half an hour nothing was seen but frantic efforts to escape, nothing heard but the dip of the paddle and the wash of its rise.

    Thus far the plan of the governor had succeeded even beyond his expectations. Could he get rid of these savages without bloodshed, it would afford him sincere delight, it being repugnant to all his feelings to sweep away rows of such ignorant men before the murderous fire of his cannon. While he and Heaton were congratulating each other on the encouraging appearances, a messenger came down from the Peak, where Bridget remained on the look-out, to report that the boat had drifted in, and was getting close under the cliffs, on the northern end of the island, which was in fact coming close under the Peak itself. A signal to push for the cove had been named to Juno, and Bridget desired to know whether it ought to be made, else the boat would shortly be too near in, to see it. The governor thought the moment favourable, for the canoes were still paddling in a body away from the spot whence the roar had proceeded, and their course carried them to the southward and westward, while Unus would approach from the northward and eastward. Word was sent, accordingly, to make the signal.

    Bridget no sooner received this order than she showed the flag, which was almost immediately answered by setting the boat's sail. Unus now evidently took the direction of matters on board the Dido. It is probable he appreciated the effect of the gun and its echo, the first of which he fully comprehended, though the last was as great and as awful a mystery to him, as to any one of his countrymen. Nevertheless, he imputed the strange and fearful roar of the cliffs to some control of the whites over the power of the hills, and regarded it as a friendly roar, even while he trembled. Not so would it be with his countrymen, did he well know; they would retire before it; and the signal being given at that instant, the young Indian had no hesitation about the course he ought to take.

    Unus understood sailing a boat perfectly well. On setting his sail, he stood on in the Dido until he was obliged to bear up on account of the cliffs. This brought him so close to the rocks as greatly to diminish the chances of being seen. There both wind and current aided his progress; the first drawing round the end of the island, the coast of which it followed in a sort of eddy, for some time, and the latter setting down towards the cove, which was less than two miles from the north bluff. In twenty minutes after he had made sail, Unus was entering the secret little harbour, Waally and his fleet being quite out of sight from one as low as the surface of the ocean, still paddling away to the south-west, as hard as they could.

    Great was the exultation of the colonists, at this escape of Juno's. It even surpassed their happiness at the retreat of their invaders. If the boat were actually unseen, the governor believed the impression was sufficient to keep the savages aloof for a long time, if not for ever; since they would not fail to ascribe the roar, and the smoke of the volcano, and all the mysteries of the place, to supernatural agencies. If the sail had been seen, however, it was possible that, on reflection, their courage might revive, and more would be seen of them. Unus was extolled by everybody, and seemed perfectly happy. Peggy communicated his thoughts, which were every way in favour of his new friends. Waally he detested. He denounced him as a ruthless tyrant, and declared he would prefer death to submission to his exactions. Juno highly approved of all his sentiments, and was soon known as a sworn friend of Peggy's. This hatred of tyranny is innate in man, but it is necessary to distinguish between real oppression and those restraints which are wholesome, if not indispensable to human happiness. As for the canoes, they were soon out of sight in the south-western board, running off, under their sails, before the wind. Waally, himself, was too strong-minded and resolute, to be as much overcome by the echo, as his companions; but, so profound and general was the awe excited, that he did not think it advisable to persevere in his projects, at a moment so discouraging. Acquiescing in the wishes of all around him, the expedition drew off from the island, making the best of its way back to the place from which it had last sailed. All these circumstances became known to the colonists, in the end, as well as the reasoning and the more minute incidents that influenced the future movements. For the time being, however, Woolston and his friends were left to their own conjectures on the subject; which, however, were not greatly out of the way. It was an hour after Juno and Unus were safe up on the plain, before the look-outs at the Peak finally lost sight of the fleet, which, when last seen, was steering a course that would carry it between the volcano and Rancocus Island, and might involve it in serious difficulties in the succeeding night. There was no land in sight from the highest points on Rancocus Island, nor any indications of land, in a south-westerly direction; and, did the canoes run past the latter, the imminent danger of a general catastrophe would be the consequence. Once at sea, under an uncertainty as to the course to be steered, the situation of those belonging to the expedition would be painful, indeed, nor could the results be foreseen. Waaly, nevertheless, escaped the danger. Edging off to keep aloof from the mysterious smoke, which troubled his followers almost as much as the mysterious echoes, the party, most fortunately for themselves, got a distant view of the mountains for which they were running, and altered their course in sufficient time to reach their place of destination, by the return of light the succeeding morning.

    All thoughts of the expedition to Rancocus Island were temporarily abandoned by the governor and his council. Mark was greatly disappointed, nor did his regrets cease with disappointment only. Should Waally leave a portion of his people on that island, a collision must occur, sooner or later; there being a moral impossibility of the two colonies continuing friends while so near each other. The nature of an echo would be ascertained, before many months, among the hills of Rancocus Island, and when that came to be understood, there was an end of the sacred character that the recent events had conferred on the Peak. Any straggling vagabond, or runaway from a ship, might purchase a present importance by explaining things, and induce the savages to renew their efforts. In a word, there was the moral certainty that hostilities must be renewed ere many months, did Waally remain so near them, and the question now seriously arose, whether it were better to press the advantage already obtained, and drive him back to his group, or to remain veiled behind the sort of mystery that at present enshrouded them. These points were gravely debated, and became subjects of as great interest among the colonists, as ever banks, or abolitionism, or antimasonry, or free-trade, or any other of the crotchets of the day, could possibly be in America. Many were the councils that were convened to settle this important point of policy, which, after all, like most other matters of moment, was decided more by the force of circumstances, than by any of the deductions of human reason. The weakness of the colony and the dangers to its existence, disposed of the question of an aggressive war. Waally was too strong to be assailed by a dozen enemies, and all the suggestions of prudence were in favour of remaining quiet, until the Friend Abraham White could, at least, be made available in the contest. Supported by that vessel, indeed, matters would be changed; and Mark thought it would be in his power to drive in Waally, and even to depose him and place Ooroony at the head of the natives once more. To finish and launch the schooner, therefore, was now the first great object, and, after a week of indecision and consultations, it was determined to set about that duty with vigour.

    It will be easily seen, that the getting of the Abraham into the water was an affair of a good deal of delicacy, under the circumstances. The strait between the Peak and Cape South was thirty miles wide, and it was twenty more to the crater. Thus the party at work on the vessel would be fully fifty miles from the main abodes of the colony, and thrown quite out of the affair should another invasion be attempted. As for bringing the Neshamony, the Did, the Bridget, and the lighter, into the combat, everybody was of opinion it would be risking too much. It is true, one of the swivels was mounted on the former, and might be of service, but the natives had got to be too familiar with fire-arms to render it prudent to rely on the potency of a single swivel, in a conflict against a force so numerous, and one led by a spirit as determined as that of Waally's was known to be. All idea of fighting at sea, therefore, until the schooner was launched, was out of the question, and every energy was turned to effect the latter most important object. A separation of the forces of the colony was inevitable, in the meanwhile; and reliance must be placed on the protection of Providence, for keeping the enemy aloof until the vessel was ready for active service.

    The labour requiring as much physical force as could be mustered, the arrangement was settled in council and approved by the governor, on the following plan, viz.:— Mark was to proceed to the Reef with all the men that could be spared, and a portion of the females. It was not deemed safe, however, to leave the Peak with less than three defenders, Heaton, Peters and Unus being chosen for that important station; the former commanding, of course. Mark, Betts, Bigelow, Socrates, and Jones, formed the party for the Reef, to which were attached Bridget, Martha, Teresa, and the blacks. Bigelow went across, indeed, a day or two before the main party sailed, in order to look after Dido, and to get his work forward as fast as possible. When all was ready, and that was when ten days had gone by after the retreat of Waally, without bringing any further tidings from him, the governor sailed in the Neshamony, having the Bridget and the tighter in company, leaving the Dido for the convenience of Heaton and his set. Signals were agreed on, though the distance was so great as to render them of little use, unless a boat were mid-channel. A very simple and ingenious expedient, nevertheless, was suggested by Mark, in connection with this matter. A single tree grew so near the Peak as to be a conspicuous object from the ocean; it was not large, though it could be seen at a great distance, more particularly in the direction of the Reef. The governor intimated an intention to send a boat daily far enough out into the strait to ascertain whether this tree were, or were not standing; and Heaton was instructed to have it felled as soon as he had thoroughly ascertained that Waally was abroad again with hostile intentions. Other signals were also agreed on, in order to regulate the movements of the boats, in the event of their being called back to the Peak to repel an invasion.

    With the foregoing arrangements completed and thoroughly understood, the governor set sail for the Reef, accompanied by his little squadron. It was an exquisitely beautiful day, one in which all the witchery of the climate developed itself, soothing the nerves and animating the spirits. Bridget had lost most of her apprehensions of the natives, and could laugh with her husband and play with her child almost as freely as before the late events. Everybody, indeed, was in high spirits, the launching of the schooner being regarded as a thing that would give them complete command of the adjacent seas.

    The passage was short, a fresh breeze blowing, and four hours after quitting the cliffs, the Neshamony was under the lee of Cape South, and heading for the principal inlet. As the craft glided along, in perfectly smooth water now, Mark noted the changes that time was making on those rocks, which had so lately emerged from the depths of the ocean. The prairie, in particular, was every way worthy of his attention. A mass of sea-weed, which rested on a sort of stratum of mud immediately after the eruption, had now been the favourite pasturage of the hogs for more than a twelvemonth. These hogs at the present time exceeded fifty full-grown animals, and there were twice that number of grunters at their heels. Then the work they had done on the Prairie was incredible. Not less than hundreds of acres had they rooted over, mixing the sea-weed with the mud, and fast converting the whole into soil. The rains had washed away the salt, or converted it into manure, as well as contributing to the more rapid decay of the vegetable substances. In that climate the changes are very rapid, and Mark saw that another year or two would convert the whole of that vast range, which had been formerly computed at a surface of a thousand acres, into very respectable pastures, if not into meadows. Of meadows, however, there was very little necessity in that latitude; the eternal summer that reigned furnishing pasturage the year round. The necessary grasses might be wanting to seed down so large a surface, but those which Socrates had put in were well-rooted, and it was pretty certain they would, sooner or later, spread themselves over the whole field. In defiance of the hogs, and their increasing inroads, large patches were already green and flourishing. What is more, young trees were beginning to show themselves along the margin of the channels. Heaton had brought over from Betto's group several large panniers made of green willows, and these Socrates had cut into strips, and thrust into the mud. Almost without an exception they had struck out roots, and never ceasing, day or night, to grow, they were already mostly of the height of a man. Four or five years would convert them into so many beautiful, if not very useful trees.

    Nor was this all. Heaton, under the influence of his habits, had studied the natures of the different trees he had met with on the other islands. The cocoa-nut, in particular, abounded in both groups, and finding it was a tree that much affected low land and salt water, he had taken care to set out various samples of his roots and fruits, on certain detached islets near this channel, where the soil and situation induced him to believe they would flourish. Seasand he was of opinion was the most favourable for the growth of this tree, and he had chosen the sites of his plantations with a view to those advantages. On the Peak cocoa-nuts were to be found, but they were neither very fine, nor in very large quantities. So long as Mark had that island to himself, the present supply would more than equal the demand, but with the increase of the colony a greater number of the trees would become very desirable. Five or six years would be needed to produce the fruitbearing tree, and the governor was pleased to find that the growth of one of those years had been already secured. In the case of those he had himself planted, in and on the crater, near three years had contributed to their growth, and neither the Guano nor Loam Island having been forgotten, many of them were now thirty feet high. As he approached the crater, on that occasion, he looked at those promising fruits of his early and provident care for the future with great satisfaction, for seldom was the labour of man better rewarded. Mark well knew the value of this tree, which was of use in a variety of ways, in addition to the delicious and healthful fruit it bears; delicious and healthful when eaten shortly after it is separated from the tree. The wood of the kernel could be polished, and converted into bowls, that were ornamental as well as useful. The husks made a capital cordage, and a very respectable sail-cloth, being a good substitute for hemp, though hemp, itself, was a plant that might be grown on the prairies to an almost illimitable extent. The leaves were excellent for thatching, as well as for making brooms, mats, hammocks, baskets and a variety of such articles, while the trunks could be converted into canoes, gutters, and timber generally. There was also one other expensive use of this tree, which the governor had learned from Heaton. While Bridget was still confined to the ship, after the birth of her daughter, Mark had brought her a dish of greens, which she pronounced the most delicious of any thing in its way she had ever tasted. It was composed of the young and delicate leaves of the new growth, or of the summit of the cocoa-nut tree, somewhat resembling the artichoke in their formation, though still more exquisite in taste. But the tree from which this treat was obtained died,—a penalty that must ever be paid to partake of that dish. As soon as Bridget learned this, she forbade the cutting of any more for her use, at least. All the boats got into port in good season, and the Reef once more became a scene of life and activity. The schooner was soon completed, and it only remained to put her into the water. This work was already commenced by Bigelow, and the governor directed everybody to lend a hand in effecting so desirable an object. Bigelow had all his materials ready, and so perseveringly did our colonists work, that the schooner was all ready to be put into the water on the evening of the second day. The launch was deferred only to have the benefit of daylight. That afternoon Mark, accompanied by his wife, had gone in the Bridget, his favourite boat, to look for the signal tree. He went some distance into the strait, ere he was near enough to get a sight of it even with the glass; when he did procure a view, there it was precisely as he had last seen it. Putting the helm of the boat up, the instant he was assured of his fact, the governor wore short round, making the best of his way back to the crater, again. The distances, it will be remembered, were considerable, and it required time to make the passage. The sun was setting as Mark was running along the channel to the Reef, the young man pointing out to his charming wife the growth of the trees, the tints of the evening sky, the drove of hogs, the extent of his new meadows, and such other objects as would be likely to interest both, in the midst of such a scene. The boat rounded a point where a portion of the hogs had been sleeping, and as it came sweeping up, the animals rose in a body, snuffed the air, and began scampering off in the way conformable to their habits, Mark laughing and pointing with his fingers to draw Bridget's attention to their antics.

    "There are more of the creatures," said Bridget; "yonder, on the further side of the prairie—I dare say the two parties will join each other, and have a famous scamper, in company."

    "More!" echoed Mark; "that can hardly be, as we passed some thirty of them several miles to the southward.— What is it you see, dearest, that you mistake for hogs?"

    "Why, yonder—more than a mile from us; on the opposite side of the prairie and near the water, in the other channel."

    "The other is not a channel at all; it is a mere bay that leads to nothing; so none of our boats or people can be there. The savages, as I am your husband, Bridget!"

    Sure enough, the objects which Bridget had mistaken for mere hogs, were in truth the heads and shoulders of some twenty Indians who were observing the movements of the boat from positions taken on the other side of the plain, so as to conceal all but the upper halves of their bodies. They had two canoes; war canoes, moreover; but these were the whole party, at that point at least.

    This was a most grave discovery. The governor had hoped the Reef, so accessible on every side by means of canoes, would, for years at least, continue to be a terra incognita to the savages. On this ignorance of the natives would much of its security depend, for the united forces of the colonists could scarcely suffice to maintain the place against the power of Waally. The matter as it was, called for all his energies, and for the most prompt measures.

    The first step was to apprise the people at the Reef of the proximity of these dangerous neighbours. As the boat was doubtless seen, its sails rising above the land, there was no motive in changing its course, or for attempting to conceal it. The crater, ship and schooner on the stocks, were all in sight of the savages at that moment, though not less than two leagues distant, where they doubtless appeared indistinct and confused. The ship might produce an influence in one or two ways. It might inflame the cupidity of Waally, under the hope of possessing so much treasure, and tempt him on to hasten his assault; or it might intimidate him by its imagined force, vessels rarely visiting the islands of the Pacific without being prepared to defend themselves. The savages would not be likely to comprehend the true condition of the vessel, but would naturally suppose that she had a full crew, and possessed the usual means of annoying her enemies. All this occurred to the governor in the first five minutes after his discovery, while his boat was gliding onwards towards her haven.

    Bridget behaved admirably. She trembled a little at first, and pressed her child to her bosom with more than the usual warmth, but her self-command was soon regained, and from that instant, Mark found in her a quick, ingenious, and useful assistant and counsellor. Her faculties and courage seemed to increase with the danger, and so far from proving an encumbrance, as might naturally enough have been expected, she was not only out of the way, as respects impediments, but she soon became of real use, and directed the movements of the females with almost as much skill and decision as Mark directed those of their husbands.

    The boat did not reach the Reef until dusk, or for an hour after the savages had been seen. The colonists had just left their work, and the evening being cool and refreshing after a warm summer's day, they were taking their suppers under a tent or awning, at no great distance from the ship-yard, when the governor joined them. This tent, or awning, had been erected for such purposes, and had several advantages to recommend it. It stood quite near the beach of the spring, and cool fresh water was always at hand. It had a carpet of velvet-like grass, too, a rare thing for the Reef, on the outside of the crater. But, there were cavities on its surface, in which foreign substances had collected, and this was one of them. Sea-weed, loam, dead fish, and rain-water had made a thin soil on about an acre of rocks at this spot, and the rain constantly assisting vegetation, the grass-seed had taken root there, and this being its second season, Betts had found the sward already sufficient for his purposes, and caused an awning to be spread, converting the grass into a carpet. There might now have been a dozen similar places on the reef, so many oases in its desert, where soil had formed and grass was growing. No one doubted that, in time and with care, those then living might see most of those naked rocks clothed with verdure, for the progress of vegetation in such a climate, favoured by those accidental causes which seemed to prevent that particular region from ever suffering by droughts, is almost magical, and might convert a wilderness into a garden in the course of a very few years.

    Mark did not disturb the happy security in which he found his people by any unnecessary announcement of danger. On the contrary, he spoke cheerfully, complimented them on the advanced state of their work, and took an occasion to get Betts aside, when he first communicated the all-important discovery he had made. Bob was dumfounded at first; for, like the governor himself, he had believed the Reef to be one of the secret spots of the earth, and had never anticipated an invasion in that quarter. Recovering himself, however, he was soon in a state of mind to consult intelligently and freely.

    "Then we're to expect the reptyles to-night?" said Betts, as soon as he had regained his voice.

    "I think not," answered Mark. "The canoes I saw were in the false channel, and cannot possibly reach us without returning to the western margin of the rocks, and entering one of the true passages. I rather think this cannot be done before morning. Daylight, indeed, may be absolutely necessary to them; and as the night promises to be dark, it is not easy to see how strangers can find their way to us, among the maze of passages they must meet. By land, they cannot get here from any of the islands on the western side of the group; and even if landed on the central island, there is only one route, and that a crooked one, which will bring them here without the assistance of their canoes. We are reasonably well fortified, Betts, through natural agencies, on that side; and I do not apprehend seeing anything more of the fellows until morning."

    "What a misfortin 'tis that they should ever have discovered the Reef!"

    "It certainly is; and it is one, I confess, I had not expected. But we must take things as they are, Betts, and do our duty. Providence—that all-seeing Power, which spared you and me when so many of our shipmates were called away with short notice — Providence may still be pleased to look on us with favour."

    "That puts me in mind, Mr. Mark, of telling you something that I have lately l'arn'd from Jones, who was about a good deal among the savages, since his friend's marriage with Peggy, and before he made his escape to join us. Jones says that, as near as he can find out, about three years ago, a ship's launch came into Betto's Land, as we call it—Waally's Country, however, is meant; and that is a part of the group I never ventured into, seeing that my partic'lar friend, Ooroony, and Waally, was always at daggers drawn—but a ship's launch came in there, about three years since, with seven living men in it. Jones could never get a sight of any of the men, for Waally is said to have kept them all hard at work for himself; but he got tolerable accounts of them, as well as of the boat in which they arrived."

    "Surely, Bob, you do not suppose that launch to have been ours, and those men to have been a part of our old crew!" exclaimed Mark, with a tumult of feeling he had not experienced since he had reason to think that Bridget was about to be restored to him.

    "Indeed, but I do, sir. The savages told Jones that the boat had a bird painted in its starn-sheets; and that was the case with our launch, Mr. Mark, which was ornamented with a spread-eagle in that very spot. Then, one of the men was said to have a red mark on his face; and you may remember, sir, that Bill Brown had a nat'ral brand of that sort. Jones only mentioned the thing this arternoon, as we was at work together; and I detarmined to let you know all about it, at the first occasion. Depend on it, Mr. Woolston, some of our chaps is still living."

    This unexpected intelligence momentarily drove the recollection of the present danger from the governor's mind. He sent for Jones, and questioned him closely touching the particulars of his information; the answers he received certainly going far towards corroborating Betts's idea of the character of the unknown men. Jones was never able even to get on the island where these men were said to be; but he had received frequent descriptions of their ages, appearances, numbers, &c. It was also reported by those who had seen them, that several of the party had died of hunger before the boat reached the group; and that only about half of those who had originally taken to the boat, which belonged to a ship that had been wrecked, lived to get ashore. The man with a mark on his face was represented as being very expert with tools, and was employed by Waally to build him a canoe that would live out in the gales of the ocean. This agreed perfectly with the trade and appearance of Brown, who had been the Rancocus's carpenter, and had the sort of mark so particularly described.

    The time, the boat, the incidents of the wreck, meagre as the last were, as derived through the information of Jones, and all the other facts Mark could glean in a close examination of the man's statements, went to confirm the impression that a portion of those who had been carried to leeward in the Rancocus's launch, had escaped with their lives, and were at that moment prisoners in the power of the very savage chief who now threatened his colony with destruction.

    But the emergency did not admit of any protracted inquiry into, or any consultation on the means necessary to relieve their old shipmates from a fate so miserable. Circumstances required that the governor should now give his attention to the important concerns immediately before him.

    CHAPTER III.


    "To whom belongs this valley fair,
    That sleeps beneath the filmy air,
           Even like a living thing?
    Silent as infant at the breast,
    Save a still sound that speaks of rest,
           That streamlet's murmuring?"

    Wilson.

    When the governor had communicated to his people that the savages were actually among the islands of their own group, something very like a panic came over them. A few minutes, however, sufficed to restore a proper degree of confidence, when the arrangements necessary to their immediate security were entered into. As some attention had previously been bestowed on the fortifications of the crater, that place was justly deemed the citadel of the Reef. Some thought the ship would be the most easily defended, on account of the size of the crater, and because it had a natural ditch around it, but so much property was accumulated in and around the crater that it could not be abandoned without a loss to which the governor had no idea of submitting. The gate of the crater was nothing in the way of defence, it is true; but one of the carronades had been planted so as to command it, and this was thought sufficient for repelling all ordinary assaults. It has been said, already, that the outer wall of the crater was perpendicular at its base, most probably owing to the waves of the ocean in that remote period when the whole Reef was washed by them in every gale of wind. This perpendicular portion of the rock, moreover, was much harder than the ordinary surface of the Summit, owing in all probability to the same cause. It was even polished in appearance, and in general was some eighteen or twenty feet in height, with the exception of the two or three places, by one of which Mark and Betts had clambered up on their first visit to the Summit. These places, always small, and barely sufficient to allow of a man's finding footing on them, had long been picked away, in order to prevent the inroads of Kitty, and when the men had turned their attention to rendering the place secure against a sudden inroad, they being the only points where an enemy could get up, without resorting to ladders or artificial assistance, had, by means of additional labour, been rendered as secure as all the rest of the `outer wall,' as the base of the crater was usually termed among them. It was true, that civilized assailants, who had the ordinary means at command, would soon have mastered this obstacle; but savages would not be likely to come prepared to meet it. The schooner, with her cradle and ways, had required all the loose timber, to the last stick, and the enemy was not likely to procure any supplies from the ship-yard. Two of the carronades were on the Summit, judiciously planted; two were on board the Abraham, as was one of the long sixes, and the remainder of the guns, (three at the rock excepted) were still on board the ship.

    Mark divided his forces for the night. As Bridget habitually lived in the Rancocus' cabins, he did not derange her household at all, but merely strengthened her crew, by placing Bigelow and Socrates on board her; each with his family; while Betts assumed the command of the crater, having for his companion Jones. These were small garrisons; but the fortresses were strong, considering all the circumstances, and the enemy were uncivilized, knowing but little of fire-arms. By nine o'clock everything was arranged, and most of the women and children were on their beds, though no one there undressed that night.

    Mark and Betts met, by agreement, alongside of the schooner, as soon as their respective duties elsewhere would allow. As the Reef, proper, was an island, they knew no enemy could find his way on it without coming by water, or by passing over the narrow bridge which has already been mentioned as crossing the little strait near the spring. This rendered them tolerably easy for the moment, though Mark had assured his companion it was not possible for the canoes to get to the Reef under several hours. Neither of the men could sleep, however, and they thought it as well to be on the look-out, and in company, as to be tossing about in their berths, or hammocks, by themselves. The conversation turned on their prospects, almost as a matter of course.

    "We are somewhat short-handed, sir, to go to quarters ag'in them vagabonds," observed Betts, in reply to some remark of the governor's. "I counted a hundred and three of their craft when they was off the Peak the other day, and not one on 'em all had less than four hands aboard it, while the biggest must have had fifty. All told, I do think, Mr. Mark, they might muster from twelve to fifteen hundred fighting men."

    "That has been about my estimate of their force, Bob; but, if they were fifteen thousand, we must bring them to action, for we fight for everything."

    "Ay, ay, sir," answered Betts, ejecting the tobacco juice in the customary way, "there's reason in roasted eggs, they say, and there's reason in firing a few broadsides afore a body gives up. What a different place this here rock's got to be, sir, from what it was when you and I was floating sea-weed and rafting loam to it, to make a melon or a cucumber bed! Times is changed, sir, and we're now at war. Then it was all peace and quiet; and now it's all hubbub and disturbance."

    "We have got our wives here now, and that I think you'll admit is something, Bob, when you remember the pains taken by yourself to bring so great a happiness about."

    "Why, yes, sir—I'll allow the wives is something —"

    "Ship ahoy!" hailed a voice in good English, and in the most approved seaman-like tones of the voice.

    The hail came from the margin of the island nearest to the Reef, or that which was connected with the latter by means of the bridge, but not from a point very near the latter.

    "In the name of heavenly marcy!" exclaimed Betts, "what can that mean, governor?"

    "I know that voice," said Mark, hurriedly: "and the whole matter begins to clear up to me. Who hails the Rancocus?"

    "Is that ship the Rancocus, then?" answered the voice from the island.

    "The Rancocus, and no other—are you not Bill Brown, her late carpenter?"

    "The very same, God bless you, Mr. Woolston, for I now know your voice, too. I'm Bill, and right down glad am I to have things turn out so. I half suspected the truth when I saw a ship's spars this arternoon in this place, though little did I think, yesterday, of ever seeing anything more of the old 'Cocus. Can you give me a cast across this bit of a ferry, sir?"

    "Are you alone, Bill—or who have you for companions?"

    "There's two on us, sir, only — Jim Wattles and I — seven on us was saved in the launch; Mr. Hillson and the supercargo both dying afore we reached the land, as did the other man, we seven still living, though only two on us is here."

    "Are there any black fellows with you?—Any of the natives?"

    "Not one, sir. We gave 'em the slip two hours ago, or as soon as we saw the ship's masts, being bent on getting afloat in some craft or other, in preference to stopping with savages any longer. No, Mr. Woolston; no fear of them to-night, for they are miles and miles to leeward, bothered in the channels, where they'll be pretty sartain to pass the night; though you'll hear from 'em in the morning. Jim and I took to our land tacks, meeting with a good opportunity; and by running directly in the wind's eye, have come out here. We hid ourselves till the canoes was out of sight, and then we carried sail as hard as we could. So give us a cast and take us aboard the old ship again, Mr. Woolston, if you love a fellow-creatur', and an old shipmate in distress."

    Such was the singular dialogue which succeeded the unexpected hail. It completely put a new face on things at the Reef. As Brown was a valuable man, and one whose word he had always relied on, Mark did not hesitate, but told him the direction to the bridge, where he and Betts met him and Wattles, after each of the parties had believed the others to be dead now fully three years!

    The two recovered seamen of the Rancocus were alone, having acted in perfect good faith with their former officer, who led them to the awning, gave them some refreshment, and heard their story. The account given by Jones, for the first time that very day, turned out to be essentially true. When the launch was swept away from the ship, it drove down to leeward, passing at no great distance from the crater, of which the men in her got a glimpse, without being able to reach it. The attention of Hillson was mainly given to keeping the boat from filling or capsizing; and this furnished abundance of occupation. The launch got into one of the channels, and by observing the direction, which was nearly east and west, it succeeded in passing through all the dangers, coming out to leeward of the shoals. As everybody believed that the ship was hopelessly lost, no effort was made to get back to the spot where she had been left. No island appearing, Hillson determined to run off to the westward, trusting to fall in with land of some sort or other. The provisions and water were soon consumed, and then came the horrors usual to such scenes at sea. Hillson was one of the first that perished, his previous excesses unfitting him to endure privation. But seven survived when the launch reached an island in Waally's part of the group, so often mentioned. There they fell into the hands of that turbulent and warlike chief. Waally made the seamen his slaves, treating them reasonably well, but exacting of them the closest attention to his interests. Brown, as a ship-carpenter, soon became a favourite, and was employed in fashioning craft that it was thought might be useful in carrying out the ambitious projects of his master. The men were kept on a small island, and were watched like any other treasure, having no opportunity to communicate with any of those whites who appeared in other parts of the group. Thus, while Betts passed two months with Ooroony, and Heaton and his party nearly as much more time, these sailors, who heard of such visitors, could never get access to them. This was partly owing to the hostilities between the two chiefs— Ooroony being then in the ascendant—and partly owing to the special projects of Waally, who, by keeping his prisoners busily employed on his fleet, looked forward to the success which, in fact, crowned his efforts against his rival.

    At length Waally undertook the expedition which had appeared in such force beneath the cliffs of the Peak. By this time, Brown had become so great a favourite, that he was permitted to accompany the chief; and Wattles was brought along as a companion for his shipmate. The remaining five were left behind, to complete a craft on which they had now been long employed, and which was intended to be the invincible war-canoe of those regions. Brown and Wattles had been in Waally's own canoe when the terrible echoes so much alarmed the uninstructed beings who heard it. They described them as much the most imposing echoes they had ever heard; nor did they, at first, know what to make of them, themselves. It was only on reflection, and after the retreat to Rancocus Island, that Brown, by reasoning on the subject, came to the conclusion that the whites, who were supposed to be in possession of the place, had fired a gun, which had produced the astounding uproar that had rattled so far along the cliff. As all Brown's sympathies were with the unknown people of his own colour, he kept his conjectures to himself, and managed to lead Waally in a different direction, by certain conclusions of his own touching the situation of the reef where the Rancocus had been lost.

    Bill Brown was an intelligent man for his station and pursuits. He knew the courses steered by the launch, and had some tolerably accurate notions of the distances run. According to his calculations, that reef could not be very far to the northward of the Peak, and, by ascending the mountains on Rancocus Island, he either saw, or fancied he saw, the looming of land in that part of the ocean. It then occurred to Brown that portions of the wreck might still be found on the reef, and become the means of effecting his escape from the hands of his tyrants. Waally listened to his statements and conjectures with the utmost attention, and the whole fleet put to sea the very next day, in quest of this treasure. After paddling to windward again, until the Peak was fairly in sight, Brown steered to the north-east, a course that brought him out, after twenty-four hours of toil, under the lee of the group of the reef. This discovery of itself, filled Waally with exultation and pride. Here were no cliffs to scale, no mysterious mountain to appal, nor any visible obstacle to oppose his conquests. It is true, that the newly-discovered territory did not appear to be of much value, little beside naked rock, or broad fields of mud and sea-weed intermingled, rewarding their first researches. But better things were hoped for. It was something to men whose former domains were so much circumscribed and girded by the ocean, to find even a foundation for a new empire. Brown was now consulted as to every step to be taken, and his advice was implicitly followed. Columbus was scarcely a greater man, for the time being, at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, than Bill Brown immediately became at the court of Waally. His words were received as prophecies, his opinions as oracles.

    Honest Bill, who anticipated no more from his discoveries than the acquisition of certain portions of wood, iron, and copper, with, perhaps, the addition of a little rigging, certain sails and an anchor or two, acted, at first; for the best interests of his master. He led the fleet along the margin of the group until a convenient harbour was found. Into this all the canoes entered, and a sandy beach supplying fresh water in abundance having been found, an encampment was made for the night. Several hours of day-light remaining, however, when these great preliminary steps had been taken, Brown proposed to Waally an exploring expedition in a couple of the handiest of the canoes. The people thus employed were those who had given the alarm to the governor. On that occasion, not only was the boat seen, but the explorers were near enough to the reef, to discover not only the crater, but the spars of the ship. Here, then, was a discovery scarcely less important than that of the group itself! After reasoning on the facts, Waally came to the conclusion that these, after all, were the territories that Heaton and his party had come to seek, and that here he should find those cows which he had once seen, and which he coveted more than any other riches on earth. Ooroony had been weak enough to allow strangers in possession of things so valuable, to pass through his islands; but he, Waally, was not the man to imitate this folly. Brown, too, began to think that the white men sought were to be found here. That whites were in the group was plain enough by the ship, and he supposed they might be fishing for the pearl-oyster, or gathering beche-le-mar for the Canton market. It was just possible that a colony had established itself in this unfrequented place, and that the party of which he had heard so much, had come hither with their stores and herds. Not the smallest suspicion at first crossed his mind that he there beheld the spars of the Rancocus; but, it was enough for him and Wattles that Christian men were there, and that, in all probability, they were men of the Anglo-Saxon race. No sooner was it ascertained that the explorers were in a false channel, and that it would not be in their power to penetrate farther in their canoes, than our two seamen determined to run, and attach themselves to the strangers. They naturally thought that they should find a vessel armed and manned, and ready to stand out to sea as soon as her officers were apprized of the danger that threatened them, and did not hesitate about joining their fortune with hers, in preference to remaining with Waally any longer. Freedom possesses a charm for which no other advantage can compensate, and those two old sea-dogs, who had worked like horses all their lives, in their original calling, preferred returning to the ancient drudgery rather than live with Waally, in the rude abundance of savage chiefs. The escape was easily enough made, as soon as it was dark, Brown and Wattles being on shore most of the time, under the pretence that it was necessary, in order that they might ascertain the character of these unknown colonists by signs understood best by themselves.

    Such is a brief outline of the explanations that the two recovered seamen made to their former officer. In return, the governor as briefly related to them the manner in which the ship had been saved, and the history of the colony down to that moment. When both tales had been told, a consultation on the subject of future proceedings took place, quite as a matter of course. Brown, and his companion, though delighted to meet their old ship-mates, were greatly disappointed in not finding a sea-going vessel ready to receive them. They did not scruple to say that had they known the actual state of things on the Reef, they would not have left the savages, but trusted to being of more service even to their natural friends, by continuing with Waally, in their former relation, than by taking the step they had. Repentance, or regrets, however, came too late; and now they were fairly in for it, neither expressed any other determination than to stand by the service into which they had just entered, honestly, if not quite as gladly as they had anticipated.

    The governor and Betts both saw that Brown and Wattles entertained a high respect for the military prowess of the Indian chief. They pronounced him to be not only a bold, but an adroit warrior; one, full of resources and ingenuity, when his means were taken into the account. The number of men with him, however, Brown assured Mark, was less than nine hundred, instead of exceeding a thousand, as had been supposed from the count made on the cliffs. As it now was explained, a great many women were in the canoes. Waally, moreover, was not altogether without fire-arms. He was master of a dozen old, imperfect muskets, and what was more, he had a four-pound gun. Ammunition, however, was very scarce, and of shot for his gun he had but three. Each of these shot had been fired several times, in his wars with Ooroony, and days had been spent in hunting them up, after they had done their work, and of replacing them in the chief's magazine. Brown could not say that they had done much mischief, having, in every instance, being fired at long distances, and with a very uncertain aim. The business of sighting guns was not very well understood by the great mass of Christians, half a century since; and it is not at all surprising that savages should know little or nothing about it. Waally's gunners, according to Brown's account of the matter, could never be made to understand that the bore of a gun was not exactly parallel to its exterior surface, and they invariably aimed too high, by sighting along the upper side of the piece. This same fault is very common with the inexperienced in using a musket; for, anxious to get a sight of the end of their piece, they usually stick it up into the air and overshoot their object. It was the opinion of Brown, on the whole, that little was to be apprehended from Waally's fire-arms. The spear and club were the weapons to be dreaded; and with these the islanders were said to be very expert. But the disparity in numbers was the main ground of apprehension.

    When Brown was told how near the schooner was to being launched, he earnestly begged the governor to let him and Bigelow go to work and put her into the water, immediately. Everything necessary to a cruise was on board her, even to her provisions and water, the arrangements having been made to launch her with her sails bent; and, once in the water, Bill thought she would prove of the last importance to the defence. If the worst came to the worst, all hands could get on board her, and by standing through some of the channels that were clear of canoes, escape into the open water. Once there, Waally could do nothing with them, and they might be governed by circumstances.

    Woolston viewed things a little differently. He loved the Reef; it had become dear to him by association and history, and he did not relish the thought of abandoning it. There was too much property at risk, to say nothing of the ship, which would doubtless be burned for its metals, should the Indians get possession, even for a day. In that ship he had sailed; in that ship he had been married; in that ship his daughter had been born; and in that ship Bridget loved still to dwell, even more than she affected all the glories of the Eden of the Peak. That ship was not to be given up to savages without a struggle. Nor did Mark believe anything would be gained by depriving the men of their rest during the accustomed hours. Early in the morning, with the light itself, he did intend to have Bigelow under the schooner's bottom; but he saw no occasion for his working in the dark. Launching was a delicate business, and some accident might happen in the obscurity. After talking the matter over, therefore, all hands retired to rest, leaving one woman at the crater, and one on board the ship, on the look-out; women being preferred to men, on this occasion, in order that the latter might reserve their strength for the coming struggle.

    At the appointed hour next morning, every one on the Reef was astir at the first peep of day. No disturbance had occurred in the night, and, what is perhaps a little remarkable, the female sentinels had not given any false alarm. As soon as a look from the Summit gave the governor reason to believe that Waally was not very near him, he ordered preparations to be made for the launch of the Friend Abraham White. A couple of hours' work was still required to complete this desirable task; and everybody set about his or her assigned duty with activity and zeal. Some of the women prepared the breakfast; others carried ammunition to the different guns, while Betts went round and loaded them, one and all; and others, again, picked up such articles of value as had been overlooked in the haste of the previous evening, carrying them either into the crater, or on board the ship.

    On examining his fortifications by daylight, the governor resolved to set up something more secure in the way of a gate for the crater. He also called off two or three of the men to get out the boarding-netting of the ship, which was well provided in that respect; a good provision having been made, by way of keeping the Fejee people at arms' length. These two extraordinary offices delayed the work on the ways; and when the whole colony went to breakfast, which they did about an hour after sunrise, the schooner was not yet in the water, though quite ready to be put there. Mark announced that there was no occasion to be in a hurry; no canoes were in sight, and there was time to have everything done deliberately and in order.

    This security came very near proving fatal to the whole party. Most of the men breakfasted under the awning, which was near their work; while the women took that meal in their respective quarters. Some of the last were in the crater, and some in the ship. It will be remembered that the awning was erected near the spring, and that the spring was but a short distance from the bridge. This bridge, it will also be recollected, connected the Reef with an island that stretched away for miles, and which had formed the original range for the swine, after the changes that succeeded the eruption. It was composed of merely two long ship's planks, the passage being only some fifty or sixty feet in width.

    The governor, now, seldom ate with his people. He knew enough of human nature to understand that authority was best preserved by avoiding familiarity. Besides, there is, in truth, no association more unpleasant to those whose manners have been cultivated, than that of the table, with the rude and unrefined. Bridget, for instance, could hardly be expected to eat with the wives of the seamen; and Mark naturally wished to eat with his own family. On that occasion he had taken his meal in the cabin of the Rancocus, as usual, and had come down to the awning to see that the hands turned-to as soon as they were through with their own breakfasts. Just as he was about to issue the necessary order, the air was filled with frightful yells, and a stream of savages poured out of an opening in the rocks, on to the plain of the "hog pasture," as the adjoining field was called, rushing forward in a body towards the crater. They had crept along under the rocks by following a channel, and now broke cover within two hundred yards of the point they intended to assail.

    The governor behaved admirably on this trying occasion. He issued his orders clearly, calmly, and promptly. Calling on Bigelow and Jones by name, he ordered them to withdraw the bridge, which could easily be done by hauling over the planks by means of wheels that had long been fitted for that purpose. The bridge withdrawn, the channel, or harbour, answered all the purposes of a ditch; though the South Sea islanders would think but little of swimming across it. Of course, Waally's men knew nothing of this bridge, nor did they know of the existence of the basin between them and their prey. They rushed directly towards the ship-yard, and loud were their yells of disappointment when they found a broad reach of water still separating them from the whites. Naturally they looked for the point of connection; but, by this time, the planks were wheeled in, and the communication was severed. At this instant, Waally had all his muskets discharged, and the gun fired from the catamaran, on which it was mounted. No one was injured by this volley, but a famous noise was made; and noise passed for a good deal in the warfare of that day and region.

    It was now the turn of the colonists. At the first alarm everybody rushed to arms, and every post was manned, or womaned, in a minute. On the poop of the ship was planted one of the cannon, loaded with grape, and pointed so as to sweep the strait of the bridge. It is true, the distance was fully a mile, but Betts had elevated the gun with a view to its sending its missiles as far as was necessary. The other carronades on the Summit were pointed so as to sweep the portion of the hog pasture that was nearest, and which was now swarming with enemies. Waally, himself, was in front, and was evidently selecting a party that was to swim for the sandy beach, a sort of forlorn hope. No time was to be lost. Juno, a perfect heroine in her way, stood by the gun on the poop, while Dido was at those on the Summit, each brandishing, or blowing, a lighted match. The governor made the preconcerted signal to the last, and she applied the match. Away went the grape, rattling along the surface of the opposite rocks, and damaging at least a dozen of Waally's men. Three were killed outright, and the wounds of the rest were very serious. A yell followed, and a young chief rushed towards the strait, with frantic cries, as if bent on leaping across the chasm. He was followed by a hundred warriors. Mark now made the signal to Juno. Not a moment was lost by the undaunted girl, who touched off her gun in the very nick of time. Down came the grape, hissing along the Reef; and, rebounding from its surface, away it leaped across the strait, flying through the thickest of the assailants. A dozen more suffered by that discharge. Waally now saw that a crisis was reached, and his efforts to recover the ground lost were worthy of his reputation. Calling to the swimmers, he succeeded in getting them down into the water in scores.

    The governor had ordered those near him to their stations. This took Jones and Bigelow on board the Abraham, where two carronades were pointed through the stern ports, forming a battery to rake the hog pasture, which it was foreseen must be the field of battle if the enemy came by land, as it was the only island that came near enough to the Reef to be used in that way. As for Mark himself, accompanied by Brown and Wattles, all well armed, he held his party in reserve, as a corps to be moved wherever it might be most needed. At that all-important moment a happy idea occurred to the young governor. The schooner was all ready for launching. The reserve were under her bottom, intending to make a stand behind the covers of the yard, when Mark found himself at one of the spur-shores, just as Brown, armed to the teeth, came up to the other.

    "Lay aside your arms," cried the governor, "and knock away your spur-shore, Bill!—Down with it, while I knock this away!—Look out on deck, for we are about to launch you!"

    These words were just uttered, when the schooner began to move. All the colonists now cheered, and away the Abraham went, plunging like a battering-ram into the midst of the swimmers. While dipping deepest, Bigelow and Jones fired both their carronades, the shot of which threw the whole basin into foam. This combination of the means of assault was too much for savages to resist. Waally was instantly routed. His main body retreated into the coves of the channel, where their canoes lay, while the swimmers and stragglers got out of harm's way, in the best manner they could.

    Not a moment was to be lost. The Abraham was brought up by a hawser, as is usual, and was immediately boarded by Mark, Bigelow and Wattles. This gave her a crew of five men, who were every way equal to handling her. Betts was left in command of the Reef, with the remainder of the forces. To make sail required but two minutes, and Mark was soon under way, rounding Loam Island, or what had once been Loam Island, for it was now connected with the hog pasture, in order to get into the reach where Waally had his forces. This reach was a quarter of a mile wide, and gave room for manoeuvring. Although the schooner bore down to the assault with a very determined air, it was by no means Mark's cue to come to close quarters. Being well to windward, with plenty of room, he kept the Abraham tacking, yawing, waring, and executing other of the devices of nautical delay, whilst his men loaded and fired her guns as fast as they could. There were more noise and smoke, than there was bloodshed, as commonly happens on such occasions; but these sufficed to secure the victory. The savages were soon in a real panic, and no authority of Waally's could check their flight. Away they paddled to leeward, straining every nerve to get away from pursuers, whom they supposed to be murderously bent on killing them to a man. A more unequivocal flight never occurred in war.

    Although the governor was much in earnest, he was not half as bloodthirsty as his fleeing enemies imagined. Every dictate of prudence told him not to close with the canoes until he had plenty of sea-room. The course they were steering would take them all out of the group, into the open water, in the course of three or four hours, and he determined to follow at a convenient distance, just hastening the flight by occasional hints from his guns. In this manner, the people of the Abraham had much the easiest time of it, for they did little besides sail, while the savages had to use all their paddles to keep out of the schooner's way; they sailed, also, but their speed under their cocoa-nut canvas was not sufficient to keep clear of the Friend Abraham White, which proved to be a very fast vessel, as well as one easily handled.

    At length, Waally found his fleet in the open ocean, where he trusted the chase would end. But he had greatly mistaken the course of events, in applying that `flattering unction.' It was now that the governor commenced the chase in good earnest, actually running down three of the canoes, and making prisoners of one of the crews. In this canoe was a young warrior, whom Bill Brown and Wattles at once recognised as a favourite son of the chief. Here was a most important conquest, and, Mark turned it to account. He selected a proper agent from among the captives, and sent him with a palm-branch to Waally himself, with proposals for an exchange. There was no difficulty in communicating, since Brown and Wattles both spoke the language of the natives with great fluency. Three years of captivity had, at least, taught them that much.

    A good deal of time was wasted before Waally could be brought to confide in the honour of his enemies. At last, love for his offspring brought him, unarmed, alongside of the schooner, and the governor met this formidable chief, face to face. He found the latter a wily and intelligent savage. Nevertheless, he had not the art to conceal his strong affection for his son, and on that passion did Mark Woolston play. Waally offered canoes, robes of feathers, whales' teeth, and every thing that was most esteemed among his own people, as a ransom for the boy. But this was not the exchange the governor desired to make. He offered to restore the son to the arms of his father as soon as the five seamen who were still prisoners on his citadel island should be brought alongside of the schooner. If these terms were rejected, the lad must take the fate of war.

    Great was the struggle in the bosom of Waally, between natural affection, and the desire to retain his captives. After two hours of subterfuges, artifices, and tricks, the former prevailed, and a treaty was made. Agreeably to its conditions, the schooner was to pilot the fleet of canoes to Betto's group, which could easily be done, as Mark knew not only its bearings, but its latitude and longitude. As soon as this was effected, Waally engaged to send a messenger for the seamen, and to remain himself on board the Abraham until the exchange was completed. The chief wished to attach terms, by which the colonists were to aid him in more effectually putting down Ooroony, who was checked rather than conquered, but Mark refused to listen to any such proposition. He was more disposed to aid, than to overcome the kind hearted Ooroony, and made up his mind to have an interview with him before he returned from the intended voyage.

    Some delay would have occurred, to enable Mark to let Bridget know of his intended absence, had it not been for the solicitude of Betts. Finding the sails of the schooner had gone out of sight to leeward, Bob manned the Neshamony, and followed as a support. In the event of a wreck, for instance, his presence might have been of the last importance. He got alongside of the Abraham just as the treaty was concluded, and was in time to carry back the news to the crater, where he might expect still to arrive that evening. With this arrangement, therefore, the parties separated, Betts beating back, through the channels of the Reef, and the governor leading off to the northward and westward, under short canvas; all of Waally's canoes, catamarans, &c. following about a mile astern of him.

    CHAPTER IV.


    "Nay, shrink not from the word `farewell!'
    As if 'twere friendship's final knell;
    Such fears may prove but vain:
    So changeful is life's fleeting day,
    Whene'er we sever—hope may say,
    We part—to meet again."

    Bernard Barton.

    The Abraham went under short canvas, and she was just three days, running dead before the wind, ere she came in sight of Waally's islands. Heaving-to to-windward of the group, the canoes all passed into their respective harbours, leaving the schooner in the offing, with the hostages on board, waiting for the fulfilment of the treaty. The next day, Waally himself re-appeared, bringing with him Dickinson, Harris, Johnson, Edwards and Bright, the five seamen of the Rancocus that had so long been captives in his hands. It went hard with that savage chief to relinquish these men, but he loved his son even more than he loved power. As for the men themselves, language cannot portray their delight. They were not only rejoiced to be released, but their satisfaction was heightened on finding into whose hands they had fallen. These men had all kept themselves free from wives, and returned to their colour, that word being now more appropriate than colours, or ensign, unshackled by any embarrassing engagements. They at once made the Abraham a power in that part of the world. With twelve able seamen, all strong, athletic and healthy men, to handle his craft, and with his two carronades and a long six, the governor felt as if he might interfere with the political relations of the adjoining states with every prospect of being heard. Waally was, probably, of the same opinion, for he made a great effort to extend the treaty so far as to overturn Ooroony altogether, and thus secure to their two selves the control of all that region. Woolston inquired of Waally, in what he should be benefited by such a policy? when the wily savage told him, with the gravest face imaginable, that he, Mark, might retain, in addition to his territories at the Reef, Rancocus Island! The governor thanked his fellow potentate for this hint, and now took occasion to assure him that, in future, each and all of Waally's canoes must keep away from Rancocus Island altogether; that island belonged to him, and if any more expeditions visited it, the call should be returned at Waally's habitations. This answer brought on an angry discussion, in which Waally, once or twice, forgot himself a little; and when he took his leave, it was not in the best humour possible.

    Mark now deliberated on the state of things around him. Jones knew Ooroony well, having been living in his territories until they were overrun by his powerful enemy, and the governor sent him to find that chief, using a captured canoe, of which they had kept two or three alongside of the schooner for the purpose. Jones, who was a sworn friend of the unfortunate chief, went as negotiator. Care was taken to land at the right place, under cover of the Abraham's guns, and in six hours Mark had the real gratification of taking Ooroony, good, honest, upright Ooroony, by the hand, on the quarter-deck of his own vessel. Much as the chief had suffered and lost, within the last two years, a gleam of returning happiness shone on him when he placed his foot on the deck of the schooner. His reception by the governor was honourable and even touching. Mark thanked him for his kindness to his wife, to his sister, to Heaton, and to his friend Bob. In point of fact, without this kindness, he, Woolston, might then have been a solitary hermit, without the means of getting access to any of his fellow-creatures, and doomed to remain in that condition all his days. The obligation was now frankly admitted, and Ooroony shed tears of joy when he thus found that his good deeds were remembered and appreciated.

    It has long been a question with moralists, whether or not, good and evil bring their rewards and punishments in this state of being. While it might be dangerous to infer the affirmative of this mooted point, as it would be cutting off the future and its consequences from those whose real hopes and fears ought to be mainly concentrated in the life that is to come, it would seem to be presuming to suppose that principles like these ever can be nugatory in the control even of our daily concerns.

    If it be true that God "visits the sins of the fathers upon the children even to the third and fourth generations of them that hate him," and that the seed of the righteous man is never seen begging his bread, there is much reason to believe that a portion of our transgressions is to meet with its punishment here on earth. We think nothing can be more apparent than the fact that, in the light of mere worldly expediency, an upright and high-principled course leads to more happiness than one that is the reverse; and if "honesty is the best policy," after all the shifts and expedients of cupidity, so does virtue lead most unerringly to happiness here, as it opens up the way to happiness hereafter.

    All the men of the Abraham had heard of Ooroony, and of his benevolent qualities. It was his goodness, indeed, that had been the cause of his downfall; for had he punished Waally as he deserved to be, when the power was in his hands, that turbulent chief, who commenced life as his lawful tributary, would never have gained a point where he was so near becoming his master. Every man on board now pressed around the good old chief, who heard on all sides of him assurances of respect and attachment, with pledges of assistance. When this touching scene was over, Mark held a council on the quarter-deck, in which the whole matter of the political condition of the group was discussed, and the wants and dangers of Ooroony laid bare.

    As commonly happens everywhere, civilized nations and popular governments forming no exceptions to the rule, the ascendency of evil in this cluster of remote and savage islands was owing altogether to the activity and audacity of a few wicked men, rather than to the inclination of the mass. The people greatly preferred the mild sway of their lawful chief, to the violence and exactions of the turbulent warrior who had worked his way into the ascendant; and, if a portion of the population had, unwittingly, aided the latter in his designs, under the momentary impulses of a love of change, they now fully repented of their mistake, and would gladly see the old condition of things restored. There was one island, in particular, which might be considered as the seat of power in the entire group. Ooroony had been born on it, and it had long been the residence of his family; but Waally succeeded in driving him off of it, and of intimidating its people, who, in secret, pined for the return of their ancient rulers. If this island could be again put in his possession, it would, itself, give the good chief such an accession of power, as would place him, at once, on a level with his competitor, and bring the war back to a struggle on equal terms. Could this be done with the assistance of the schooner, the moral effect of such an alliance would, in all probability, secure Ooroony's ascendency as long as such an alliance lasted.

    It would not have been easy to give a clearer illustration of the truth that "knowledge is power," than the case now before us affords. Here was a small vessel, of less than a hundred tons in measurement, with a crew of twelve men, and armed with three guns, that was not only deemed to be sufficient, but which was in fact amply sufficient to change a dynasty among a people who counted their hosts in thousands. The expedients of civilized life gave the governor this ascendency, and he determined to use it justly, and in moderation. It was his wish to avoid bloodshed; and after learning all the facts he could, he set about his task coolly and with prudence.

    The first thing done, was to carry the schooner in, within reach of shot of Waally's principal fortress, where his ruling chiefs resided, and which in fact was the hold where about a hundred of his followers dwelt; fellows that kept the whole island in fear, and who rendered it subservient to Waally's wishes. This fortress, fort, or whatever it should be called, was then summoned, its chief being commanded to quit, not only the hold, but the island altogether. The answer was a defiance. As time was given for the reception of this reply, measures had been taken to support the summons by a suitable degree of concert and activity. Ooroony landed in person, and got among his friends on the island, who, assured of the support of the schooner, took up arms to a man, and appeared in a force that, of itself, was sufficient to drive Waally's men into the sea. Nevertheless, the last made a show of resistance until the governor fired his six-pounder at them. The shot passed through the wooden pickets, and, though it hurt no one, it made such a clatter, that the chief in command sent out a palm-branch, and submitted. This bloodless conquest caused a revolution at once, in several of the less important islands, and in eight-and-forty hours, Ooroony found himself where he had been when Betts appeared in the Neshamony. Waally was fain to make the best of matters, and even he came in, acknowledged his crimes, obtained a pardon, and paid tribute. The effect of this submission on the part of Waally, was to establish Ooroony more strongly than ever in authority, and to give him a chance of reigning peacefully for the remainder of his days. All this was done in less than a week after the war had begun in earnest, by the invasion of the Reef!

    The governor was too desirous to relieve the anxiety of those he had left behind him to accept the invitations that he, and his party, now received to make merry. He traded a little with Ooroony's people, obtaining many things that were useful in exchange for old iron, and other articles of little or no value. What was more, he ascertained that sandal-wood was to be found on Rancocus Island in small quantities, and in this group in abundance. A contract was made, accordingly, for the cutting and preparing of a considerable quantity of this wood which was to be ready for delivery in the course of three months, when it was understood that the schooner was to return and take it in. These arrangements completed, the Friend Abraham White sailed for home.

    Instead of entangling himself in the channels to leeward, Mark made the land well to the northward, entering the group by a passage that led him quite down to the Reef, as the original island was now uniformly called, with a flowing sheet. Of course the schooner was seen an hour before she arrived, and everybody was out on the Reef to greet the adventurers. Fears mingled with the other manifestations of joy, when the result of this great enterprise came to be known. Mark had a delicious moment when he folded the sobbing Bridget to his heart, and Friend Martha was overcome in a way that it was not usual for her to betray feminine weakness.

    Everybody exulted in the success of the colony, and it was hoped that the future would be as quiet as it was secure.

    But recent events began to give the governor trouble, on other accounts. The accession to his numbers, as well as the fact that these men were seamen, and had belonged to the Rancocus, set him thinking on the subject of his duty to the owners of that vessel. So long as he supposed himself to be a cast-away, he had made use of their property without compunction, but circumstances were now changed, and he felt it to be a duty seriously to reflect on the possibility of doing something for the benefit of those who had, undesignedly it is true, contributed so much to his own comfort. In order to give this important subject a due consideration, as well as to relieve the minds of those at the Peak, the Abraham sailed for the cove the morning after her arrival at the Reef. Bridget went across to pay Anne a visit, and most of the men were of the party. The Neshamony had carried over the intelligence of Waally's repulse, and of the Abraham's having gone to that chief's island, but the result of this last expedition remained to be communicated.

    The run was made in six hours, and the Abraham was taken into the cove, and anchored there, just as easily as one of the smaller craft. There was water enough for anything that floated, the principal want being that of room, though there was enough even of room to receive a dozen vessels of size. The place, indeed, was a snug, natural basin, rather than a port, but art could not have made it safer, or even much more commodious. It was all so small an island could ever require in the way of a haven, it not being probable that the trade of the place would reach an amount that the shipping it could hold would not carry.

    The governor now summoned a general council of the colony. The seven seamen attended, as well as all the others, one or two at the crater excepted, and the business in hand was entered on soberly, and, in some respects, solemnly. In the first place, the constitution and intentions of the colonists were laid before the seven men, and they were asked as to their wishes for the future. Four of these men, including Brown, at once signed the constitution, and were sworn in as citizens. It was their wish to pass their days in that delicious climate, and amid the abundance of those rich and pleasing islands. The other three engaged with Mark for a time, but expressed a desire to return to America, after awhile. Wives were wanting; and this the governor saw, plainly enough, was a difficulty that must be got over, to keep the settlement contented. Not that a wife may not make a man's home very miserable, as well as very happy; but, most people prefer trying the experiment for themselves, instead of profiting by the experience of others.

    As soon as the question of citizenship was decided, and all the engagements were duly made, the governor laid his question of conscience before the general council. For a long time it had been supposed that the Rancocus could not be moved. The eruption had left her in a basin, or hole, where there was just water enough to float her, while twelve feet was the most that could be found on the side on which the channel was deepest. Now, thirteen feet aft was the draught of the ship when she was launched. This Bob well knew, having been launched in her. But, Brown had suggested the possibility of lifting the vessel eighteen inches or two feet, and of thus carrying her over the rock by which she was imprisoned. Once liberated from that place, every one knew there would be no difficulty in getting the ship to sea, since in one of the channels, that which led to the northward, a vessel might actually carry out fully five fathoms, or quite thirty feet. This channel had been accurately sounded by the governor himself, and of the fact he was well assured. Indeed, he had sounded most of the true channels around the Reef. By true channels is meant those passages that led from the open water quite up to the crater, or which admitted the passage of vessels, or boats; while the false were culs de sac, through which there were no real passages.

    The possibility, thus admitted, of taking the Rancocus to sea, a grave question of conscience arose. The property belonged to certain owners in Philadelphia, and was it not a duty to take it there? It is true, Friend Abraham White and his partners had received back their money from the insurers—this fact Bridget remembered to have heard before she left home; but those insurers, then, had their claims. Now, the vessel was still sound and seaworthy. Her upper works might require caulking, and her rigging could not be of the soundest; but, on the whole, the Rancocus was still a very valuable ship, and a voyage might be made for her yet. The governor thought that could she get her lower hold filled with sandal-wood, and that wood be converted into teas at Canton, as much would be made as would render every one contented with the result of the close of the voyage, disastrous as had been its commencement. Then Bridget would be of age shortly, when she would become entitled to an amount of property that, properly invested, would contribute largely to the wealth and power of the colony, as well as to those of its governor.

    In musing on all these plans, Mark had not the least idea of abandoning the scheme for colonizing. That was dearer to him now than ever; nevertheless, he saw obstacles to their execution. No one could navigate the ship but himself; in truth, he was the only proper person to carry her home, and to deliver her to her owners, whomsoever those might now be, and he could not conceal from himself the propriety, as well as the necessity, of his going in her himself. On the other hand, what might not be the consequences to the colony, of his absence for twelve months? A less time than that would not suffice to do all that was required to be done. Could he take Bridget with him, or could he bear to leave her behind? Her presence might be necessary for the disposal of the real estate of which she was the mistress, while her quitting the colony might be the signal for breaking it up altogether, under the impression that the two persons most interested in it would never return.

    Thus did the management of this whole matter become exceedingly delicate. Heaton and Betts, and in the end all the rest, were of opinion that the Rancocus ought to be sent back to America, for the benefit of those to whom she now legally belonged. Could she get a cargo, or any considerable amount of sandal-wood, and exchange it for teas in Canton, the proceeds of these teas might make a very sufficient return for all the outlays of the voyage, as well as for that portion of the property which had been used by the colonists. The use of this property was a very different thing, now, from what it was when Mark and Betts had every reason to consider themselves as merely shipwrecked seamen. Then, it was not only a matter of necessity, but, through that necessity, one of right; but, now, the most that could be said about it, was that it might be very convenient. The principles of the colonists were yet too good to allow of their deceiving themselves on this subject. They had, most of them, engaged with the owners to take care of this property, and it might be questioned, if such a wreck had ever occurred as to discharge the crew. The rule in such cases we believe to be, that, as seamen have a lien on the vessel for their wages, when that lien ceases to be of value, their obligations to the ship terminate. If the Rancocus could be carried to America, no one belonging to her was yet legally exonerated from his duties.

    After weighing all these points, it was gravely and solemnly declared that an effort should first be made to get the ship out of her present duresse, and that the question of future proceedings should then be settled in another council. In the mean time, further and more valuable presents were to be sent to both Ooroony and Waally, from the stores of beads, knives, axes, &c., that were in the ship, with injunctions to them to get as much sandal-wood as was possible cut, and to have it brought down to the coast. Betts was to carry the presents, in the Neshamony, accompanied by Jones, who spoke the language, when he was to return and aid in the work upon the vessel.

    The duty enjoined in these decisions was commenced without delay. Heaton and Unus were left at the Peak, as usual, to look after things in that quarter, and to keep the mill from being idle, while all the rest of the men returned to the Reef, and set about the work on the ship. The first step taken was to send down all the spars and rigging that remained aloft; after which everything was got up out of the hold, and rolled, or dragged ashore. Of cargo, strictly speaking, the Rancocus had very little in weight, but she had a great many water-casks, four or five times as many as would have been put into her in an ordinary voyage. These casks had all been filled with fresh water, to answer the double purpose of a supply for the people, and as ballast for the ship. When these casks were all got on deck, and the water was started, it was found that the vessel floated several inches lighter than before. The sending ashore of the spars, sails, rigging, lumber, provisions, &c., produced a still further effect, and, after carefully comparing the soundings, and the present draught of the vessel, the governor found it would be necessary to lift the last only eight inches, to get her out of her natural dock. This result greatly encouraged the labourers, who proceeded with renewed spirit. As it would be altogether useless to overhaul the rigging, caulk decks, &c., unless the ship could be got out of her berth, everybody worked with that end in view at first. In the course of a week, the water-casks were under her bottom, and it was thought that the vessel would have about an inch to spare. A gale having blown in the water, and a high tide coming at the same time, the governor determined to try the experiment of crossing the barrier. The order came upon the men suddenly, for no one thought the attempt would be made, until the ship was lifted an inch or two higher. But Mark saw what the wind had been doing for them, and he lost not a moment. The vessel was moved, brought head to her course, and the lines were hauled upon. Away went the Rancocus, which was now moved for the first time since the eruption!

    Just as the governor fancied that the ship was going clear, she struck aft. On examination it was found that her heel was on a knoll of the rock, and that had she been a fathom on either side of it, she would have gone clear. The hold, however, was very slight, and by getting two of the anchors to the cat-heads, the vessel was canted sufficiently to admit of her passing. Then came cheers for success, and the cry of "walk away with her!" That same day the Rancocus was hauled alongside of the Reef, made fast, and secured just as she would have been at her own wharf, in Philadelphia.

    Now the caulkers began their part of the job. When caulked and scraped, she was painted, her rigging was overhauled and got into its places, the masts and yards were sent aloft, and all the sails were overhauled. A tier of casks, filled with fresh water, was put into her lower hold for ballast, and all the stores necessary for the voyage were sent on board her. Among other things overhauled were the provisions. Most of the beef and pork was condemned, and no small part of the bread; still, enough remained to take the ship's company to a civilized port. So reluctant was the governor to come to the decision concerning the crew, that he even bent sails before a council was again convened. But there was no longer any good excuse for delay. Betts had long been back, and brought the report that the sandal-wood was being hauled to the coast in great quantities, both factions working with right good will. In another month the ship might be loaded and sail for America.

    To the astonishment of every one, Bridget appeared in the council, and announced her determination to remain behind, while her husband carried the ship to her owners. She saw and felt the nature of his duty, and could consent to his performing it to the letter. Mark was quite taken by surprise by this heroic and conscientious act in his young wife, and he had a great struggle with himself on the subject of leaving her behind him. Heaton, however, was so very prudent, and the present relations with their neighbours—neighbours four hundred miles distant—were so amicable, the whole matter was so serious, and the duty so obvious, that he finally acquiesced, without suffering his doubts to be seen.

    The next thing was to select a crew. The three men who had declined becoming citizens of the colony, Johnson, Edwards, and Bright, all able seamen, went as a matter of course. Betts would have to go in the character of mate, though Bigelow might have got along in that capacity. Betts knew nothing of navigation, while Bigelow might find his way into port on a pinch. On the other hand, Betts was a prime seaman — a perfect long-cue, in fact — whereas the most that could be said of Bigelow, in this respect, was that he was a stout, willing fellow, and was much better than a raw hand. The governor named Betts as his first, and Bigelow as his second officer. Brown remained behind, having charge of the navy in the governor's absence. He had a private interview with Mark, however, in which he earnestly requested that the governor would have the goodness "to pick out for him the sort of gal that he thought would make a fellow a good and virtuous wife, and bring her out with him, in whatever way he might return." Mark made as fair promises as the circumstances of the case would allow, and Brown was satisfied.

    It was thought prudent to have eight white men on board the ship, Mark intending to borrow as many more of Ooroony's people, to help pull and haul. With such a crew, he thought he might get along very well. Wattles chose to remain with his friend Brown; but Dickinson and Harris, though ready and willing to return, wished to sail in the ship. Like Brown, they wanted wives, but chose to select them for themselves. On this subject Wattles said nothing. We may add here, that Unus and Juno were united before the ship sailed. They took up land on the Peak, where Unus erected for himself a very neat cabin. Bridget set the young couple up, giving the furniture, a pig, some fowls, and other necessaries.

    At length the day for sailing arrived. Previously to departing, Mark had carried the ship through the channel, and she was anchored in a very good and safe roadstead, outside of everything. The leave-taking took place on board her. Bridget wept long in her husband's arms, but finally got so far the command of herself, as to assume an air of encouraging firmness among the other women. By this time, it was every way so obvious Mark's presence would be indispensable in America, that his absence was regarded as a necessity beyond control. Still, it was hard to part for a year, nor was the last embrace entirely free from anguish. Friend Martha Betts took leave of Friend Robert with a great appearance of calmness, though she felt the separation keenly. A quiet, warm-hearted woman, she had made her husband very happy; and Bob was quite sensible of her worth. But to him the sea was a home, and he regarded a voyage round the world much as a countryman would look upon a trip to market. He saw his wife always in the vista created by his imagination, but she was at the end of the voyage.

    At the appointed hour, the Rancocus sailed, Brown and Wattles going down with her in the Neshamony as far as Betto's group, in order to bring back the latest intelligence of her proceedings. The governor now got Ooroony to assemble his priests and chiefs, and to pronounce a taboo on all intercourse with the whites for one year. At the end of that time, he promised to return, and to bring with him presents that should render every one glad to welcome him back. Even Waally was included in these arrangements; and when Mark finally sailed, it was with a strong hope that in virtue of the taboo, of Ooroony's power, and of his rival's sagacity, he might rely on the colony's meeting with no molestation during his absence. The reader will see that the Peak and Reef would be in a very defenceless condition, were it not for the schooner. By means of that vessel, under the management of Brown, assisted by Wattles, Socrates and Unus, it is true, a fleet of canoes might be beaten off; but any accident to the Abraham would be very likely to prove fatal to the colony, in the event of an invasion. Instructions were given to Heaton to keep the schooner moving about, and particularly to make a trip as often as once in two months, to Ooroony's country, in order to look after the state of things there. The pretence was to be trade — beads, hatchets, and old iron being taken each time, in exchange for sandal-wood; but the principal object was to keep an eye on the movements, and to get an insight into the policy, of the savages.

    After taking in a very considerable quantity of sandal-wood, and procuring eight active assistants from Ooroony, the Rancocus got under way for Canton. By the Neshamony, which saw her into the offing, letters were sent back to the Reef, when the governor squared away for his port. At the end of fifty days, the ship reached Canton, where a speedy and excellent sale was made of her cargo. So very lucrative did Mark make this transaction, that, finding himself with assets after filling up with teas, he thought himself justified in changing his course of proceeding. A small American brig, which was not deemed fit to double the capes, and to come on a stormy coast, was on sale. She could run several years in a sea as mild as the Pacific, and Mark purchased her for a song. He put as many useful things on board her as he could find, including several cows, &c. Dry English cows were not difficult to find, the ships from Europe often bringing out the animals, and turning them off when useless. Mark was enabled to purchase six, which, rightly enough, he thought would prove a great acquisition to the colony. A plentiful supply of iron was also provided, as was ammunition, arms, and guns. The whole outlay, including the cost of the vessel, was less than seven thousand dollars; which sum Mark knew he should receive in Philadelphia, on account of the personal property of Bridget, and with which he had made up his mind to replace the proceeds of the sandal-wood, thus used, did those interested exact it. As for the vessel, she sailed like a witch, was coppered and copper-fastened, but was both old and weak. She had quarters, having been used once as a privateer, and mounted ten sixes. Her burthen was two hundred tons, and her name the Mermaid. The papers were all American, and in perfect rule.

    The governor might not have made this purchase, had it not been for the circumstance that he met an old acquaintance in Canton, who had got married in Calcutta to a pretty and very well-mannered English girl—a step that lost him his berth, however, on board a Philadelphia ship. Saunders was two or three years Mark's senior, and of an excellent disposition and character. When he heard the history of the colony, he professed a desire to join it, engaging to pick up a crew of Americans, who were in his own situation, or had no work on their hands, and to take the brig to the Reef. This arrangement was made and carried out; the Mermaid sailing for the crater, the day before the Rancocus left for Philadelphia, having Bigelow on board as pilot and first officer; while Woolston shipped an officer to supply his place. The two vessels met in the China seas, and passed a week in company, when each steered her course; the governor quite happy in thinking that he had made this provision for the good of his people. The arrival of the Mermaid would be an eventful day in the colony, on every account; and, the instructions of Saunders forbidding his quitting the islands until the end of the year, her presence would be a great additional means of security.

    It is unnecessary for us to dwell on the passage of the Rancocus. In due time she entered the capes of the Delaware, surprising all interested with her appearance. Friend Abraham White was dead, and the firm dissolved. But the property had all been transferred to the insurers by the payment of the amount underwritten, and Mark made his report at the office. The teas were sold to great advantage, and the whole matter was taken fairly into consideration. After deducting the sum paid the firm, principal and interest, the insurance company resolved to give the ship, and the balance of the proceeds of the sale, to Captain Woolston, as a reward for his integrity and prudence. Mark had concealed nothing, but stated what he had done in reference to the Mermaid, and told his whole story with great simplicity, and with perfect truth. The result was, that the young man got, in addition to the ship, which was legally conveyed to him, some eleven thousand dollars in hard money. Thus was honesty shown to be the best policy!

    It is scarcely necessary to say that his success made Mark Woolston a great man, in a small way. Not only was he received with open arms by all of his own blood; but Dr. Yardley now relented, and took him by the hand. A faithful account was rendered of his stewardship; and Mark received as much ready money, on account of his wife, as placed somewhat more than twenty thousand dollars at his disposal. With this money he set to work, without losing a day, to make arrangements to return to Bridget and the crater; for he always deemed that his proper abode, in preference to the Peak. In this feeling, his charming wife coincided; both probably encouraging a secret interest in the former, in consequence of the solitary hours that had been passed there by the young husband, while his anxious partner was far away.

    CHAPTER V.


    "There is no gloom on earth, for God above
           Chastens in love;
    Transmuting sorrows into golden joy
           Free from alloy.
    His dearest attribute is still to bless,
    And man's most welcome hymn is grateful cheerfulness."

    Moral Alchemy.

    The mode of proceeding now required great caution on the part of Mark Woolston. His mind was fully made up not to desert his islands, although this might easily be done, by fitting out the ship for another voyage, filling her with sandal-wood, and bringing off all who chose to abandon the place. But Woolston had become infatuated with the climate, which had all the witchery of a low latitude without any of its lassitude. The sea-breezes kept the frame invigorated, and the air reasonably cool, even at the Reef; while, on the Peak, there was scarcely ever a day, in the warmest months, when one could not labour at noon. In this respect the climate did not vary essentially from that of Pennsylvania, the difference existing in the fact that there was no winter in his new country. Nothing takes such a hold on men as a delicious climate. They may not be sensible of all its excellencies while in its enjoyment, but the want of it is immediately felt, and has an influence on all their pleasures. Even the scenery-hunter submits to this witchery of climate, which casts a charm over the secondary beauties of nature, as a sweet and placid temper renders the face of woman more lovely than the colour of a skin, or the brilliancy of fine eyes. The Alps and the Apennines furnish a standing proof of the truth of this fact. As respects grandeur, a startling magnificence, and all that at first takes the reason, as well as the tastes, by surprise, the first are vastly in advance of the last; yet, no man of feeling or sentiment, probably ever dwelt a twelvemonth amid each, without becoming more attached to the last. We wonder at Switzerland, while we get to love Italy. The difference is entirely owing to climate; for, did the Alps rise in a lower latitude, they would be absolutely peerless.

    But Mark Woolston had no thought of abandoning the crater and the Peak. Nor did he desire to people them at random, creating a population by any means, incorporating moral diseases in his body politic by the measures taken to bring it into existence. On the contrary, it was his wish, rather, to procure just as much force as might be necessary to security, so divided in pursuits and qualities as to conduce to comfort and civilization, and then to trust to the natural increase for the growth that might be desirable in the end. Such a policy evidently required caution and prudence. The reader will perceive that governor Woolston was not influenced by the spirit of trade that is now so active, preferring happiness to wealth, and morals to power.

    Among Woolston's acquaintances, there was a young man of about his own age, of the name of Pennock, who struck him as a person admirably suited for his purposes. This Pennock had married very young, and was already the father of three children. He began to feel the pressure of society, for he was poor. He was an excellent farmer, accustomed to toil, while he was also well educated, having been intended for one of the professions. To Pennock Mark told his story, exhibited his proofs, and laid bare his whole policy, under a pledge of secresy, offering at the same time to receive his friend, his wife, children, and two unmarried sisters, into the colony. After taking time to reflect and to consult, Pennock accepted the offer as frankly as it had been made. From this time John Pennock relieved the governor, in a great measure, of the duty of selecting the remaining emigrants, taking that office on himself. This allowed Mark to attend to his purchases, and to getting the ship ready for sea. Two of his own brothers, however, expressed a wish to join the new community, and Charles and Abraham Woolston were received in the colony lists. Half-a-dozen more were admitted, by means of direct application to the governor himself, though the accessions were principally obtained through the negotiations and measures of Pennock. All was done with great secresy, it being Mark's anxious desire, on many accounts, not to attract public attention to his colony.

    The reasons were numerous and sufficient for this wish to remain unknown. In the first place, the policy of retaining the monopoly of a trade that must be enormously profitable, was too obvious to need any arguments to support it. So long as the sandal-wood lasted, so long would it be in the power of the colonists to coin money; while it was certain that competitors would rush in, the moment the existence of this mine of wealth should be known. Then, the governor apprehended the cupidity and ambition of the old-established governments, when it should be known that territory was to be acquired. It was scarcely possible for man to possess any portion of this earth by a title better than that with which Mark Woolston was invested with his domains. But, what is right compared to might! Of his native country, so abused in our own times for its rapacity, and the desire to extend its dominions by any means, Mark felt no apprehension. Of all the powerful nations of the present day, America, though not absolutely spotless, has probably the least to reproach herself with, on the score of lawless and purely ambitious acquisitions. Even her conquests in open was have been few, and are not yet determined in character. In the end, it will be found that little will be taken that Mexico could keep; and had that nation observed towards this, ordinary justice and faith, in her intercourse and treaties, that which has so suddenly and vigorously been done, would never have even been attempted.

    It may suit the policy of those who live under the same system, to decry those who do not; but men are not so blind that they cannot see the sun at noon-day. One nation makes war because its consul receives the rap of a fan; and men of a different origin, religion and habits, are coerced into submission as the consequence. Another nation burns towns, and destroys their people in thousands, because their governors will not consent to admit a poisonous drug into their territories; an offence against the laws of trade that can only be expiated by the ruthless march of the conqueror. Yet the ruling men of both these communities affect a great sensibility when the long-slumbering young lion of the West rouses himself in his lair, after twenty years of forbearance, and stretches out a paw in resentment for outrages that no other nation, conscious of his strength, would have endured for as many months, because, forsooth, he is the young lion of the West. Never mind: by the time New Zealand and Tahiti are brought under the yoke, the Californians may be admitted to an equal participation in the rights of American citizens.

    The governor was fully aware of the danger he ran of having claims, of some sort or other, set up to his islands, if he revealed their existence; and he took the greatest pains to conceal the fact. The arrival of the Rancocus was mentioned in the papers, as a matter of course; but it was in a way to induce the reader to suppose she had met with her accident in the midst of a naked reef, and principally through the loss of her men; and that, when a few of the last were regained, the voyage was successfully resumed and terminated. In that day, the great discovery had not been made that men were merely incidents of newspapers; but the world had the folly to believe that newspapers were incidents of society, and were subject to its rules and interests. Some respect was paid to private rights, and the reign of gossip had not commenced.

    In the last century, however, matters were not carried quite so far as they are at present. No part of this community, claiming any portion of respectability, was willing to publish its own sense of inferiority so openly, as to gossip about its fellow-citizens, for no more direct admissions of inferiority can be made than this wish to comment on the subject of any one's private concerns. Consequently Mark and his islands escaped. There was no necessity for his telling the insurers anything about the Peak, for instance, and on that part of the subject, therefore, he wisely held his tongue. Nothing, in short, was said of any colony at all. The manner in which the crew had been driven away to leeward, and recovered, was told minutely, and the whole process by which the ship was saved. The property used, Mark said had been appropriated to his wants, without going into details, and the main results being so very satisfactory, the insurers asked no further.

    As soon as off the capes, the governor set about a serious investigation of the state of his affairs. In the way of cargo, a great many articles had been laid in, which experience told him would be useful. He took with him such farming tools as Friend Abraham White had not thought of furnishing to the natives of Fejee, and a few seeds that had been overlooked by that speculating philanthropist. There were half a dozen more cows on board, as well as an improved breed of hogs. Mark carried out, also, a couple of mares, for, while many horses could never be much needed in his islands, a few would always be exceedingly useful. Oxen were much wanted, but one of his new colonists had yoked his cows, and it was thought they might be made useful, in a moderate degree, until their stouter substitutes could be reared. Carts and wagons were provided in sufficient numbers. A good stock of iron in bars was laid in, in addition to that which was wrought into nails, and other useful articles. Several thousand dollars in coin were also provided, being principally in small pieces, including copper. But all the emigrants took more or less specie with them.

    A good deal of useful lumber was stowed in the lower hold, though the mill by this time furnished a pretty good home supply. The magazine was crammed with ammunition, and the governor had purchased four light field-guns, two three-pounders and two twelve-pound howitzers, with their equipments. He had also brought six long iron twelves, ship-guns, with their carriages &c. The last he intended for his batteries, the carronades being too light for steady work, and throwing their shot too wild for a long range. The last could be mounted on board the different vessels. The Rancocus, also, had an entire new armament, having left all her old guns but two behind her. Two hundred muskets were laid in, with fifty brace of pistols. In a word, as many arms were provided as it was thought could, in any emergency, become necessary.

    But it was the human portion of his cargo that the governor, rightly enough, deemed to be of the greatest importance. Much care had been bestowed on the selection, which had given all concerned in it not a little trouble. Morals were the first interest attended to. No one was received but those who bore perfectly good characters. The next thing was to make a proper division among the various trades and pursuits of life. There were carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, tailors, shoemakers, &c., or, one of each, and sometimes more. Every man was married, the only exceptions being in the cases of younger brothers and sisters, of whom about a dozen were admitted along with their relatives. The whole of the ships' betwixt decks was fitted up for the reception of these emigrants, who were two hundred and seven in number, besides children. Of the last there were more than fifty, but they were principally of an age to allow of their being put into holes and corners.

    Mark Woolston was much too sensible a man to fall into any of the modern absurdities on the subject of equality, and a community of interests. One or two individuals, even in that day, had wished to accompany him, who were for forming an association in which all property should be shared in common, and in which nothing was to be done but that which was right. Mark had not the least objection in the world to the last proposition, and would have been glad enough to see it carried out to the letter, though he differed essentially with the applicants, as to the mode of achieving so desirable an end. He was of opinion that civilization could not exist without property, or property without a direct personal interest in both its accumulation and its preservation. They, on the other hand, were carried away by the crotchet that community-labour was better than individual labour, and that a hundred men would be happier and better off with their individualities compressed into one, than by leaving them in a hundred subdivisions, as they had been placed by nature. The theorists might have been right, had it been in their power to compress a hundred individuals into one, but it was not. After all their efforts, they would still remain a hundred individuals, merely banded together under more restraints, and with less liberty than are common.

    Of all sophisms, that is the broadest which supposes personal liberty is extended by increasing the power of the community. Individuality is annihilated in a thousand things, by the community-power that already exists in this country, where persecution often follows from a man's thinking and acting differently from his neighbours, though the law professes to protect him. The reason why this power becomes so very formidable, and is often so oppressively tyrannical in its exhibition, is very obvious. In countries where the power is in the hands of the few, public sympathy often sustains the man who resists its injustice; but no public sympathy can sustain him who is oppressed by the public itself. This oppression does not often exhibit itself in the form of law, but rather in its denial. He, who has a clamour raised against him by numbers, appeals in vain to numbers for justice, though his claim may be clear as the sun at noon-day. The divided responsibility of bodies of men prevents anything like the control of conscience, and the most ruthless wrongs are committed, equally without reflection and without remorse.

    Mark Woolston had thought too much on the subject, to be the dupe of any of these visionary theories. Instead of fancying that men never knew anything previously to the last ten years of the eighteenth century, he was of the opinion of the wisest man who ever lived, that `there was nothing new under the sun.' That `circumstances might alter cases' he was willing enough to allow, nor did he intend to govern the crater by precisely the same laws as he would govern Pennsylvania, or Japan; but he well understood, nevertheless, that certain great moral truths existed as the law of the human family, and that they were not to be set aside by visionaries; and least of all, with impunity.

    Everything connected with the colony was strictly practical. The decision of certain points had unquestionably given the governor trouble, though he got along with them pretty well, on the whole. A couple of young lawyers had desired to go, but he had the prudence to reject them. Law, as a science, is a very useful study, beyond a question; but the governor, rightly enough, fancied that his people could do without so much science for a few years longer. Then another doctor volunteered his services. Mark remembered the quarrels between his father and his father-in-law, and thought it better to die under one theory than under two. As regards a clergyman, Mark had greater difficulty. The question of sect was not as seriously debated half a century ago as it is to-day; still it was debated. Bristol had a very ancient society, of the persuasion of the Anglican church, and Mark's family belonged to it. Bridget, however, was a Presbyterian, and no small portion of the new colonists were what is called Wet-Quakers; that is, Friends who are not very particular in their opinions or observances. Now, religion often caused more feuds than anything else; still it was impossible to have a priest for every persuasion, and one ought to suffice for the whole colony. The question was of what sect should that one clergyman be? So many prejudices were to be consulted, that the governor was about to abandon the project in despair, when accident determined the point. Among Heaton's relatives was a young man of the name of Hornblower, no bad appellation, by the way, for one who had to sound so many notes of warning, who had received priest's orders from the hands of the well-known Dr. White, so long the presiding Bishop of America, and whose constitution imperiously demanded a milder climate than that in which he then lived. As respects him, it became a question purely of humanity, the divine being too poor to travel on his own account, and he was received on board the Rancocus, with his wife, his sister, and two children, that he might have the benefit of living within the tropics. The matter was fully explained to the other emigrants, who could not raise objections if they would, but who really were not disposed to do so in a case of such obvious motives. A good portion of them; probably, came to the conclusion that Episcopalian ministrations were better than none, though, to own the truth, the liturgy gave a good deal of scandal to a certain portion of their number. Reading prayers was so profane a thing, that these individuals could scarcely consent to be present at such a vain ceremony; nor was the discontent, on this preliminary point, fully disposed of until the governor once asked the principal objector how he got along with the Lord's Prayer, which was not only written and printed, but which usually was committed to memory! Notwithstanding this difficulty, the emigrants did get along with it without many qualms, and most of them dropped quietly into the habit of worshipping agreeably to a liturgy, just as if it were not the terrible profanity that some of them had imagined. In this way, many of our most intense prejudices get lost in new communications.

    It is not our intention to accompany the Rancocus, day by day, in her route. She touched at Rio, and sailed again at the end of eight and forty hours. The passage round the Horn was favourable, and having got well to the westward, away the ship went for her port. One of the cows got down, and died before it could be relieved, in a gale off the cape; but no other accident worth mentioning occurred. A child died with convulsions, in consequence of teething, a few days later; but this did not diminish the number on board, as three were born the same week. The ship had now been at sea one hundred and sixty days, counting the time passed at Rio, and a general impatience to arrive pervaded the vessel. If the truth must be said, some of the emigrants began to doubt the governor's ability to find his islands again, though none doubted of their existence. The Kannakas, however, declared that they began to smell home, and it is odd enough, that this declaration, coming as it did from ignorant men, who made it merely on a fanciful suggestion, obtained more credit with most of the emigrants, than all the governor's instruments and observations.

    One day, a little before noon it was, Mark appeared on deck with his quadrant, and as he cleaned the glasses of the instrument, he announced his conviction that the ship would shortly make the group of the crater. A current had set him further north than he intended to go, but having hauled up to southwest, he waited only for noon to ascertain his latitude, to be certain of his position. As the governor maintained a proper distance from his people, and was not in the habit of making unnecessary communications to them, his present frankness told for so much the more, and it produced a very general excitement in the ship. All eyes were on the look-out for land, greatly increasing the chances of its being shortly seen. The observation came at noon, as is customary, and the governor found he was about thirty miles to the northward of the group of islands he was seeking. By his calculation, he was still to the eastward of it, and he hauled up, hoping to fall in with the land well to windward. After standing on three hours in the right direction, the look-outs from the cross-trees declared no land was visible ahead. For one moment the dreadful apprehension of the group's having sunk under another convulsion of nature crossed Mark's mind, but he entertained that notion for a minute only. Then came the cry of "sail ho!" to cheer everybody, and to give them something else to think of.

    This was the first vessel the Rancocus had seen since she left Rio. It was to windward, and appeared to be standing down before the wind. In an hour's time the two vessels were near enough to each other to enable the glass to distinguish objects; and the quarter-deck, on board the Rancocus, were all engaged in looking at the stranger.

    "'Tis the Mermaid," said Mark to Betts, "and it's all right. Though what that craft can be doing here to windward of the islands is more than I can imagine!"

    "Perhaps, sir, they's a cruising arter us," answered Bob. "This is about the time they ought to be expectin' on us; and who knows but Madam Woolston and Friend Marthy may not have taken it into their heads to come out a bit to see arter their lawful husbands?"

    The governor smiled at this conceit, but continued his observations in silence.

    "She behaves very strangely, Betts," Mark, at length, said. "Just take a look at her. She yaws like a galliot in a gale, and takes the whole road like a drunken man. There can be no one at the helm."

    "And how lubberly, sir, her canvas is set! Just look at that main-taw-sail, sir; one of the sheets isn't home by a fathom, while the yard is braced in, till it 's almost aback!"

    The governor walked the deck for five minutes in intense thought, though occasionally he stopped to look at the brig, now within a league of them. Then he suddenly called out to Bob, to "see all clear for action, and to get everything ready to go to quarters."

    This order set every one in motion. The women and children were hurried below, and the men, who had been constantly exercised, now, for five months, took their stations with the regularity of old seamen. The guns were cast loose—ten eighteen-pound carronades and two nines, the new armament—cartridges were got ready, shot placed at hand, and all the usual dispositions for combat were made. While this was doing, the two vessels were fast drawing nearer to each other, and were soon within gun-shot. But, no one on board the Rancocus knew what to make of the evolutions of the Mermaid. Most of her ordinary square-sails were set, though not one of them all was sheeted home, or well hoisted. An attempt had been made to lay the yards square, but one yard-arm was braced in too far, another not far enough, and nothing like order appeared to have prevailed at the sail-trmming. But, the conning of the brig was the most remarkable. Her general course would seem to be dead before the wind; but she yawed incessantly, and often so broadly, as to catch some of her light sails aback. Most vessels take a good deal of room in running down before the wind, and in a swell; but the Mermaid took a great deal more than was common, and could scarce be said to look any way in particular. All this the governor observed, as the vessels approached nearer and nearer, as well as the movements of those of the crew who showed themselves in the rigging.

    "Clear away a bow-gun," cried Mark, to Betts—"something dreadful must have happened; that brig is in possession of the savages, who do not know how to handle her!"

    This announcement produced a stir on board the Rancocus, as may well be imagined. If the savages had the brig, they probably had the group also; and what had become of the colonists? The next quarter of an hour was one of the deepest expectation with all in the ship, and of intense agony with Mark. Betts was greatly disturbed also; nor would it have been safe for one of Waally's men to have been within reach of his arm, just then. Could it be possible that Ooroony had yielded to temptation and played them false? The governor could hardly believe it; and, as for Betts, he protested loudly it could not be so.

    "Is that bow-gun ready?" demanded the governor.

    "Ay, ay, sir; all ready."

    "Fire, but elevate well —we will only frighten them, at first. Wo betide them, if they resist."

    Betts did fire, and to the astonishment of everybody, the brig returned a broadside! But resistance ceased with this one act of energy, if it could be so termed. Although five guns were actually fired, and nearly simultaneously, no aim was even attempted. The shot all flew off at a tangent from the position of the ship; and no harm was done to any but the savages themselves, of whom three or four were injured by the recoils. From the moment the noise and smoke were produced, everything like order ceased on board the brig, which was filled with savages. The vessel broached to, and the sails caught aback. All this time, the Rancocus was steadily drawing nearer, with an intent to board; but, unwilling to expose his people, most of whom were unpractised in strife, in a hand-to-hand conflict with ferocious savages, the governor ordered a gun loaded with grape to be discharged into the brig. This decided the affair at once. Half a dozen were killed or wounded; some ran below; a few took refuge in the top; but most, without the slightest hesitation, jumped overboard. To the surprise of all who saw them, the men in the water began to swim directly to windward; a circumstance which indicated that either land or canoes were to be found in that quarter of the ocean. Seeing the state of things on board the brig, Mark luffed up under her counter, and laid her aboard. In a minute, he and twenty chosen men were on her decks; in another, the vessels were again clear of each other, and the Mermaid under command.

    No sooner did the governor discharge his duties as a seaman, than he passed below. In the cabin he found Mr. Saunders, (or Captain Saunders, as he was called by the colonists,) bound hand and foot. His steward was in the same situation, and Bigelow was found, also a prisoner, in the steerage. These were all the colonists on board, and all but two who had been on board, when the vessel was taken.

    Captain Saunders could tell the governor very little more than he saw with his own eyes. One fact of importance, however, he could and did communicate, which was this: Instead of being to windward of the crater, as Mark supposed, he was to leeward of it; the currents no doubt having set the ship to the westward faster than had been thought. Rancocus Island would have been made by sunset, had the ship stood on in the course she was steering when she made the Mermaid.

    But the most important fact was the safety of the females. They were all at the Peak, where they had lived for the last six months, or ever since the death of the good Ooroony had again placed Waally in the ascendant. Ooroony's son was overturned immediately on the decease of the father, who died a natural death, and Waally disregarded the taboo, which he persuaded his people could have no sanctity as applied to the whites. The plunder of these last, with the possession of the treasure of iron and copper that was to be found in their vessels, had indeed been the principal bribe with which the turbulent and ambitious chief regained his power. The war did not break out, however, as soon as Waally had effected the revolution in his own group. On the contrary, that wily politician had made so many protestations of friendship after that event, which he declared to be necessary to the peace of his island; had collected so much sandal-wood, and permitted it to be transferred to the crater, where a cargo was already stored; and had otherwise made so many amicable demonstrations, as completely to deceive the colonists. No one had anticipated an invasion; but, on the contrary, preparations were making at the Peak for the reception of Mark, whose return had now been expected daily for a fortnight.

    The Mermaid had brought over a light freight of wood from Betto's group, and had discharged at the crater. This done, she had sailed with the intention of going out to cruise for the Rancocus, to carry the news of the colony, all of which was favourable, with the exception of the death of Ooroony and the recent events; but was lying in the roads, outside of everything — the Western Roads, as they were called, or those nearest to the other group — waiting for the appointed hour of sailing, which was to be the very morning of the day in which she was fallen in with by the governor. Her crew consisted only of Captain Saunders, Bigelow, the cook and steward, and two of the people engaged at Canton — one of whom was a very good-for-nothing Chinaman. The two last had the look-out, got drunk, and permitted a fleet of hostile canoes to get alongside in the dark, being knocked on the head and tossed overboard, as the penalty of this neglect of duty. The others owed their lives to the circumstance of being taken in their sleep, when resistance was out of the question. In the morning, the brig's cable was cut, sail was set, after a fashion, and an attempt was made to carry the vessel over to Betto's group. It is very questionable whether she ever could have arrived; but that point was disposed of by the opportune appearance of the Rancocus.

    Saunders could communicate nothing of the subsequent course of the invaders. He had been kept below the whole time, and did not even know how many canoes composed the fleet. The gang in possession of the Mermaid was understood, however, to be but a very small part of Waally's force present, that chief leading in person. By certain half-comprehended declarations of his conquerors, Captain Saunders understood that the rest had entered the channel, with a view to penetrate to the crater, where Socrates, Unus and Wattles were residing, with their wives and families, and where no greater force was left when the Mermaid sailed. The property there, however, was out of all proportion in value to the force of those whose business it was to take care of it. In consequence of the Rancocus's removal, several buildings had been constructed on the Reef, and one house of very respectable dimensions had been put up on the Summit. It is true, these houses were not very highly finished; but they were of great value to persons in the situation of the colonists. Most of the hogs, moreover, were still rooting and tearing up the thousandacre prairie; where, indeed, they roamed very much in a state of nature. Socrates occasionally carried to them a boat-load of `truck' from the crater, in order to keep up amicable relations with them; but they were little better than so many wild animals, in one sense, though there had not yet been time materially to change their natures. In the whole, including young and old, there must have been near two hundred of these animals altogether, their increase being very rapid. Then, a large amount of the stores sent from Canton, including most of the iron, was in store at the crater; all of which would lay at the mercy of Waally's men; for the resistance to be expected from the three in possession, could not amount to much.

    The governor was prompt enough in his decision, as soon as he understood the facts of the case. The first thing was to bring the vessels close by the wind, and to pass as near as possible over the ground where the swimmers were to be found; for Mark could not bear the idea of abandoning a hundred of his fellow-creatures in the midst of the ocean, though they were enemies and savages. By making short stretches, and tacking two or three times, the colonists found themselves in the midst of the swimmers; not one in ten of whom would probably ever have reached the land, but for the humanity of their foe. Alongside of the Mermaid were three or four canoes; and these were cast adrift at the right moment, without any parleying. The Indians were quick enough at understanding the meaning of this, and swam to the canoes from all sides, though still anxious to get clear of the vessels. On board the last canoe the governor put all his prisoners, when he deemed himself happily quit of the whole gang.

    There were three known channels by which the Rancocus could be carried quite up to the crater. Mark chose that which came in from the northward, both because it was the nearest, and because he could lay his course in it, without tacking, for most of the way. Acquainted now with his position, Mark had no difficulty in finding the entrance of this channel. Furnishing the Mermaid with a dozen hands, she was sent to the western roads, to intercept Waally's fleet, should it be coming out with the booty. In about an hour after the Rancocus altered her course, she made the land; and, just as the sun was setting, she got so close in as to be able to anchor in the northern roads, where there was not only a lee, but good holding-ground. Here the ship passed the night, the governor not liking to venture into the narrow passages in the dark.

    CHAPTER VI.


    "Fancy can charm and feeling bless
           With sweeter hours than fashion knows;
    There is no calmer quietness,
           Than home around the bosom throws."

    Percival.

    Although the governor deemed it prudent to anchor for the night, he did not neglect the precaution of reconnoitring. Betts was sent towards the Reef, in a boat well armed and manned, in order to ascertain the state of things in that quarter. His instructions directed him to push forward as far as he could, and if possible to hold some sort of communication with Socrates, who might now be considered as commander at the point assailed.

    Fortunate was it that the governor bethought him of this measure. As Betts had the ship's launch, which carried two lugg-sails, his progress was both easy and rapid, and he actually got in sight of the Reef before midnight. To his astonishment, all seemed to be tranquil, and Betts at first believed that the savages had completed their work and departed. Being a bold fellow, however, a distant reconnoitring did not satisfy him; and on he went, until his boat fairly lay alongside of the natural quay of the Reef itself. Here he landed, and marched towards the entrance of the crater. The gate was negligently open, and on entering the spacious area, the men found all quiet, without any indications of recent violence. Betts knew that those who dwelt in this place, usually preferred the Summit for sleeping, and he ascended to one of the huts that had been erected there. Here he found the whole of the little garrison of the group, buried in sleep, and totally without any apprehension of the danger which menaced them. As it now appeared, Waally's men had not yet shown themselves, and Socrates knew nothing at all of what had happened to the brig.

    Glad enough was the negro to shake hands with Betts, and to hear that Master Mark was so near at hand, with a powerful reinforcement. The party already arrived might indeed be termed the last, for the governor had sent with his first officer, on this occasion, no less than five-and-twenty men, each completely armed. With such a garrison, Betts deemed the crater safe, and he sent back the launch, with four seamen in it, to report the condition in which he had found matters, and to communicate all else that he had learned. This done, he turned his attention to the defences of the place.

    According to Socrates' account, no great loss in property would be likely to occur, could the colonists make good the Reef against their invaders. The Abraham was over at the Peak, safe enough in the cove, as was the Neshamony and several of the boats, only two or three of the smaller of the last being with him. The hogs and cows were most exposed, though nearly half of the stock was now habitually kept on the Peak. Still, a couple of hundred hogs were on the prairie, as were no less than eight horned cattle, including calves. The loss of the last would be greatly felt, and it was much to be feared, since the creatures were very gentle, and might be easily caught. Betts, however, had fewer apprehensions touching the cattle than for the hogs, since the latter might be slain with arrows, while he was aware that Waally wished to obtain the first alive.

    Agreeably to the accounts of Socrates, the progress of vegetation had been very great throughout the entire group. Grass grew wherever the seed was sown, provided anything like soil existed, and the prairie was now a vast range, most of which was green, and all of which was firm enough to bear a hoof. The trees, of all sorts, were flourishing also, and Betts was assured he would not know the group again when he came to see it by day-light. All this was pleasant intelligence, at least, to the eager listeners among the new colonists, who had now been so long on board ship, that anything in the shape of terra firma, and of verdure appeared to them like paradise. But Betts had too many things to think of, just then, to give much heed to the eulogium of Socrates, and he soon bestowed all his attention on the means of defence.

    As there was but one way of approaching the crater, unless by water, and that was along the hog pasture and across the plank bridge, Bob felt the prudence of immediately taking possession of the pass. He ordered Socrates to look to the gate, where he stationed a guard, and went himself, with ten men, to make sure of the bridge. It was true, Waally's men could swim, and would not be very apt to pause long at the basin; but, it would be an advantage to fight them while in the water, that ought not to be thrown away. The carronades were all loaded, moreover; and these precautions taken, and sentinels posted, Betts suffered his men to sleep on their arms, if sleep they could. Their situation was so novel, that few availed themselves of the privilege, though their commanding officer, himself, was soon snoring most musically.

    As might have been expected, Waally made his assault just as the day appeared. Before that time, however, the launch had got back to the ship, and the latter was under way, coming fast towards the crater. Unknown to all, though anticipated by Mark, the Mermaid had entered the western passage, and was beating up through it, closing fast also on Waally's rear. Such was the state of things, when the yell of the assailants was heard.

    Waally made his first push for the bridge, expecting to find it unguarded, and hoping to cross it unresisted. He knew that the ship was gone, and no longer dreaded her fire; but he was fully aware that the Summit had its guns, and he wished to seize them while his men were still impelled by the ardour of a first onset. Those formidable engines of war were held in the most profound respect by all his people, and Waally knew the importance of success in a rapid movement. He had gleaned so much information concerning the state of the Reef, that he expected no great resistance, fully believing that, now he had seized the Mermaid, his enemies would be reduced in numbers to less than half-a-dozen. In all this, he was right enough; and there can be no question that Socrates and his whole party, together with the Reef, and for that matter, the entire group, would have fallen into his hands, but for the timely arrival of the reinforcement. The yell arose when it was ascertained that the bridge was drawn in, and it was succeeded by a volley from the guard posted near it, on the Reef. This commenced the strife, which immediately raged with great fury, and with prodigious clamour. Waally had all his muskets fired, too, though as yet he saw no enemy, and did not know in what direction to aim. He could see men moving about on the Reef, it is true, but it was only at moments, as they mostly kept themselves behind the covers. After firing his muskets, the chief issued an order for a charge, and several hundreds of his warriors plunged into the basin, and began to swim towards the point to be assailed. This movement admonished Betts of the prudence of retiring towards the gate, which he did in good order, and somewhat deliberately. This time, Waally actually got his men upon the Reef, without a panic and without loss. They landed in a crowd, and were soon rushing in all directions, eager for plunder, and thirsting for blood. Betts was enabled, notwithstanding, to enter the gate, which he did without delay, perfectly satisfied that all efforts of his to resist the torrent without must be vain. As soon as his party had entered, the gate was closed, and Betts was at liberty to bestow all his care on the defence of the crater.

    The great extent of the citadel, which contained an area of not less than a hundred acres, it will be remembered, rendered its garrison very insufficient for a siege. It is probable that no one there would have thought of defending it, but for the certainty of powerful support being at hand. This certainty encouraged the garrison, rendering their exertions more ready and cheerful. Betts divided his men into parties of two, scattering them along the Summit, with orders to be vigilant, and to support each other. It was well known that a man could not enter from without unless by the gate, or aided by ladders, or some other mechanical invention. The time necessary to provide the last would bring broad daylight, and enable the colonists to march such a force to the menaced point, as would be pretty certain to prove sufficient to resist the assailants. The gate itself was commanded by a carronade, and was watched by a guard.

    Great was the disappointment of Waally when he ascertained, by personal examination, that the Summit could not be scaled, even by the most active of his party, without recourse to assistance, by means of artificial contrivances. He had the sagacity to collect all his men immediately beneath the natural walls, where they were alone safe from the fire of the guns, but where they were also useless. A large pile of iron, an article so coveted, was in plain sight, beneath a shed, but he did not dare to send a single hand to touch it, since it would have brought the adventurer under fire. A variety of other articles, almost as tempting, though not perhaps of the same intrinsic value, lay also in sight, but were tabooed by the magic of powder and balls. Eleven hundred warriors, as was afterwards ascertained, landed on the Reef that eventful morning, and assembled under the walls of the crater. A hundred more remained in the canoes, which lay about a league off, in the western passage, or to leeward, awaiting the result of the enterprise.

    The first effort made by Waally was to throw a force upward, by rearing one man on another's shoulders. This scheme succeeded in part, but the fellow who first showed his head above the perpendicular part of the cliff, received a bullet in his brains. The musket was fired by the hands of Socrates. This one discharge brought down the whole fabric, several of those who fell sustaining serious injuries, in the way of broken bones. The completely isolated position of the crater, which stood, as it might be, aloof from all surrounding objects, added materially to its strength in a military sense, and Waally was puzzled how to overcome difficulties that might have embarrassed a more civilized soldier. For the first time in his life, that warrior had encountered a sort of fortress, which could be entered only by regular approaches, unless it might be carried by a coup de main . At the latter the savages were expert enough, and on it they had mainly relied; but, disappointed in this respect, they found themselves thrown back on resources that were far from being equal to the emergency.

    Tired of inactivity, Waally finally decided on making a desperate effort. The ship-yard was still kept up as a place for the repairing of boats, &c., and it always had more or less lumber lying in, or near it. Selecting a party of a hundred resolute men, and placing them under the orders of one of his bravest chiefs, Waally sent them off, on the run, to bring as much timber, boards, planks, &c., as they could carry, within the cover of the cliffs. Now, Betts had foreseen the probability of this very sortie, and had levelled one of his carronades, loaded to the muzzle with canister, directly at the largest pile of the planks. No sooner did the adventurers appear, therefore, than he blew his match. The savages were collected around the planks in a crowd, when he fired his gun. A dozen of them fell, and the rest vanished like so much dust scattered by a whirlwind.

    Just at that moment, the cry passed along the Summit that the Rancocus was in sight. The governor must have heard the report of the gun, for he discharged one in return, an encouraging signal of his approach. In a minute, a third came from the westward, and Betts saw the sails of the Mermaid over the low land. It is scarcely necessary to add, that the reports of the two guns from a distance, and the appearance of the two vessels, put an end at once to all Waally's schemes, and induced him to commence, with the least possible delay, a second retreat from the spot which, like Nelson's frigates, might almost be said to be imprinted on his heart.

    Waally retired successfully, if not with much dignity. At a given signal his men rushed for the water, plunged in and swam across the basin again. It was in Betts's power to have killed many on the retreat, but he was averse to shedding blood unnecessarily. Fifty lives, more or less, could be of no great moment in the result, as soon as a retreat was decided on; and the savages were permitted to retire, and to carry off their killed and wounded without molestation. The last was done by wheeling forward the planks, and crossing at the bridge.

    It was far easier, however, for Waally to gain his canoes, than to know which way to steer after he had reached them. The Mermaid cut off his retreat by the western passage, and the Rancocus was coming fast along the northern. In order to reach either the eastern, or the southern, it would be necessary to pass within gun-shot of the Reef, and, what was more, to run the gauntlet between the crater and the Rancocus. To this danger Waally was compelled to submit, since he had no other means of withdrawing his fleet. It was true, that by paddling to windward, he greatly lessened the danger he ran from the two vessels, since it would not be in their power to overtake him in the narrow channels of the group, so long as he went in the wind's eye. It is probable that the savages understood this, and that the circumstance greatly encouraged them in the effort they immediately made to get into the eastern passage. Betts permitted them to pass the Reef, without firing at them again, though some of the canoes were at least half an hour within the range of his guns, while doing so. It was lucky for the Indians that the Rancocus did not arrive until the last of their party were as far to windward as the spot where the ship had anchored, when she was first brought up by artificial means into those waters.

    Betts went off to meet the governor, in order to make an early report of his proceedings. It was apparent that the danger was over, and Woolston was not sorry to find that success was obtained without recourse to his batteries. The ship went immediately alongside of the natural quay, and her people poured ashore, in a crowd, the instant a plank could be run out, in order to enable them to do so. In an hour the cows were landed, and were grazing in the crater, where the grass was knee-high, and everything possessing life was out of the ship, the rats and cock-roaches perhaps excepted. As for the enemy, no one now cared for them. The man aloft said they could be seen, paddling away as if for life, and already too far for pursuit. It would have been easy enough for the vessels to cut off the fugitives by going into the offing again, but this was not the desire of any there, all being too happy to be rid of them, to take any steps to prolong the intercourse.

    Great was the delight of the colonists to be once more on the land. Under ordinary circumstances, the immigrants might not have seen so many charms in the Reef and crater, and hog-lot; but five months at sea have a powerful influence in rendering the most barren spot beautiful. Barrenness, however, was a reproach that could no longer be justly applied to the group, and most especially to those portions of it which had received the attention of its people. Even trees were beginning to be numerous, thousands of them having been planted, some for their fruits, some for their wood, and others merely for the shade. Of willows, alone, Socrates with his own hand had set out more than five thousand, the operation being simply that of thrusting the end of a branch into the mud. Of the rapidity of the growth, it is scarcely necessary to speak; though it quadrupled that known even to the most fertile regions of America.

    Here, then, was Mark once more at home, after so long a passage. There was his ship, too, well freighted with a hundred things, all of which would contribute to the comfort and well-being of the colonists! It was a moment when the governor's heart was overflowing with gratitude, and could he then have taken Bridget and his children in his arms, the cup of happiness would have been full. Bridget was not forgotten, however, for in less than half an hour after the ship was secured, Betts sailed in the Neshamony, for the Peak; he was to carry over the joyful tidings, and to bring the `governor's lady' to the Reef. Ere the sun set, or about that time, his return might be expected, the Neshamony making the trip in much less time than one of the smaller boats. It was not necessary, however, for Betts to go so far, for when he had fairly cleared Cape South, and was in the strait, he fell in with the Abraham, bound over to the Reef. It appeared that some sings of the hostile canoes had been seen from the Peak, as Waally was crossing from Rancocus Island, and, after a council, it had been decided to send the Abraham across, to notify the people on the Reef of the impending danger, and to aid in repelling the enemy. Bridget and Martha had both come in the schooner; the first, to look after the many valuables he had left at the `governor's house,' on the Summit, and the last, as her companion.

    We leave the reader to imagine the joy that was exhibited, when those on board the Abraham ascertained the arrival of the Rancocus! Bridget was in ecstasies, and greatly did she exult in her own determination to cross on this occasion, and to bring her child with her. After the first burst of happiness, and the necessary explanations had been made, a consultation was had touching what was next to be done. Brown was in command of the Abraham, with a sufficient crew, and Betts sent him to windward, outside of everything, to look after the enemy. It was thought desirable not only to see Waally well clear of the group, but to force him to pass off to the northward, in order that he might not again approach the Reef, as well as to give him so much annoyance on his retreat, as to sicken him of these expeditions for the future. For such a service the schooner was much the handiest of all the vessels of the colonists, since she might be worked by a couple of hands, and her armament was quite sufficient for all that was required of her, on the occasion. Brown was every way competent to command, as Betts well knew, and he received the females on board the Neshamony, and put about, leaving the schooner to turn to windward.

    Bridget reached the Reef before it was noon. All the proceedings of that day had commenced so early, that there had been time for this. The governor saw the Neshamony, as she approached, and great uneasiness beset him. He knew she had not been as far as the Peak, and supposed that Waally's fleet had intercepted her, Betts coming back for reinforcements. But, as the boat drew near, the fluttering of female dresses was seen, and then his unerring glass let him get a distant view of the sweet face of his young wife. From that moment the governor was incapable of giving a coherent or useful order, until Bridget had arrived. Vessels that came in from the southward were obliged to pass through the narrow entrance, between the Reef and the Hog Lot, where was the drawbridge so often mentioned. There was water enough to float a frigate, and it was possible to take a frigate through, the width being about fifty feet, though as yet nothing larger than the Friend Abraham White had made the trial. At this point, then, Woolston took his station, waiting the arrival of the Neshamony, with an impatience he was a little ashamed of exhibiting.

    Betts saw the governor, in good time, and pointed him out to Bridget, who could hardly be kept on board the boat, so slow did the progress of the craft now seem. But the tender love which this young couple bore each other was soon to be rewarded; for Mark sprang on board the Neshamony as she went through the narrow pass, and immediately he had Bridget folded to his heart.

    Foreigners are apt to say that we children of this western world do not submit to the tender emotions with the same self-abandonment as those who are born nearer to the rising sun; that our hearts are as cold and selfish as our manners; and that we live more for the lower and grovelling passions, than for sentiment and the affections. Most sincerely do we wish that every charge which European jealousy, and European superciliousness, have brought against the American character, was as false as this. That the people of this country are more restrained in the exhibition of all their emotions, than those across the great waters, we believe; but, that the last feel the most, we shall be very unwilling to allow. Most of all shall we deny that the female form contains hearts more true to all its affections, spirits more devoted to the interests of its earthly head, or an identity of existence more perfect than those with which the American wife clings to her husband. She is literally "bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh." It is seldom that her wishes cross the limits of the domestic circle, which to her is earth itself, and all that it contains which is most desirable. Her husband and children compose her little world, and beyond them and their sympathies, it is rare indeed that her truant affections ever wish to stray. A part of this concentration of the American wife's existence in these domestic interests, is doubtless owing to the simplicity of American life and the absence of temptation. Still, so devoted is the female heart, so true to its impulses, and so little apt to wander from home-feelings and homeduties, that the imputation to which there is allusion, is just that, of all others, to which the wives of the republic ought not to be subject.

    It was even-tide before the governor was again seen among his people. By this time, the immigrants had taken their first survey of the Reef, and the nearest islands, which the least sanguine of their numbers admitted quite equalled the statements they had originally heard of the advantages of the place. It was, perhaps, fortunate that the fruits of the tropics were so abundant with Socrates and his companions. By this time, oranges abounded, more than a thousand trees having, from time to time, been planted in and around the crater, alone. Groves of them were also appearing in favourable spots, on the adjacent islands. It is true, these trees were yet too young to produce very bountifully; but they had begun to bear, and it was thought a very delightful thing, among the fresh arrivals from Pennsylvania, to be able to walk in an orange grove, and to pluck the fruit at pleasure!

    As for figs, melons, limes, shaddocks, and even cocoa-nuts, all were now to be had, and in quantities quite sufficient for the population. In time, the colonists craved the apples of their own latitude, and the peach; those two fruits, so abundant and so delicious in their ancient homes; but the novelty was still on them, and it required time to learn the fact that we tire less of the apple, and the peach, and the potato, than of any other of the rarest gifts of nature. That which the potato has become among vegetables, is the apple among fruits; and when we rise into the more luscious and temporary of the bountiful products of horticulture, the peach (in its perfection) occupies a place altogether apart, having no rival in its exquisite flavour, while it never produces satiety. The peach and the grape are the two most precious of the gifts of Providence, in the way of fruits.

    That night, most of the immigrants slept in the ship; nearly all of them, however, for the last time. About ten in the forenoon, Brown came running down to the Reef, through the eastern passage, to report Waally well off, having quitted the group to-windward, and made the best of his way towards his own islands, without turning aside to make a starting-point of Rancocus. It was a good deal questioned whether the chief would find his proper dominions, after a run of four hundred miles; for a very trifling deviation from the true course at starting, would be very apt to bring him out wide of his goal. This was a matter, however, that gave the colonists very little concern. The greater the embarrassments encountered by their enemies, the less likely would they be to repeat the visit; and should a few perish, it might be all the better for themselves. The governor greatly approved of Brown's course in not following the canoes, since the repulse was sufficient as it was, and there was very little probability that the colony would meet with any further difficulty from this quarter, now that it had got to be so strong.

    That day and the next, the immigrants were busy in landing their effects, which consisted of furniture, tools and stores, of one sort and another. As the governor intended to send, at once, forty select families over to the Peak, the Abraham was brought alongside of the quay, and the property of those particular families was, as it came ashore, sent on board the schooner. Males and females were all employed in this duty, the Reef resembling a beehive just at that point. Bill Brown, who still commanded the Abraham, was of course present; and he made an occasion to get in company with the governor, with whom he held the following short dialogue:

    "A famous ship's company is this, sir, you 've landed among us, and some on 'em is what I calls of the right sort!"

    "I understand you, Bill," answered Mark, smiling. "Your commission has been duly executed; and Phoebe is here, ready to be spliced as soon as there shall be an opportunity."

    "That is easily enough made, when people's so inclined," said Bill, fidgeting. "If you 'd be so good, sir, as just to point out the young woman to me, I might be beginning to like her, in the meanwhile."

    "Young? Nothing was said about that in the order, Bill. You wished a wife, invoiced and consigned to yourself; and one has been shipped, accordingly. You must consider the state of the market, and remember that the article is in demand precisely as it is youthful."

    "Well, well, sir, I 'll not throw her on your hands, if she 's old enough to be my mother; though I do rather suppose, Mr. Woolston, you stood by an old shipmate in a foreign land, and that there is a companion suitable for a fellow of only two-and-thirty sent out?"

    "Of that you shall judge for yourself, Bill. Here she comes, carrying a looking-glass, as if it were to look at her own pretty face; and if she prove to be only as good as she is good-looking, you will have every reason to be satisfied. What is more, Bill, your wife does not come empty-handed, having a great many articles that will help to set you up comfortably in housekeeping."

    Brown was highly pleased with the governor's choice, which had been made with a due regard to the interests and tastes of the absent shipmate. Phoebe appeared well satisfied with her allotted husband; and that very day the couple was united in the cabin of the Abraham. On the same occasion, the ceremony was performed for Unus and Juno, as well as for Peters and his Indian wife; the governor considering it proper that regard to appearances and all decent observances, should be paid, as comported with their situation.

    About sunset of the third day after the arrival of the Rancocus, the Abraham sailed for the Peak, having on board somewhat less than a hundred of the immigrants, including females and children. The Neshamony preceded her several hours, taking across the governor and his family. Mark longed to see his sister Anne, and his two brothers participated in this wish, if possible, in a still more lively manner.

    The meeting of these members of the same family was of the most touching character. The young men found their sister much better established than they had anticipated, and in the enjoyment of very many more comforts than they had supposed it was in the power of any one to possess in a colony still so young. Heaton had erected a habitation for himself, in a charming grove, where there were water, fruits, and other conveniences, near at hand, and where his own family was separated from the rest of the community. This distinction had been conferred on him, by common consent, in virtue of his near affinity to the governor, whose substitute he then was, and out of respect to his education and original rank in life. Seamen are accustomed to defer to station and authority, and are all the happier for the same; and the thought of any jealousy on account of this privilege, which as yet was confined to Mark and Heaton, and their respective families, had not yet crossed the mind of any one on the island.

    About twelve, or at midnight, the Abraham entered the cove. Late as was the hour, each immigrant assumed a load suited to his or her strength, and ascended the Stairs, favoured by the sweet light of a full moon. That night most of the new-comers passed in the groves, under tents or in an arbour that had been prepared for them; and sweet was the repose that attended happiness and security, in a climate so agreeable.

    Next morning, when the immigrants came out of their temporary dwellings, and looked upon the fair scene before them, they could scarcely believe in its reality! It is true, nothing remarkable or unexpected met their eyes in the shape of artificial accessories; but the bountiful gifts of Providence, and the natural beauties of the spot, as much exceeded their anticipations as it did their power of imagining such glories! The admixture of softness and magnificence made a whole that they had never before beheld in any other portion of the globe; and there was not one among them all that did not, for the moment, feel and speak as if he or she had been suddenly transformed to an earthly paradise.

    CHAPTER VII.


    "You have said they are men;
    As such their hearts are something."

    Byron.

    The colony had now reached a point when it became necessary to proceed with method and caution. Certain great principles were to be established, on which the governor had long reflected, and he was fully prepared to set them up, and to defend them, though he knew that ideas prevailed among a few of his people, which might dispose them to cavil at his notions, if not absolutely to oppose him. Men are fond of change; half the time, for a reason no better than that it is change; and, not unfrequently, they permit this wayward feeling to unsettle interests that are of the last importance to them, and which find no small part of their virtue in their permanency.

    Hitherto, with such slight exceptions as existed in deference to the station, not to say rights of the governor, everything of an agricultural character had been possessed in common among the colonists. But this was a state of things which the good sense of Mark told him could not, and ought not to last. The theories which have come into fashion in our own times, concerning the virtues of association, were then little known and less credited. Society, as it exists in a legal form, is association enough for all useful purposes, and sometimes too much; and the governor saw no use in forming a wheel within a wheel. If men have occasion for each other's assistance to effect a particular object, let them unite, in welcome, for that purpose; but Mark was fully determined that there should be but one government in his land, and that this government should be of a character to encourage and not to depress exertion. So long as a man toiled for himself and those nearest and dearest to him, society had a security for his doing much, that would be wanting where the proceeds of the entire community were to be shared in common; and, on the knowledge of this simple and obvious truth, did our young legislator found his theory of government. Protect all in their rights equally, but, that done, let every man pursue his road to happiness in his own way; conceding no more of his natural rights than were necessary to the great ends of peace, security, and law. Such was Mark's theory. As for the modern crotchet that men yielded no natural right to government, but were to receive all and return nothing, the governor, in plain language, was not fool enough to believe it. He was perfectly aware that when a man gives authority to society to compel him to attend court as a witness, for instance, he yields just so much of his natural rights to society, as might be necessary to empower him to stay away, if he saw fit; and, so on, through the whole of the very long catalogue of the claims which the most indulgent communities make upon the services of their citizens. Mark understood the great desideratum to be, not the setting up of theories to which every attendant fact gives the lie, but the ascertaining, as near as human infirmity will allow, the precise point at which concession to government ought to terminate, and that of uncontrolled individual freedom commence. He was not visionary enough to suppose that he was to be the first to make this great discoverty; but he was conscious of entering on the task with the purest intentions. Our governor had no relish for power for power's sake, but only wielded it for the general good. By nature, he was more disposed to seek happiness in a very small circle, and would have been just as well satisfied to let another govern, as to rule himself, had there been another suited to such a station. But there was not. His own early habits of command, the peculiar circumstances which had first put him in possession of the territory, as if it were a special gift of Providence to himself, his past agency in bringing about the actual state of things, and his property, which amounted to more than that of all the rest of the colony put together, contributed to give him a title and authority to rule, which would have set the claims of any rival at defiance, had such a person existed. But there was no rival; not a being present desiring to see another in his place.

    The first step of the governor was to appoint his brother, Abraham Woolston, the secretary of the colony. In that age America had very different notions of office, and of its dignity, of the respect due to authority, and of the men who wielded if, from what prevail at the present time. The colonists, coming as they did from America, brought with them the notions of the times, and treated their superiors accordingly. In the last century a governor was "the governor," and not "our governor," and a secretary "the secretary," and not "our secretary," men now taking more liberties with what they fancy their own, than was their wont with what they believed had been set over them for their good. Mr. Secretary Woolston soon became a personage, accordingly, as did all the other considerable functionaries appointed by the governor.

    The very first act of Abraham Woolston, on being sworn into office, was to make a registry of the entire population. We shall give a synopsis of it, in order that the reader may understand the character of the materials with which the governor had room to work, viz:—

    Here, then, was a community composed already of three hundred and five souls. The governor's policy was not to increase this number by further immigration, unless in special cases, and then only after due deliberation and inquiry. Great care had been taken with the characters of the present settlers, and careless infusions of new members might undo a great deal of good that had already been done. This matter was early laid before the new council, and the opinions of the governor met with a unanimous concurrence.

    On the subject of the council, it may be well to say a word. It was increased to nine, and a new election was made, the incumbents holding their offices for life. This last provision was made to prevent the worst part, and the most corrupting influence of politics, viz., the elections, from getting too much sway over the public mind. The new council was composed as follows, viz:—

    Messrs. Heaton, Pennock, Betts, C. Woolston, A. Woolston, the governor's brothers. Charlton, Saunders, Wilmost, and Warrington.

    These names belonged to the most intelligent men of the colony, Betts perhaps excepted; but his claims were too obvious to be slighted. Betts had good sense moreover, and a great deal of modesty. All the rest of the council had more or less claims to be gentlemen, but Bob never pretended to that character. He knew his own qualifications, and did not render himself ridiculous by aspiring to be more than he really was; still, his practical knowledge made him a very useful member of the council, where his opinions were always heard with attention and respect. Charlton and Wilmot were merchants, and intended to embark regularly in trade; while Warrington, who possessed more fortune than any of the other colonists, unless it might be the governor, called himself a farmer, though he had a respectable amount of general science, and was well read in most of the liberal studies.

    Warrington was made judge, with a small salary, all of which he gave to the clergyman, the Rev. Mr. White. This was done because he had no need of the money himself, and there was no other provision for the parson than free contributions. John Woolston, who had read law, was named Attorney-General, or colony's attorney, as the office was more modestly styled; to which duties he added those of surveyor-general. Charles received his salary, which was two hundred and fifty dollars, being in need of it. The question of salary, as respects the governor, was also settled. Mark had no occasion for the money, owning all the vessels, with most of the cargo of the Rancocus, as well as having brought out with him no less a sum than five thousand dollars, principally in change—halves, quarters, shillings and six-pences. Then a question might well arise, whether he did not own most of the stock; a large part of it was his beyond all dispute, though some doubts might exist as to the remainder. On this subject the governor came to a most wise decision. He was fully aware that nothing was more demoralizing to a people than to suffer them to get loose notions on the subject of property. Property of all kinds, he early determined, should be most rigidly respected, and a decision that he made shortly after his return from America, while acting in his capacity of chief magistrate, and before the new court went into regular operation, was of a character to show how he regarded this matter. The case was as follows:—

    Two of the colonists, Warner and Harris, had bad blood between them. Warner had placed his family in an arbour within a grove, and to "aggravate" him, Harris came and walked before his door, strutting up and down like a turkey-cock, and in a way to show that it was intended to annoy Warner. The last brought his complaint before the governor. On the part of Harris, it was contended that no injury had been done the property of Harris, and that, consequently, no damages could be claimed. The question of title was conceded, ex necessitate rerum . Governor Woolston decided, that a man's rights in his property were not to be limited by positive injuries to its market value. Although no grass or vegetables had been destroyed by Harris in his walks, he had molested Warner in such an enjoyment of his dwelling, as, in intendment of law, every citizen was entitled to in his possessions. The trespass was an aggravated one, and damages were given accordingly. In delivering his judgment, the governor took occasion to state, that in the administration of the law, the rights of every man would be protected in the fullest extent, not only as connected with pecuniary considerations, but as connected with all those moral uses and feelings which contribute to human happiness. This decision met with applause, and was undoubtedly right in itself. It was approved, because the well-intentioned colonists had not learned to confound liberty with licentiousness; but understood the former to be the protection of the citizen in the enjoyment of all his innocent tastes, enjoyments and personal rights, after making such concessions to government as are necessary to its maintenance. Thrice happy would it be for all lands, whether they are termed despotisms or democracies, could they thoroughly feel the justice of this definition, and carry out its intention in practice.

    The council was convened the day succeeding its election. After a few preliminary matters were disposed of, the great question was laid before it, of a division of property, and the grant of real estate. Warrington and Charles Woolston laid down the theory, that the fee of all the land was, by gift of Providence, in the governor, and that his patent, or sign-manual, was necessary for passing the title into other hands. This theory had an affinity to that of the Common Law, which made the prince the suzerain, and rendered him the heir of all escheated estates. But Mark's humility, not to say his justice, met this doctrine on the threshold. He admitted the sovereignty and its right, but placed it in the body of the colony, instead of in himself. As the party most interested took this view of the case, they who were disposed to regard his rights as more sweeping, were fain to submit. The land was therefore declared to be the property of the state. Ample grants, however, were made both to the governor and Betts, as original possessors, or discoverers, and it was held in law that their claims were thus compromised. The grants to Governor Woolston included quite a thousand acres on the Peak, which was computed to contain near thirty thousand, and an island of about the same extent in the group, which was beautifully situated near its centre, and less than a league from the crater. Betts had one hundred acres granted to him, near the crater also. He refused any other grant, as a right growing out of original possession. Nor was his reasoning bad on the occasion. When he was driven off, in the Neshamony, the Reef, Loam Island, Guano Island, and twenty or thirty rocks, composed all the dry land. He had never seen the Peak until Mark was in possession of it, and had no particular claim there. When the council came to make its general grants, he was willing to come in for his proper share with the rest of the people, and he wanted no more. Heaton had a special grant of two hundred acres made to him on the Peak, and another in the group of equal extent, as a reward for his early and important services. Patents were made out, at once of these several grants, under the great seal of the colony; for the governor had provided parchment, and wax, and a common seal, in anticipation of their being all wanted. The rest of the grants of land were made on a general principle, giving fifty acres on the Peak, and one hundred in the group, to each male citizen of the age of twenty-one years; those who had not yet attained their majority being compelled to wait. A survey was made, and the different lots were numbered, and registered by those numbers. Then a lottery was made, each man's name being put in one box, and the necessary numbers in another. The number drawn against any particular name was the lot of the person in question. A registration of the drawing was taken, and printed patents were made out, signed, sealed, and issued to the respective parties. We say printed, a press and types having been brought over in the Rancocus, as well as a printer. In this way, then, every male of full age, was put in possession of one hundred and fifty acres of land, in fee.

    As the lottery did not regard the wishes of parties, many private bargains were made, previously to the issuing of the patents, in order that friends and connections might be placed near to each other. Some sold their rights, exchanging with a difference, while others sold altogether on the Peak, or in the group, willing to confine their possessions to one or the other of these places. In this manner Mr. Warrington, or Judge Warrington, as he was now called, bought three fifty-acre lots adjoining his own share on the Peak, and sold his hundred-acre lot in the group. The price established by these original sales, would seem to give a value of ten dollars an acre to land on the Peak, and of three dollars an acre to land in the group. Some lots, however, had a higher value than others, all these things being left to be determined by the estimate which the colonists placed on their respective valuations. As everything was conducted on a general and understood principle, and the drawing was made fairly and in public, there was no discontent; though some of the lots were certainly a good deal preferable to others. The greatest difference in value existed in the lots in the group, where soil and water were often wanted; though, on the whole, much more of both was found than had been at first expected. There were vast deposits of mud, and others of sand, and Heaton early suggested the expediency of mixing the two together, by way of producing fertility. An experiment of this nature had been tried, under his orders, during the absence of the governor, and the result was of the most satisfactory nature; the acre thus manured producing abundantly.

    As it was the sand that was to be conveyed to the mud, the toil was much less than might have been imagined. This sand usually lay near the water, and the numberless channels admitted of its being transported in boats along a vast reach of shore. Each lot having a water front, every man might manure a few acres, by this process, without any great expense; and no sooner were the rights determined, and the decisions of the parties made as to their final settlements, than many went to work to render the cracked and baked mud left by the retiring ocean fertile and profitable. Lighters were constructed for the purpose, and the colonists formed themselves into gangs, labouring in common, and transporting so many loads of sand to each levee, as the banks were called, though not raised as on the Mississippi, and distributing it bountifully over the surface. The spade was employed to mix the two earths together.

    Most of the allotments of land, in the group, were in the immediate neighbourhood of the Reef. As there were quite a hundred of them, more than ten thousand acres of the islands were thus taken up, at the start. By a rough calculation, however, the group extended east and west sixty-three miles, and north and south about fifty,— the Reef being a very little west and a very little south of its centre. Of this surface it was thought something like three-fourths was dry land, or naked rock. This would give rather more than a million and a half of acres of land; but, of this great extent of territory, not more than two-thirds could be rendered available for the purposes of husbandry, for want of soil, or the elements of soil. There were places where the deposit of mud seemed to be of vast depth, while in others it did not exceed a few inches. The same was true of the sands, though the last was rarely of as great depth as the mud, or alluvium.

    A month was consumed in making the allotments, and in putting the different proprietors in possession of their respective estates. Then, indeed, were the results of the property-system made directly apparent. No sooner was an individual put in possession of his deed, and told that the lot it represented was absolutely his own, to do what he pleased with it, than he went to work with energy and filled with hopes, to turn his new domains to account. It is true that education and intelligence, if they will only acquit themselves of their tasks with disinterested probity, may enlighten and instruct the ignorant how to turn their means to account; but, all experience proves that each individual usually takes the best care of his own interests, and that the system is wisest which grants to him the amplest opportunity so to do.

    To work all went, the men forming themselves into gangs, and aiding each other. The want of horses and neat cattle was much felt, more especially as Heaton's experience set every one at the sand, as the first step in a profitable husbandry: wheelbarrows, however, were made use of instead of carts, and it was found that a dozen pair of hands could do a good deal with that utensil, in the course of a day. All sorts of contrivances were resorted to in order to transport the sand, but the governor established a regular system, by which the lighter should deliver one load at each farm, in succession. By the end of a month it was found that a good deal had been done, the distances being short and the other facilities constantly increasing by the accession of new boats.

    All sorts of habitations were invented. The scarcity of wood in the group was a serious evil, and it was found indispensable to import that material. Parts of Rancocus Island were well wooded, there growing among other trees a quantity of noble yellow pines. Bigelow was sent across in the Abraham to set up a mill, and to cut lumber. There being plenty of water-power, the mill was soon got at work, and a lot of excellent plank, boards, &c., was shipped in the schooner for the crater. Shingle-makers were also employed, the cedar abounding, as well as the pine. The transportation to the coast was the point of difficulty on Rancocus Island as well as elsewhere; none of the cattle being yet old enough to be used. Socrates had three pair of yearling steers, and one of two years old breaking, but it was too soon to set either at work. With the last, a little very light labour was done, but it was more to train the animals, than with any other object.

    On Rancocus Island, however, Bigelow had made a very ingenious canal, that was of vast service in floating logs to the mill. The dam made a long narrow pond that penetrated two or three miles up a gorge in the mountains, and into this dam the logs were rolled down the declivities, which were steep enough to carry anything into the water. When cut into lumber, it was found that the stream below the mill, would carry small rafts down to the sea.

    While all these projects were in the course of operation, the governor did not forget the high interests connected with his foreign relations; Waally was to be looked to, and Ooroony's son to be righted. The council was unanimously of opinion that sound policy required such an exhibition of force on the part of the colony, as should make a lasting impression on their turbulent neighbours. An expedition was accordingly fitted out, in which the Mermaid, the Abraham, and a new pilot-boat built schooner of fifty tons burthen, were employed. This new schooner was nearly ready for launching when the Rancocus returned, and was put into the water for the occasion. She had been laid down in the cove, where Bigelow had found room for a sufficient yard, and where timber was nearer at hand, than on the Reef. As Rancocus Island supplied the most accessible and the best lumber, the council had determined to make a permanent establishment on it, for the double purposes of occupation and building vessels. As the resources of that island were developed, it was found important on other accounts, also. Excellent clay for bricks was found, as was lime-stone, in endless quantities. For the purposes of agriculture, the place was nearly useless, there not being one thousand acres of good arable land in the whole island; but the mountains were perfect mines of treasure in the way of necessary supplies of the sorts mentioned.

    A brick-yard was immediately cleared and formed, and a lime-kiln constructed. Among the colonists, it was easy to find men accustomed to work in all these familiar branches. The American can usually turn his hand to a dozen different pursuits; and, though he may not absolutely reach perfection in either, he is commonly found useful and reasonably expert in all. Before the governor sailed on his expedition against Waally, a brick-kiln and a lime-kiln were nearly built, and a vast quantity of lumber had been carried over to the Reef. As sandal-wood had been collecting for the twelve months of her late absence, the Rancocus had also been filled up, and had taken in a new cargo for Canton. It was not the intention of the governor to command his ship this voyage; but he gave her to Saunders, who was every way competent to the trust. When all was ready, the Rancocus, the Mermaid, the Abraham, and the Anne, as the new pilot-boat schooner was called, sailed for Betto's group; it being a part of the governor's plan to use the ship, in passing, with a view to intimidate his enemies. In consequence of the revolution that had put Waally up again, every one of the Kannakas who had gone out in the Rancocus on her last voyage, refused to go home, knowing that they would at once be impressed into Waally's service; and they all now cheerfully shipped anew, for a second voyage to foreign lands. By this time, these men were very useful; and the governor had a project for bringing up a number of the lads of the islands, and of making use of them in the public service. This scheme was connected with his contemplated success, and formed no small part of the policy of the day.

    The appearance of so formidable a force as was now brought against Waally, reduced that turbulent chief to terms without a battle. About twenty of his canoes had got separated from the rest of the fleet in a squall, while returning from the unsuccessful attempt on the Reef, and they were never heard of more; or, if heard of, it was in uncertain rumours, which gave an account of the arrival of three or four canoes at some islands a long way to-leeward, with a handful of half-starved warriors on board. It is supposed that all the rest perished at sea. This disaster had rendered Waally unpopular among the friends of those who were lost; and that unpopularity was heightened by the want of success in the expedition itself. Success is all in all, with the common mind; and we daily see the vulgar shouting at the heels of those whom they are ready to crucify at the first turn of fortune. In this good land of ours, popularity adds to its more worthless properties the substantial result of power; and it is not surprising that so many forget their God in the endeavour to court the people. In time, however, all of these persons of mistaken ambition come to exclaim, with Shakspeare's Wolsey—


    "Had I but served my God with half the zeal
    I served my king, he would not in mine age
    Have left me naked to mine enemies."

    Waally's power, already tottering through the influence of evil fortune, crumbled entirely before the force Governor Woolston now brought against it. Although the latter had but forty whites with him, they came in ships, and provided with cannon; and not a chief dreamed of standing by the offender, in this his hour of need. Waally had the tact to comprehend his situation, and the wisdom to submit to his fortune. He sent a messenger to the governor with a palm-branch, offering to restore young Ooroony to all his father's authority, and to confine himself to his strictly inherited dominions. Such, in fact, was the basis of the treaty that was now made, though hostages were taken for its fulfilment. To each condition Waally consented; and everything was settled to the entire satisfaction of the whites, and to the honour and credit of young Ooroony. The result was, in substance, as we shall now record.

    In the first place, one hundred lads were selected and handed over to the governor, as so many apprentices to the sea. These young Kannakas were so many hostages for the good behaviour of their parents; while the parents, always within reach of the power of the colonists, were so many hostages for the good behaviour of the Kannakas. Touching the last, however, the governor had very few misgivings, since he believed it very possible so to treat, and so to train them, as to make them fast friends. In placing them on board the different vessels, therefore, rigid instructions were given to their officers to be kind to these youngsters; and each and all were to be taught to read, and instructed in the Christian religion. The Rev. Mr. Hornblower took great interest in this last arrangement, as did half the females of the colony. Justice and kind treatment, in fact, produced their usual results in the cases of these hundred youths; every one of whom got to be, in the end, far more attached to the Reef, and its customs, than to their own islands and their original habits. The sea, no doubt, contributed its share to this process of civilization; for it is ever found that the man who gets a thorough taste for that element, is loth to quit it again for terra firma .

    One hundred able-bodied men were added to the recruits that the governor obtained in Betto's group. They were taken as hired labourers, and not as hostages. Beads and old iron were to be their pay, with fish-hooks, and such other trifles as had a value in their eyes; and their engagement was limited to two months. There was a disposition among a few of the colonists to make slaves of these men, and to work their lands by means of a physical force obtained in Betto's group; but to this scheme the council would not lend itself for a moment. The governor well knew that the usefulness, virtue, and moral condition of his people, depended on their being employed; and he had no wish to undermine the permanent prosperity of the colony, by resorting to an expedient that might do well enough for a short time, but which would certainly bring its own punishment in the end.

    Still, an accession of physical force, properly directed, would be of great use in this early age of the colony. The labourers were accordingly engaged; but this was done by the government, which not only took the control of the men, but which also engaged to see them paid the promised remuneration. Another good was also anticipated from this arrangement. The two groups must exist as friends or as enemies. So long as young Ooroony reigned, it was thought there would be little difficulty in maintaining amicable relations; and it was hoped that the intercourse created by this arrangement, aided by the trade in sandal-wood, might have the effect to bind the natives to the whites by the tie of interest.

    The vessels lay at Betto's group a fortnight, completing all the arrangements made; though the Rancocus sailed on her voyage as soon as the terms of the treaty were agreed on, and the Anne was sent back to the Reef with the news that the war had terminated. As for Waally, he was obliged to place his favourite son in the hands of young Ooroony, who held the youthful chief as a hostage for his father's good behaviour.

    CHAPTER VIII.


    "Thou shalt seek the beach of sand
    Where the water bounds the elfin land;
    Thou shalt watch the oozy brine
    Till the sturgeon leaps in the bright moonshine,
    Then dart the glistening arch below,
    And catch a drop from his silver bow;
    The water-sprites will wield their arms,
    And dash around, with roar and rave,
    And vain are the woodland spirit's charms,
    They are the imps that rule the wave.
    Yet trust thee in thy single might;
    If thy heart be pure, and thy spirit right,
    Thou shalt win the warlike fight."

    Drake.

    A twelvemonth passed, after the return of the expedition against Betto's group, without the occurrence of any one very marked event. Within that time, Bridget made Mark the father of a fine boy, and Anne bore her fourth child to Heaton. The propagation of the human species, indeed, flourished marvellously, no less than seventy-eight children having been born in the course of that single year. There were a few deaths, only one among the adults, the result of an accident, the health of the colony having been excellent. An enumeration, made near the close of the year, showed a total of three hundred and seventy-nine souls, including those absent in the Rancocus, and excluding the Kannakas.

    As for these Kannakas, the results of their employment quite equalled the governor's expectations. They would not labour like civilized men, it is true, nor was it easy to make them use tools; but at lifts, and drags, and heavy work, they could be, and were, made to do a vast deal. The first great object of the governor had been to get his people all comfortably housed, beneath good roofs, and out of the way of the rains. Fortunately there were no decayed vegetable substances in the group, to produce fevers; and so long as the person could be kept dry, there was little danger to the health.

    Four sorts, or classes, of houses were erected, each man being left to choose for himself, with the understanding that he was to receive a certain amount, in value, from the commonwealth, by contribution in labour, or in materials. All beyond that amount was to be paid for. To equalize advantages, a tariff was established, as to the value of labour and materials. These materials consisted of lumber, including shingles, stone, lime and bricks; bricks burned, as well as those which were unburned, or adobe. Nails were also delivered from the public store, free of charge.

    Of course, no one at first thought of building very largely. Small kitchens were all that were got up, at the commencement, and they varied in size, according to the means of their owners, as much as they differed in materials. Some built of wood; some of stones; some of regular bricks; and some of adobe. All did very well, but the stone was found to be much the preferable material, especially where the plastering within was furred off from the walls. These stones came from Rancocus Island, where they were found in inexhaustible quantities, partaking of the character of tufa. The largest of them were landed at the Reef, the loading and unloading being principally done by the Kannakas, while the smallest were delivered at different points along the channel, according to the wishes of the owners of the land. More than a hundred dwellings were erected in the course of the few months immediately succeeding the arrival of the immigrants. About half were on the Peak, and the remainder were in the group. It is true, no one of all these dwellings was large; but each was comfortable, and fully answered the purpose of protection against the rain. A roof of cedar shingles was tight, as a matter of course, and what was more, it was lasting. Some of the buildings were sided with these shingles; though clap-boards were commonly used for that purpose. The adobe answered very well when securely roofed, though it was thought the unburnt brick absorbed more moisture than the brick which had been burned.

    The largest of all the private dwellings thus erected, was thirty feet square, and the smallest was fifteen. The last had its cooking apartment under a shed, however, detached from the house. Most of the ovens were thus placed; and in many instances the chimneys stood entirely without the buildings, even when they were attached to them. There was but one house of two stories, and that was John Pennock's, who had sufficient means to construct such a building. As for the governor, he did not commence building at all, until nearly every one else was through, when he laid the corner-stones of two habitations; one on the Peak, which was his private property, standing on his estate; and the other on the Reef, which was strictly intended to be a Government, or Colony House. The first was of brick, and the last of stone, and of great solidity, being intended as a sort of fortress. The private dwelling was only a story and a half high, but large on the ground for that region, measuring sixty feet square. The government building was much larger, measuring two hundred feet in length, by sixty feet in depth. This spacious edifice, however, was not altogether intended for a dwelling for the governor, but was so arranged as to contain great quantities of public property in its basement, and to accommodate the courts, and all the public offices on the first floor. It had an upper story, but that was left unfinished and untenanted for years, though fitted with arrangements for defence. Fortunately, cellars were little wanted in that climate, for it was not easy to have one in the group. It is true, that Pennock caused one to be blown out with gun-powder, under his dwelling, though every one prophesied that it would soon be full of water. It proved to be dry, notwithstanding; and a very good cellar it was, being exceedingly useful against the heats, though of cold there was none to guard against.

    The Colony House stood directly opposite to the drawbridge, being placed there for the purposes of defence, as well as to have access to the spring. A want of water was rather an evil on the Reef; not that the sands did not furnish an ample supply, and that of the most delicious quality, but it had to be carried to inconvenient distances. In general, water was found in sufficient quantities and in suitable places, among the group; but, at the Reef, there was certainly this difficulty to contend with. As the governor caused his brother, the surveyor-general, to lay out a town on the Reef, it was early deemed necessary to make some provision against this evil. A suitable place was selected, and a cistern was blown out of the rock, into which all the water that fell on the roof of Colony House was led. This reservoir, when full, contained many thousand gallons; and when once full, it was found that the rains were sufficient to prevent its being very easily emptied.

    But the greatest improvement that was made on the Reef, after all, was in the way of soil. As for the crater, that, by this time, was a mass of verdure, among which a thousand trees were not only growing, but flourishing. This was as true of its plain, as of its mounds; and of its mounds, as of its plain. But the crater was composed of materials very different from the base of the Reef. The former was of tufa, so far as it was rock at all; while the latter was, in the main, pure Iava. Nevertheless, something like a soil began to form even on the Reef, purely by the accessions caused though its use by man. Great attention was paid to collecting everything that could contribute to the formation of earth, in piles; and these piles were regularly removed to such cavities, or inequalities in the surface of the rock, as would be most likely to retain their materials when spread. In this way many green patches had been formed, and, in a good many instances, trees had been set out, in spots where it was believed they could find sufficient nourishment. But, no sooner had the governor decided to build on the Reef, and to make his capital there, than he set about embellishing the place systematically. Whenever a suitable place could be found, in what was intended for Colony House grounds, a space of some ten acres in the rear of the building, he put in the drill, and blew out rock. The fragments of stone were used about the building; and the place soon presented a ragged, broken surface, of which one might well despair of making anything. By perseverance, however, and still more by skill and judgment, the whole area was lowered more than a foot, and in many places, where nature assisted the work, it was lowered several feet. It was a disputed question, indeed, whether stone for the building could not be obtained here, by blasting, cheaper and easier, than by transporting it from Rancocus Island. Enough was procured in this way not only to construct the building, but to enclose the grounds with a sufficient wall. When all was got off that was wanted, boat-loads of mud and sand were brought by Kannakas, and deposited in the cavity. This was a great work for such a community, though it proceeded faster than, at first, one might have supposed. The materials were very accessible, and the distances short, which greatly facilitated the labour, though unloading was a task of some gravity. The walls of the house were got up in about six months after the work was commenced, and the building was roofed; but, though the gardeners were set to work as soon as the stones were out of the cavities, they had not filled more than two acres at the end of the period mentioned.

    Determined to make an end of this great work at once, the Abraham was sent over to young Ooroony to ask for assistance. Glad enough was that chief to grant what was demanded of him, and he came himself, at the head of five hundred men, to aid his friend in finishing this task. Even this strong body of labourers was busy two months longer, before the governor pronounced the great end accomplished. Then he dismissed his neighbours with such gifts and pay as sent away everybody contented. Many persons thought the experiment of bringing so many savages to the Reef somewhat hazardous; but no harm ever came of it. On the contrary, the intercourse had a good effect, by making the two people better acquainted with each other. The governor had a great faculty in the management of those wild beings. He not only kept them in good-humour, but what was far more difficult, he made them work. They were converted into a sort of Irish for his colony. It is true, one civilized man could do more than three of the Kannakas, but the number of the last was so large that they accomplished a great deal during their stay.

    Nor would the governor have ventured to let such danverous neighbours into the group, had there not been still more imposing mysteries connected with the Peak, into which they were not initiated. Even young Ooroony was kept in ignorance of what was to be found on that dreaded island. He saw vessels going and coming, knew that the governor often went there, saw strange faces appearing occasionally on the Reef, that were understood to belong to the unknown land, and probably to a people who were much more powerful than those who were in direct communication with the natives.

    The governor induced his Kannakas to work by interesting them in the explosions of the blasts, merely to enjoy the pleasure of seeing a cart-load of rock torn from its bed. One of these men would work at a drill all day, and then carry off the fragments to be placed in the walls, after he had had his sport in this operation of blasting. They seemed never to tire of the fun, and it was greatly questioned if half as much labour could have been got out of them at any other work, as at this.

    A good deal of attention was paid to rendering the soil of the colony garden fertile, as well as deep. In its shallowest places it exceeded a foot in depth, and in the deepest, spots where natural fissures had aided the drill, it required four or five feet of materials to form the level. These deep places were all marked, and were reserved for the support of trees. Not only was sand freely mixed with the mud, or muck, but sea-weed in large quantities was laid near the surface, and finally covered with the soil. In this manner was a foundation made that could not fail to sustain a garden luxuriant in its products, aided by the genial heat and plentiful rains of the climate. Shrubs, flowers, grass, and ornamental trees, however, were all the governor aimed at in these public grounds; the plain of the crater furnishing fruit and vegetables in an abundance, as yet far exceeding the wants of the whole colony. The great danger, indeed, that the governor most apprehended, was that the beneficent products of the region would render his people indolent; an idle nation becoming, almost infallibly, vicious as well as ignorant. It was with a view to keep the colony on the advance, and to maintain a spirit of improvement that so much attention was so early bestowed on what might otherwise be regarded as purely intellectual pursuits which, by creating new wants, might induce their subjects to devise the means of supplying them.

    The governor judged right; for tastes are commonly acquired by imitation, and when thus acquired, they take the strongest hold of those who cultivate them. The effect produced by the Colony Garden, or public grounds, was such as twenty-fold to return the cost and labour bestowed on it. The sight of such an improvement set both men and women to work throughout the group, and not a dwelling was erected in the town, that the drill did not open the rock, and mud and sand form a garden. Nor did the governor himself confine his horticultural improvements to the gardens mentioned. Before he sent away his legion of five hundred, several hundred blasts were made in isolated spots on the Reef; places where the natural formation favoured such a project; and holes were formed that would receive a boat-load of soil each. In these places trees were set out, principally cocoa-nuts, and such other plants as were natural to the situation, due care being taken to see that each had sufficient nourishment.

    The result of all this industry was to produce a great change in the state of things at the Reef. In addition to the buildings erected, and to the gardens made and planted, within the town itself, the whole surface of the island was more or less altered. Verdure soon made its appearance in places where, hitherto, nothing but naked rock had been seen, and trees began to cast their shades over the young and delicious grasses. As for the town itself, it was certainly no great matter; containing about twenty dwellings, and otherwise being of very modest pretensions. Those who dwelt there were principally such mechanics as found it convenient to be at the centre of the settlement, some half a dozen persons employed about the warehouses of the merchants, a few officials of the government, and the families of those who depended mainly on the sea for their support. Each and all of these heads of families had drawn their lots, both in the group and on the Peak, though some had sold their rights the better to get a good start in their particular occupations. The merchants, however, established themselves on the Reef, as a matter of necessity, each causing a warehouse to be constructed near the water, with tackles and all the usual conveniences for taking in and delivering goods. Each also had his dwelling near at hand. As these persons had come well provided for the Indian trade in particular, having large stocks of such cheap and coarse articles as took with the natives, they were already driving a profitable business, receiving considerable quantities of sandal-wood in exchange for their goods.

    It is worthy of being mentioned, that the governor and council early passed a sort of navigation act, the effect of which was to secure the carrying trade to the colony. The motive, however, was more to keep the natives within safe limits, than to monopolize the profits of the seas. By the provisions of this law, no canoe could pass from Betto's group to either of the islands of the colony, without express permission from the governor. In order to carry on the trade, the parties met on specified days at Ooroony's village, and there made their exchanges; vessels being sent from the Reef to bring away the sandal-wood. With a view to the final transportation of the last to a market, Saunders had been instructed to purchase a suitable vessel, which was to return with the Rancocus, freighted with such heavy and cheap implements as were most wanted in the colony, including cows and mares in particular. Physical force, in the shape of domestic animals, was greatly wanted; and it was perhaps the most costly of all the supplies introduced into the settlements. Of horned cattle there were already about five-and-twenty head in the colony— enough to make sure of the breed; but they were either cows, steers too young to be yet of much use, and calves. Nothing was killed, of course; but so much time must pass before the increase would give the succour wanted, that the governor went to unusual expense and trouble to make additions to the herd from abroad.

    As for the horses, but three had been brought over, two of which were mares. The last had foaled twice; and there were four colts, all doing well, but wanting age to be useful. All the stock of this character was kept on the Peak, in order to secure it from invaders; and the old animals, even to the cows, were lightly worked there, doing a vast deal that would otherwise remain undone. It was o obviously advantageous to increase the amount of this sort of force, that Saunders had strict orders to purchase the vessel mentioned, and to bring over as many beasts as he could conveniently and safely stow. With this object in view, he was directed to call in, on the western side of Cape Horn, and to make his purchases in South America. The horned cattle might not be so good, coming from such a quarter, but the dangers of doubling the Cape would be avoided.

    While making these general and desultory statements touching the progress of the colony, it may be well to say a word of Rancocus Island. The establishments necessary there, to carry on the mills, lime and brick kilns, and the stone-quarry, induced the governor to erect a small work, in which the persons employed in that out-colony might take refuge, in the event of an invasion. This was done accordingly; and two pieces of artillery were regularly mounted on it. Nor was the duty of fortifying neglected elsewhere. As for the Peak, it was not deemed necessary to do more than improve a little upon nature; the colony being now too numerous to suppose that it could not defend the cove against any enemy likely to land there, should the entrance of that secret haven be detected. On the Reef, however, it was a very different matter. That place was as accessible as the other was secure. The construction of so many stout stone edifices contributed largely to the defence of the town; but the governor saw the necessity of providing the means of commanding the approaches by water. Four distinct passages, each corresponding to a cardinal point of the compass, led from the crater out to sea. As the south passage terminated at the bridge, it was sufficiently commanded by the Colony House. But all the others were wider, more easy of approach, and less under the control of the adjacent islands. But the Summit had points whence each might be raked by guns properly planted, and batteries were accordingly constructed on these points; the twelve-pounder being used for their armaments. Each battery had two guns; and when all was completed, it was the opinion of the governor that the post was sufficiently well fortified. In order, however, to give additional security, the crater was tabooed to all the Kannakas; not one of whom was permitted ever to enter it, or even to go near it.

    But defence, and building, and making soil, did not altogether occupy the attention of the colonists during these important twelve months. Both the brothers of the governor got married; the oldest, or the attorney-general, to the oldest sister of John Pennock, and the youngest to a sister of the Rev. Mr. Hornblower. It was in this simple colony, as if ever has been, and ever will be in civilized society, that, in forming matrimonial connections, like looks for like. There was no person, or family at the Reef which could be said to belong to the highest social class of America, if, indeed, any one could rank as high as a class immediately next to the highest; yet, distinctions existed which were maintained usefully, and without a thought of doing them away. The notion that money alone makes those divisions into castes which are everywhere to be found, and which will probably continue to be found as long as society itself exists, is a very vulgar and fallacious notion. It comes from the difficulty of appreciating those tastes and qualities which, not possessing ourselves, are so many unknown and mysterious influences. In marrying Sarah Pennock, John Woolston was slightly conscious of making a little sacrifice in these particulars, but she was a very pretty, modest girl, of a suitable age, and the circle to choose from, it will be remembered, was very limited. In America that connection might not have taken place; but, at the crater, it was all well enough, and it turned out to be a very happy union. Had the sacrifice of habits and tastes been greater, this might not have been the fact, for it is certain that our happiness depends more on the subordinate qualities and our cherished usages, than on principles themselves. It is difficult to suppose that any refined woman, for instance, can ever thoroughly overcome her disgust for a man who habitually blows his nose with his fingers, or that one bred a gentleman can absolutely overlook, even in a wife, the want of the thousand and one little lady-like habits, which render the sex perhaps more attractive than do their personal charms.

    Several other marriages took place, the scarcity of subjects making it somewhat hazardous to delay: when Hobson's choice is placed before one, deliberation, is of no great use. It was generally understood that the Rancocus was to bring out very few immigrants, though permission had been granted to Capt. Saunders to take letters to certain friends of some already settled in the colony, with the understanding that those friends were to be received, should they determine to come. That point, however, was soon to be decided, for just a year and one week after the Rancocus had sailed from Betto's group, the news reached the Reef that the good ship was coming into the northern roads, and preparing to anchor. The governor immediately went on board the Anne, taking Betts with him, and made sail for the point in question, with a view to bring the vessel through the passage to the Reef. The governor and Betts were the only two who, as it was believed, could carry so large a vessel through; though later soundings showed it was only necessary to keep clear of the points and the shores, in order to bring in a craft of any draught of water.

    When the Anne ran out into the roads, there she found the Rancocus at anchor, sure enough. On nearing her, Capt. Saunders appeared on her poop, and in answer to a hail, gave the welcome answer of "all well." Those comprehensive words removed a great deal of anxiety from the mind of the governor; absence being, in one sense, the parent of uncertainty, and uncertainty of uneasiness. Everything about the ship, however, looked well, and to the surprise of those in the Anne, many heads belonging to others beside the crew were to be seen above the rail. A sail was in sight, moreover, standing in, and this vessel Capt. Saunders stated was the brig Henlopen, purchased on government account, and loaded with stock, and other property for the colony.

    On going on board the Rancocus it was ascertained that, in all, one hundred and eleven new immigrants had been brought out! The circle of the affections had been set at work, and one friend had induced another to enter into the adventure, until it was found that less than the number mentioned could not be gotten rid of. That which could not be cured was to be endured, and the governor's dissatisfaction was a good deal appeased when he learned that the new-comers were of excellent materials; being, without exception, young, healthful, moral, and all possessed of more or less substance, in the way of worldly goods. This accession to the colony brought its population up to rather more than five hundred souls, of which number, however, near a hundred and fifty were children, or, under the age of fourteen years.

    Glad enough were the new-comers to land at a little settlement which had been made on the island which lay abreast of the roads, and where, indeed, there was a very convenient harbour, did vessels choose to use it. The roads, however, had excellent anchorage, and were perfectly protected against the prevailing winds of that region. Only once, indeed, since the place was inhabited, had the wind been known to blow on shore at that point; and then only during a brief squall. In general, the place was every way favourable for the arrival and departure of shipping, the trades making a leading breeze both in going and coming—as, indeed, they did all the way to and from the Reef. A long-headed emigrant, of the name of Dunks, had foreseen the probable, future, importance of this outer harbour, and had made such an arrangement with the council, as to obtain leave for himself and three or four of his connections to exchange the land they had drawn, against an equal quantity in this part of the group. The arrangement was made, and this little, out-lying colony had now been established an entire season. As the spot was a good deal exposed to an invasion, a stone dwelling had been erected, that was capable of accommodating the whole party, and pickets were placed around it in such a way as to prove an ample defence against any attempt to carry the work by assault. The governor had lent them a field-piece, and it was thought the whole disposition was favourable to the security of the colony, since no less than eleven combatants could be mustered here to repel invasion.

    The immigrants, as usual, found everything charming, when their feet touched terra firma. The crops did look well, and the island being covered with mud, the sand had done wonders for the vegetation. It is true that trees were wanting, though the pickets, or palisades, being of willow, had all sprouted, and promised soon to enclose the dwelling in a grove. Some fifty acres had been tilled, more or less thoroughly, and timothy was already growing that was breast-high. Clover looked well, too, as did everything else; the guano having lost none of its virtue since the late arrivals.

    The governor sent back the Anne, with instructions to prepare room for the immigrants in the government dwelling, which, luckily, was large enough to receive them all. He waited with the Rancocus, however, for the Henlopen to come in and anchor. He then went on board this brig, and took a look at the stock. Saunders, a discreet, sensible man, so well understood the importance of adding to the physical force of the colony, in the way of brutes, that he had even strained the point to bring as many mares and cows as he could stow. He had put on board twenty-five of the last, and twenty of the first; all purchased at Valparaiso. The weather had been so mild, that no injury had happened to the beasts, but the length of the passage had so far exhausted the supplies that not a mouthful of food had the poor animals tasted for the twenty-four hours before they got in. The water, too, was scarce, and anything but sweet. For a month everything had been on short allowance, and the suffering creatures must have been enchanted to smell the land. Smell it they certainly did; for such a lowing, and neighing, and fretting did they keep up, when the governor got alongside of the brig, that he could not endure the sight of their misery, but determined at once to relieve it.

    The brig was anchored within two hundred yards of a fine sandy beach, on which there were several runs of delicious water, and which communicated directly with a meadow of grass, as high as a man's breast. A bargain was soon made with Dunks; and the two crews, that of the Rancocus, as well as that of the brig, were set to work without delay to hoist out every creature having a hoof, that was on board the Henlopen. As slings were all ready, little delay was necessary, but a mare soon rose through the hatchway, was swung over the vessel's side, and was lowered into the water. A very simple contrivance released the creature from the slings, and off it swam, making the best of its way towards the land. In three minutes the poor thing was on the beach, though actually staggering from weakness, and from long use to the motion of the vessel. The water was its first aim. Dunks was there, however, to prevent it from drinking too much, when it made its way up to the grass, which it began to eat ravenously. All the rest went through the same process, and in a couple of hours the poor things were relieved from their misery, and the brig, which smelled like a stable, was well quit of them. Brooms and water were set to work immediately, but it was a month before the Henlopen lost the peculiar odour of the cattle.

    Nor were the human beings much less rejoiced to get ashore than the brutes. Dunks gave them all a hearty welcome, and though he had little fruit to offer, he had plenty of vegetables, for which they were quite as thankful. Melons, however, he could and did give them, and the human part of the cargo had an ample feast on a sort of food to which they had now so long been strangers. The horses and cows were left on Dunks's Island, where they stayed until word was sent to the governor that they had eaten down all his grass, and would soon be on allowance again, unless taken away. Means, however, were soon found to relieve him of the stock, though his meadows, or pastures rather, having been seldom cut in that climate, were much improved by the visit paid them. As for the animals, they were parcelled out among the different farms, thus giving a little milk, and a little additional force to each neighbourhood. Fowls and pigs had been distributed some time previously, so that not a man in the group was without his breeding sow, and his brood of young chickens. These were species of stock that increased so rapidly, that a little care alone was wanting to make eggs and pork plenty. Corn, or maize, grew just for the planting; though it was all the better, certainly, for a little care.

    After sufficient time had been allowed to make the necessary preparations, the vessels sailed with the immigrants for the Reef. There was many a glad meeting between friends and relatives. Those who had just arrived had a great deal to tell those who had preceded then by eighteen months, and those who now considered themselves old settlers, entertained the new ones with the wonders of their novel situations.

    CHAPTER IX.


    "Welter upon the waters, mighty one—
    And stretch thee in the ocean's trough of brine;
    Turn thy wet scales up to the wind and sun,
    And toss the billow from thy flashing fin;
    Heave thy deep breathing to the ocean's din,
    And bound upon its ridges in thy pride,
    Or dive down to its lowest depths, and in
    The caverns where its unknown monsters hide
    Measure thy length beneath the gulf-stream's tide."

    Brainard's Sea-Serpent.

    The colony had now reached a point when its policy must have an eye to its future destinies. If it were intended to push it, like a new settlement, a very different course ought to be pursued from the one hitherto adopted. But the governor and council entertained more moderate views. They understood their real position better. It was true that the Peak, in one sense, or in that which related to soil and products, was now in a condition to receive immigrants as fast as they could come; but the Peak had its limits, and it could hold but a very circumscribed number. As to the group, land had to be formed for the reception of the husbandman, little more than the elements of soil existing over so much of its surface. Then, in the way of trade, there could not be any very great inducement for adventurers to come, since the sandal-wood was the only article possessed which would command a price in a foreign market. This sandal-wood, moreover, did not belong to the colony, but to a people who might, at any moment, become hostile, and who already began to complain that the article was getting to be very scarce. Under all the circumstances, therefore, it was not deemed desirable to add to the population of the place faster than would now be done by natural means.

    The cargoes of the two vessels just arrived were divided between the state and the governor, by a very just process. The governor had one-half the proceeds for his own private use, as owner of the Rancocus, without which vessel nothing could have been done; while the state received the other moiety, in virtue of the labour of its citizens as well as in that of its right to impose duties on imports and exports. Of the portion which went to the state, certain parts were equally divided between the colonists, for immediate use, while other parts of the cargo were placed in store, and held as a stock, to be drawn upon as occasion might arise.

    The voyage, like most adventures in sandal-wood, teas, &c., in that day, had been exceedingly advantageous, and produced a most beneficent influence on the fortunes and comforts of the settlement. A well-selected cargo of the coarse, low-priced articles most needed in such a colony, could easily have been purchased with far less than the proceeds of the cargo of tea that had been obtained at Canton, in exchange for the sandal-wood carried out; and Saunders, accordingly, had filled the holds of both vessels with such articles, besides bringing home with him a considerable amount in specie, half of which went into the public coffers, and half into the private purse of governor Woolston. Money had been in circulation in the colony for the last twelve months; though a good deal of caution was used in suffering it to pass from hand to hand. The disposition was to hoard; but this fresh arrival of specie gave a certain degree of confidence, and the silver circulated a great deal more freely after it was known that so considerable an amount had been brought in.

    It would scarcely be in our power to enumerate the articles that were received by these arrivals; they included everything in common use among civilized men, from a grind-stone to a cart. Groceries, too, had been brought in reasonable quantities, including teas, sugars, &c.; though these articles were not so much considered necessaries in America fifty years ago as they are to-day. The groceries of the state as well as many other articles, were put into the hands of the merchants, who either purchased them out and out, to dispose of at retail, or who took them on commission with the same object. From this time, therefore, regular shops existed, there being three on the Reef and one on the Peak, where nearly everything in use could be bought, and that, too, at prices that were far from being exorbitant. The absence of import duties had a great influence on the cost of things, the state getting its receipts in kind, directly through the labour of its citizens, instead of looking to a custom-house in quest of its share for the general prosperity.

    At that time very little was written about the great fallacy of the present day, Free Trade; which is an illusion about which men now talk, and dispute, and almost fight, while no living mortal can tell what it really is. It is wise for us in America, who never had anything but free trade, according to modern doctrines, to look a little closely into the sophisms that are getting to be so much in vogue; and which, whenever they come from our illustrious ancestors in Great Britain, have some such effect on the imaginations of a portion of our people, as purling rills and wooded cascades are known to possess over those of certain young ladies of fifteen.

    Free trade, in its true signification, or in the only signification which is not a fallacy, can only mean a commerce that is totally unfettered by duties, restrictions, prohibitions, and charges of all sorts. Except among savages, the world never yet saw such a state of things, and probably never will. Even free trade ports have exactions that, in a degree, counteract their pretended principle of liberty; and no free port exists, that is anything more, in a strict interpretation of its uses, than a sort of bonded ware-house. So long as your goods remain there, on deposit and unappropriated, they are not taxed; but the instant they are taken to the consumer, the customary impositions must be paid.

    Freer trade—that is, a trade which is less encumbered than some admitted state of things which previously existed— is easily enough comprehended; but, instead of conveying to the mind any general theory, it merely shows that a lack of wisdom may have prevailed in the management of some particular interest; which lack of wisdom is now being tardily repaired. Prohibitions, whether direct, or in the form of impositions that the trade will not bear, may be removed without leaving trade free. This or that article may be thrown open to the general competition, without import duty or tax of any sort, and yet the great bulk of the commerce of a country be so fettered as to put an effectual check upon anything like liberal intercourse. Suppose, for instance, that Virginia were an independent country. Its exports would be tobacco, flour, and corn; the tobacco crop probably more than equalling in value those portions of the other crops which are sent out of the country. England is suffering for food, and she takes off everything like imposts on the eatables, while she taxes tobacco to the amount of many hundred per cent. Can that be called free trade?

    There is another point of view in which we could wish to protest against the shouts and fallacies of the hour. Trade, perhaps the most corrupt and corrupting influence of life — or, if second to anything in evil, second only to politics — is proclaimed to be the great means of humanizing, enlightening, liberalizing, and improving the human race! Now, against this monstrous mistake in morals, we would fain raise our feeble voices in sober remonstrance. That the intercourse which is a consequence of commerce may, in certain ways, liberalize a man's views, we are willing to admit; though, at the same time, we shall insist that there are better modes of attaining the same ends. But it strikes us as profane to ascribe to this frail and mercenary influence a power which there is every reason to believe the Almighty has bestowed on the Christian church, and on that alone; a church which is opposed to most of the practices of trade, which rebukes them in nearly every line of its precepts, and which, carried out in its purity, can alone give the world that liberty and happiness which a grasping spirit of cupidity is so ready to impute to the desire to accumulate gold!

    Fortunately, there was little occasion to dispute about the theories of commerce at the Reef. The little trade that did exist was truly unfettered; but no one supposed that any man was nearer to God on that account, except as he was farther removed from temptations to do wrong. Still, the governing principle was sound; not by canting about the beneficent and holy influences of commerce, but by leaving to each man his individuality, or restraining it only on those points which the public good demanded. Instead of monopolizing the trade of the colony, which his superior wealth and official power would have rendered very easy, governor Woolston acted in the most liberal spirit to all around him. With the exception of the Anne, which was built by the colony, the council had decided, in some measure contrary to his wishes, though in strict accordance with what was right, that all the vessels were the private property of Mark. After this decision, the governor formally conveyed the Mermaid and the Abraham to the state; the former to be retained principally as a cruiser and a packet, while the last was in daily use as a means of conveying articles and passengers, from one island to the other. The Neshamony was presented, out and out, to Betts, who turned many a penny with her, by keeping her running through the different passages, with freight, &c.; going from plantation to plantation, as these good people were in the practice of calling their farms. Indeed, Bob did little else, until the governor, seeing his propensity to stick by the water, and ascertaining that the intercourse would justify such an investment, determined to build him a sloop, in order that he might use her as a sort of packet and market-boat, united. A vessel of about forty-five tons was laid down accordingly, and put into the water at the end of six months, that was just the sort of craft suited to Bob's wishes and wants. In the mean time, the honest fellow had resigned his seat in the council, feeling that he was out of his place in such a body, among men of more or less education, and of habits so much superior and more refined than his own. Mark did not oppose this step in his friend, but rather encouraged it; being persuaded nothing was gained by forcing upon a man duties he was hardly fitted to discharge. Self-made men, he well knew, were sometimes very useful; but he also knew that they must be first made.

    The name of this new sloop was the Martha, being thus called in compliment to her owner's sober-minded, industrious and careful wife. She (the sloop, and not Mrs. Betts) was nearly all cabin, having lockers forward and aft, and was fitted with benches in her wings, steamboat fashion. Her canvas was of light duck, there being very little heavy weather in that climate; so that assisted by a boy and a Kannaka, honest Bob could do anything he wished with his craft. He often went to the Peak and Rancocus Island in her, always doing something useful; and he even made several trips in her, within the first few months he had her running, as far as Betto's group. On these last voyages, he carried over Kannakas as passengers, as well as various small articles, such as fish-hooks, old iron, hatchets even, and now and then a little tobacco. These he exchanged for cocoa-nuts, which were yet scarce in the colony, on account of the number of mouths to consume them; baskets, Indian cloth, paddles which the islanders made very beautifully and with a great deal of care; bread-fruit, and other plants that abounded more at Betto's group than at the Reef, or even on the Peak.

    But the greatest voyage Betts made that season was when he took a freight of melons. This was a fruit which now abounded in the colony; so much so as to be fed even to the hogs, while the natives knew nothing of it beyond the art of eating it. They were extraordinarily fond of melons, and Bob actually filled the cabin of the Martha with articles obtained in exchange for his cargo. Among other things obtained on this occasion, was a sufficiency of sandal-wood to purchase for the owner of the sloop as many groceries as he could consume in his family for twelve months; though groceries were high, as may well be supposed, in a place like the Reef. Betts always admitted that the first great turn in his fortune was the money made on this voyage, in which he embarked without the least apprehension of Waally, and his never-ceasing wiles and intrigues. Indeed, most of his sales were made to that subtle and active chief, who dealt very fairly by him.

    All this time the Rancocus was laid up for want of something to freight her with. At one time the governor thought of sending her to pick up a cargo where she could; but a suggestion by a seaman of the name of Walker set him on a different track, and put on foot an adventure which soon attracted the attention of most of the sea-faring portion of the community.

    It had been observed by the crew of the Rancocus, not only in her original run through those seas, but in her two subsequent passages from America, that the spermaceti whale abounded in all that part of the ocean which lay to windward of the group. Now Walker had once been second officer of a Nantucket craft, and was regularly brought up to the business of taking whales. Among the colonists were half a dozen others who had done more or less at the same business; and, at the suggestion of Walker, who had gone out in the Rancocus as her first officer, captain Saunders laid in a provision of such articles as were necessary to set up the business. These consisted of cordage, harpoons, spades, lances, and casks. Then no small part of the lower hold of the Henlopen was stowed with shook casks; iron for hoops, &c., being also provided.

    As the sandal-wood was now obtained in only small quantities, all idea of sending the ship to Canton again, that year, was necessarily abandoned. At first this seemed to be a great loss; but when the governor came to reflect coolly on the subject, not only he, but the council generally, came to the conclusion that Providence was dealing more mercifully with them, by turning the people into this new channel of commerce, than to leave them to pursue their original track. Sandal-wood had a purely adventitious value, though it brought, particularly in that age, a most enormous profit; one so large, indeed, as to have a direct and quick tendency to demoralize those embarked in the trade. The whaling business, on the other hand, while it made large returns, demanded industry, courage, perseverance, and a fair amount of capital. Of vessels, the colonists had all they wanted; the forethought of Saunders and the suggestions of Walker furnished the particular means; and of provisions there was now a superabundance in the group.

    It was exceedingly fortunate that such an occupation offered to interest and keep alive the spirit of the colonists. Man must have something to do; some main object to live for; or he is apt to degenerate in his ambition, and to fall off in his progress. No sooner was it announced that whales were to be taken, however, than even the women became alive to the results of the enterprise. This feeling was kept up by the governor's letting it be officially known that each colonist should have one share, or "lay," as it was termed, in the expected cargo which share, or "lay," was to be paid for in provisions. Those actually engaged in the business had as many "lays" as it was thought they could earn; the colony in its collected capacity had a certain number more, in return for articles received from the public stores; and the governor, as owner of the vessels employed, received one-fifth of the whole cargo, or cargoes. This last was a very small return for the amount of capital employed; and it was so understood by those who reaped the advantages of the owner's liberality.

    The Rancocus was not fitted out as a whaler, but was reserved as a ware-house to receive the oil, to store it until a cargo was collected, and then was to be used as a means to convey it to America. For this purpose she was stripped, had her rigging thoroughly overhauled, was cleaned out and smoked for rats, and otherwise was prepared for service. While in this state, she lay alongside of the natural quay, near and opposite to some extensive sheds which had been erected, as a protection against the heats of the climate.

    The Henlopen, a compact clump of a brig, that was roomy on deck, and had stout masts and good rigging, was fitted out for the whaler; though the Anne was sent to cruise in company. Five whale-boats, with the necessary crews, were employed; two remaining with the Anne, and three in the brig. The Kannakas were found to be indefatigable at the oar, and a good number of them were used on this occasion. About twenty of the largest boys belonging to the colony were also sent out, in order to accustom them to the sea. These boys were between the ages of eight and sixteen, and were made useful in a variety of ways.

    Great was the interest awakened in the colony when the Henlopen and the Anne sailed on this adventure. Many of the women, the wives, daughters, sisters, or sweethearts of the whalers, would gladly have gone along; and so intense did the feeling become, that the governor determined to make a festival of the occasion, and to offer to take out himself, in the Mermaid, as many of both sexes as might choose to make a trip of a few days at sea, and be witnesses of the success of their friends in this new undertaking. Betts also took a party in the Martha. The Abraham, too, was in company; while the Neshamony was sent to leeward, to keep a look-out in that quarter, lest the natives should take it into their heads to visit the group, while so many of its fighting-men, fully a hundred altogether, were absent. It is true, those who stayed at home were fully able to beat off Waally and his followers; but the governor thought it prudent to have a look-out. Such was the difference produced by habit. When the whole force of the colony consisted of less than twenty men, it was thought sufficient to protect itself, could it be brought to act together; whereas, now, when ten times twenty were left at home, unusual caution was deemed necessary, because the colony was weakened by this expedition of so many of its members. But everything is comparative with man.

    When all was ready, the whaling expedition sailed; the governor leading on board the Mermaid, which had no less than forty females in her—Bridget and Anne being among them. The vessels went out by the southern channel, passing through the strait at the bridge in order to do so. This course was taken, as it would be easier to turn to windward in the open water between the south cape and the Peak, than to do it in the narrow passages between the islands of the group. The Mermaid led off handsomely, sparing the Henlopen her courses and royals. Even the Abraham could spare the last vessel her foresail, the new purchase turning out to be anything but a traveller. The women wondered how so slow a vessel could ever catch a whale!

    The direction steered by the fleet carried it close under the weather side of the Peak, the summit of which was crowded by the population, to see so unusual and pleasing a sight. The Martha led, carrying rather more sail, in proportion to her size, than the Mermaid. It happened, by one of those vagaries of fortune which so often thwart the best calculations, that a spout was seen to windward of the cliffs, at a moment when the sloop was about a league nearer to it than any other vessel. Now, every vessel in the fleet had its whale-boat and whale-boat's crew; though the men of all but those who belonged to the Henlopen were altogether inexperienced. It is true, they had learned the theory of the art of taking a whale; but they were utterly wanting in the practice. Betts was not the man to have the game in view, however, and not make an effort to overcome it. His boat was manned in an instant, and away he went, with Socrates in the bows, to fasten to a huge creature that was rolling on the water in a species of sluggish enjoyment of its instincts. It often happens that very young soldiers, more especially when an esprit de corps has been awakened in them, achieve things from which older troops would retire, under the consciousness of their hazards. So did it prove with the Martha's boat's crew on this occasion. Betts steered, and he put them directly on the whale; Socrates, who looked fairly green under the influence of alarm and eagerness to attack, both increased by the total novelty of his situation, making his dart of the harpoon when the bows of the fragile craft were literally over the huge body of the animal. All the energy of the negro was thrown into his blow, for he felt as if it were life or death with him; and the whale spouted blood immediately. It is deemed a great exploit with whalers, though it is not of very rare occurrence, to inflict a death-wound with the harpoon; that implement being intended to make fast with to the fish, which is subsequently slain with what is termed a lance. But Socrates actually killed the first whale he ever struck, with the harpoon; and from that moment he became an important personage in the fisheries of those seas. That blow was a sort of Palo Alto affair to him, and was the forerunner of many similar successes. Indeed, it soon got to be said, that "with Bob Betts to put the boat on, and old Soc to strike, a whale commonly has a hard time on't." It is true, that a good many boats were stove, and two Kannakas were drowned, that very summer, in consequence of these tactics; but the whales were killed, and Betts and the black escaped with whole skins.

    On this, the first occasion, the whale made the water foam, half-filled the boat, and would have dragged it under but for the vigour of the negro's arm, and the home character of the blow, which caused the fish to turn up and breathe his last, before he had time to run any great distance. The governor arrived on the spot, just as Bob had got a hawser to the whale and was ready to fill away for the South Cape channel again. The vessels passed each other cheering, and the governor admonished his friend not to carry the carcass too near the dwellings, lest it should render them uninhabitable. But Betts had his anchorage already in his eye, and away he went, with the wind on his quarter, towing his prize at the rate of four or five knots. It may be said, here, that the Martha went into the passage, and that the whale was floated into shallow water, where sinking was out of the question, and Bob and his Kannakas, about twenty in number, went to work to peel off the blubber in a very efficient, though not in a very scientific, or artistical manner. They got the creature stripped of its jacket of fat that very night, and next morning the Martha appeared with a set of kettles, in which the blubber was tried out. Casks were also brought in the sloop, and, when the work was done, it was found that that single whale yielded one hundred and eleven barrels of oil, of which thirty-three barrels were head-matter! This was a capital commencement for the new trade, and Betts conveyed the whole of his prize to the Reef, where the oil was started into the ground-tier of the Rancocus, the casks of which were newly repaired, and ready stowed to receive it.

    A week later, as the governor in the Mermaid, cruising in company with the Henlopen and Abraham, was looking out for whales about a hundred miles to windward of the Peak, having met with no success, he was again joined by Betts in the Martha. Everything was reported right at the Reef. The Neshamony had come in for provisions and gone out again, and the Rancocus would stand up without watching, with her hundred and eleven barrels of oil in her lower hold. The governor expressed his sense of Betts' services, and reminding him of his old faculty of seeing farther and truer than most on board, he asked him to go up into the brig's cross-trees and take a look for whales. The keen-eyed fellow had not been aloft ten minutes, before the cry of "spouts—spouts!" was ringing through the vessel. The proper signal was made to the Henlopen and Abraham, when everybody made sail in the necessary direction. By sunset a great number of whales were fallen in with, and as Capt. Walker gave it as his opinion they were feeding in that place, no attempt was made on them until morning. The next day, however, with the return of light, six boats were in the water, and pulling off towards the game.

    On this occasion, Walker led on, as became his rank and experience. In less than an hour he was fast to a very large whale, a brother of that taken by Betts; and the females had the exciting spectacle, of a boat towed by an enormous fish, at a rate of no less than twenty knots in an hour. It is the practice among whalers for the vessel to keep working to windward, while the game is taking, in order to be in the most favourable position to close with the boats, after the whale is killed. So long, however, as the creature has life in it, it would be folly to aim at any other object than getting to windward, for the fish may be here at one moment, and a league off in a few minutes more. Sometimes, the alarmed animal goes fairly out of sight of the vessel, running in a straight line some fifteen or twenty miles, when the alternatives are to run the chances of missing the ship altogether, or to cut from the whale. By doing the last not only is a harpoon lost, but often several hundred fathoms of line; and it not unfrequently happens that whales are killed with harpoons in them, left by former assailants, and dragging after them a hundred, or two, fathoms of line.

    It may be well, here, to explain to the uninitiated reader, that the harpoon is a barbed spear, with a small, but stout cord, or whale line fastened to it. The boat approaches the fish bow foremost, but is made sharp at both ends that it may "back off," if necessary; the whale being often dangerous to approach, and ordinarily starting, when struck, in a way to render his immediate neighbourhood somewhat ticklish. The fish usually goes down when harpooned, and the line must be permitted to "run-out," or he would drag the boat after him. But a whale must breathe as well as a man, and the faster he runs the sooner he must come up for a fresh stock of air. Now, the proper use of the harpoon and the line is merely to fasten to the fish; though it does sometimes happen that the creature is killed by the former. As soon as the whale re-appears on the surface, and becomes stationary, or even moderate his speed a little, the men begin to haul in line, gradually closing with their intended victim. It often happens that the whale starts afresh, when line must be permitted to run out anew; this process of "hauling in" and "letting run" being often renewed several times at the taking of a single fish. When the boat can be hauled near enough, the officer at its head darts his lance into the whale, aiming at a vital part. If the creature "spouts blood," it is well; but if not hit in the vitals, away it goes, and the whole business of "letting run," "towing," and "hauling in" has to be gone over again.

    On the present occasion, Walker's harpooner, or boat-steerer, as he is called, had made a good "heave," and was well fast to his fish. The animal made a great circuit, running completely round the Mermaid, at a distance which enabled those on board her to see all that was passing. When nearest to the brig, and the water was curling off the bow of the boat in combs two feet higher than her gunwale, under the impulse given by the frantic career of the whale, Bridget pressed closer to her husband's side, and, for the first time in her life, mentally thanked Heaven that he was the governor, since that was an office which did not require him to go forth and kill whales. At that very moment, Mark was burning with the desire to have a hand in the sport, though he certainly had some doubts whether such an occupation would suitably accord with the dignity of his office.

    Walker got alongside of his whale, within half a mile of the two brigs, and to-leeward of both. In consequence of this favourable circumstance, the Henlopen soon had its prize hooked on, and her people at work stripping off the blubber. This is done by hooking the lower block of a powerful purchase in a portion of the substance, and then cutting a strip of convenient size, and heaving on the fall at the windlass. The strip is cut by implements called spades, and the blubber is torn from the carcass by the strain, after the sides of the "blanket-piece," as the strip is termed, are separated from the other portions of the animal by the cutting process. The "blanket-pieces" are often raised as high as the lower mast-heads, or as far as the purchase will admit of its being carried, when a transverse cut is made, and the whole of the fragment is lowered on deck. This "blanket-piece" is then cut into pieces and put into the try-works, a large boiler erected on deck, in order to be "tryed-out," when the oil is cooled, and "started" below into casks. In this instance, the oil was taken on board the Abraham as fast as it was "tryed-out" on board the Henlopen, the weather admitting of the transfer.

    But that single whale was from being the only fruits of Betts' discovery. The honest old Delaware seaman took two more whales himself, Socrates making fast, and he killing the creatures. The boats of the Henlopen also took two more, and that of the Abraham, one. Betts in the Martha, and the governor in the Mermaid towed four of these whales into the southern channel, and into what now got the name of the Whaling Bight. This was the spot where Betts had tryed out the first fish taken, and it proved to be every way suitable for its business. The Bight formed a perfectly safe harbour, and there was not only a sandy shoal on which the whales could be floated and kept from sinking, a misfortune that sometimes occurs, but it had a natural quay quite near, where the Rancocus, herself, could lie. There was fresh water in abundance, and an island of sufficient size to hold the largest whaling establishment that ever existed. This island was incontinently named Blubber Island. The greatest disadvantage was the total absence of soil, and consequently of all sorts of herbage; but its surface was as smooth as that of an artificial quay, admitting of the rolling of casks with perfect ease. The governor no sooner ascertained the facilities of the place, which was far enough from the ordinary passage to and from the Peak to remove the nuisances, than he determined to make it his whaling haven.

    The Abraham was sent across to Rancocus Island for a load of lumber, and extensive sheds were erected, in time to receive the Henlopen, when she came in with a thousand barrels of oil on board, and towing in three whales that she had actually taken in the passage between Cape South and the Peak. By that time, the Rancocus had been moved, being stiff enough to be brought from the Reef to Blubber Island, under some of her lower sails. This moving of vessels among the islands of the group was a very easy matter, so long as they were not to be carried to windward; and, a further acquaintance with the channels, had let the mariners into the secret of turning up, against the trades and within the islands, by keeping in such reaches as enabled them to go as near the wind as was necessary, while they were not compelled to go nearer than a craft could lie.

    Such was the commencement of a trade that was destined to be of the last importance to our colonists. The oil that was brought in, from this first cruise, a cruise that lasted less than two months, and including that taken by all the boats, amounted to two thousand barrels, quite filling the lower hold of the Rancocus, and furnishing her with more than half of a full cargo. At the prices which then ruled in the markets of Europe and America, three thousand five hundred barrels of spermaceti, with a due proportion of head matter, was known to be worth near an hundred thousand dollars; and might be set down as large a return for labour, as men could obtain under the most advantageous circumstances.

    CHAPTER X.


    "The forest reels beneath the stroke
           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, instead of sailing to the westward, as she had previously 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 the oar. Heaton, and the merchants, Pennock, and the 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 she sailed for Hamburgh, under the command of a young 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 be said, but yourself. To me, you be always, Mr. Mark, 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 Betts. I hear you got in another hundred-barrel gentleman 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 all seamen shipped for the same craft, a troublesome household, 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, and the governor took all of the old seaman's `ile' 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 own, at the reduced price. But, indulgence creates wantonness, 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 idea of the present state of the "country," as the colonists 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, indeed, some other outlet for the pent forces might be 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 attention to gardening or husbandry. The island had its 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, hoops, iron in bars, hemp, and such other articles as were 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 intimated to him that there was no necessity for his being 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 be used by horses, leading from farm to farm, along the 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 teach these young creatures that they were fallible beings, 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 XI.


    "Cruel of heart, and strong of arm,
           Proud in his sport, and keen for spoil,
    He little reck'd of good or harm,
           Fierce both in mirth and toil;
    Yet like a dog could fawn, if need there were;
    Speak mildly when he would, or look in fear."

    Dana The Buccaneer.

    After the visitation, the governor passed a week at the Peak, with Bridget and his children. It was the habit of the wife to divide her time between the two dwellings; though Mark was so necessary to her as a companion, intellectually, and she was so necessary to Mark, for the same reason, that they were never very long separated. Bridget was all heart, and she had the sweetest temper imaginable; two qualities that endeared her to her husband, far more than her beauty. Her wishes were centred in her little family, though her kindness and benevolence could extend themselves to all around her. Anne she loved as a sister and as a friend; but it would not have been impossible for Bridget to be happy, had her fortune been cast on the Reef, with no one else but Mark and her two little ones.

    The Peak, proper, had got to be a sort of public promenade for all who dwelt near it. Here the governor, in particular, was much accustomed to walk, early in the day, before the sun got to be too warm, and to look out upon the ocean as he pondered on his several duties. The spot had always been pleasant, on account of the beauty and extent of the view; but a new interest was given to it since the commencement of the whaling operations in the neighbourhood. Often had Bridget and Anne gone there to see a whale taken; it being no uncommon thing for one of the boys to come shouting down from the Peak, with the cry of "a fish—a fish!" It was by no means a rare occurrence for the shore-boats to take whales immediately beneath the cliffs, and the vessels could frequently be seen to windward, working up to their game. All this movement gave life and variety to the scene, and contributed largely to the spot's becoming a favourite place of resort. The very morning of the day that he intended to cross over to the Reef, on his return from the "progress," the governor and his wife ascended to the Peak just as the sun was rising. The morning was perfectly lovely; and never had the hearts of our married couple expanded more in love to their fellows, or been more profoundly filled with gratitude to God for all his goodness to them, than at that moment. Young Mark held by his mother's hand, while the father led his little daughter. This was the way they were accustomed to divide themselves in their daily excursions, it probably appearing to each parent that the child thus led was a miniature image of the other. On that morning, the governor and Bridget were talking of the bounties that Providence had bestowed on them, and of the numberless delights of their situation. Abundance reigned on every side; in addition to the productions of the island, in themselves so ample and generous, commerce had brought its acquisitions, and, as yet, trade occupied the place a wise discrimination would give it. All such interests are excellent as incidents in the great scheme of human happiness; but woe betide the people among whom they get to be principals! As the man who lives only to accumulate, is certain to have all his nobler and better feelings blunted by the grasping of cupidity, and to lose sight of the great objects of his existence, so do whole communities degenerate into masses of corruption, venality, and cupidity, when they set up the idol of commerce to worship in lieu of the ever-living God. So far from denoting a healthful prosperity, as is too apt to be supposed, no worse signs of the condition of a people can be given, than when all other interests are made to yield to those of the mere money-getting sort. Among our colonists, as yet, commerce occupied its proper place; it was only an incident in their state of society, and it was so regarded. Men did not search for every means of increasing it, whether its fruits were wanted or not, or live in a constant fever about its results. The articles brought in were all necessary to the comfort and civilization of the settlements, and those taken away were obtained by means of a healthful industry.

    As they ascended the height, following an easy path that led to the Summit, the governor and his wife conversed about the late visitation, and of what each had seen that was striking and worthy of comment. Mark had a council to consult, in matters of state, but most did he love to compare opinions with the sweet matronly young creature at his side. Bridget was so true in all her feelings, so just in her inferences, and so kindly disposed, that a better counsellor could not have been found at the elbow of one intrusted with power.

    "I am more uneasy on the subject of religion than on any other," observed the governor, as he helped his little companion up a difficult part of the ascent. "While out, I took great pains to sound the people on the subject, and I found a much greater variety of opinions, or rather of feelings, among them than I could have believed possible, after the quiet time we have hitherto had."

    "After all, religion is, and ought to be, more a matter of feeling, than of reason, Mark."

    "That is true, in one sense, certainly; but, it should be feeling subject to prudence and discretion."

    "Everything should be subject to those two qualities, though so very few are. I have all along known that the ministrations of Mr. Hornblower were only tolerated by a good number of our people. You, as an Episcopalian, have not been so much in the way of observing this; for others have been guarded before you; but, my family is known not to have been of that sect, and I have been treated more frankly."

    "And you have not let me know this important fact, Bridget!" said the governor, a little reproachfully.

    "Why should I have added to your other cares, by heaping this on your shoulder, dear Mark? The thing could not easily be prevented; though I may as well tell you, now, what cannot much longer be kept a secret—the Henlopen will bring a Methodist and a Presbyterian clergyman in her, this voyage, if any be found willing to emigrate; and I have heard, lately, that Friends expect a preacher."

    "The law against the admission of an immigrant, without the consent of the governor and council, is very clear and precise," answered the husband, looking grave.

    "That may be true, my love, but it would hardly do to tell the people they are not to worship God in the manner that may best satisfy their own consciences."

    "It is extraordinary that, as there is but one God, and one Saviour, there should be more than one mode of worshipping them!"

    "Not at all extraordinary, my dear Mark, when you come to consider the great diversity of opinion which exists among men, in other matters. But, Mr. Hornblower has a fault, which is a very great fault, in one situated as he is, without a competitor in the field. He lays too much stress on his particular mission; talking too much, and preaching too much of his apostolic authority, as a divine."

    "Men should never blink the truth, Bridget; and least of all, in a matter as grave as religion."

    "Quite right, Mark, when it is necessary to say anything on the subject, at all. But, after all, the apostolic succession is but a means, and if the end be attainable without dwelling on these means, it seems to me to be better not to conflict with the prejudices of those we wish to influence. Remember, that there are not fifty real Episcopalians in all this colony, where there is only one clergyman, and he of that sect."

    "Very true; but, Mr. Hornblower naturally wishes to make them all churchmen."

    "It really seems to me, that he ought to be content with making them all Christians."

    "Perhaps he thinks the two identical—necessary to each other," added the governor, smiling on his charming young wife, who, in her own person, had quietly consented to the priestly control of her husband's clergyman, though but half converted to the peculiar distinctions of his sect, herself.

    "He should remember, more especially in his situation, that others may not be of the same way of thinking. Very few persons, I believe, inquire into the reasons of what they have been taught on the subject of religion, but take things as they find them."

    "And here they find an Episcopalian, and they ought to receive him confidingly."

    "That might do with children, but most of our people came here with their opinions formed. I wish Mr. Hornblower were less set in his opinions, for I am content to be an Episcopalian, with you, my dear husband; certain, if the authority be not absolutely necessary, it can, at least, do no harm."

    This ended the conversation at that time, for just then the party reached the Peak. Little, however, did the governor, or his pretty wife, imagine how much the future was connected with the interest of which they had just been speaking, or dream of the form in which the serpent of old was about to visit this Eden of modern times. But occurrences of another character almost immediately attracted their attention, and absorbed all the care and energy of the colony for some time. Scarcely was the party on the Peak, when the keen, lively eyes of the younger Bridget caught sight of a strange sail; and, presently, another and another came into view. In a word, no less than three vessels were in sight, the first that had ever been seen in those seas, with the exception of the regular and well-known craft of the colony. These strangers were a ship and two brigs; evidently vessels of some size, particularly the first; and they were consorts, keeping in company, and sailing in a sort of line, which would seem to denote more of order and concert than it was usual to find among merchantmen. They were all on a wind, standing to the southward and eastward, and were now, when first seen, fairly within the strait between the Peak and the group, unquestionably in full sight of both, and distant from each some five or six leagues. With the wind as it was, nothing would have been easier for them all, than to fetch far enough to windward to pass directly beneath the western cliffs, and, consequently, directly in front of the cove.

    Luckily, there were several lads on the Peak, early as was the hour, who had ascended in quest of the berries of certain plants that flourished there. The governor instantly despatched one of these lads, with a note to Heaton, written in pencil, in which he desired that functionary to send a messenger down to the cove, to prevent any of the fishermen from going out; it being the practice of many of the boys to fish in the shade of the cliffs, to leeward, ere the sun rose high enough to make the heat oppressive. Hitherto, the existence of the cove, as it was believed, remained unknown even to the Kannakas, and a stringent order existed, that no boat should ever enter it so long as craft was in sight, which might have any of those men on board it. Indeed, the whole Peak was just as much a place of mystery, to all but the colonists, as it was the day when Waally and his followers were driven away by their superstitious dread.

    Having taken this precaution, and kept the other lads to send down with any farther message he might deem necessary, the governor now gave all his attention to the strangers. A couple of glasses were always kept on the Peak, and the best of these was soon in his hand, and levelled at the ship. Bridget stood at her husband's side, eager to hear his opinion, but waiting with woman's patience for the moment it might be given with safety. At length that instant came, and the half-terrified wife questioned the husband on the subject of his discoveries.

    "What is it, Mark?" said Bridget, almost afraid of the answer she was so desirous of obtaining. "Is it the Rancocus?"

    "If the Rancocus, love, be certain she would not be coming hither. The ship is of some size, and appears to be armed; though I cannot make out her nation."

    "It is not surprising that she should be armed, Mark. You know that the papers Captain Saunders brought us were filled with accounts of battles fought in Europe."

    "It is very true that the whole world is in arms, though that does not explain the singular appearance of these three vessels, in this remote corner of the earth. It is possible they may be discovery ships, for wars do not always put a stop to such enterprises. They appear to be steering for the Peak, which is some proof that they do not know of the existence of the settlements in the group. There they might anchor; but here, they cannot without entering the cove, of which they can know nothing."

    "If discovery vessels, would they not naturally come first to the Peak, as the most striking object?"

    "In that you are probably right, Bridget, though I think the commodore would be apt to divide his force, having three ships, and send one, at least, towards the group, even if he came hither with the others. No nation but England, however, would be likely to have vessels of that character out, in such a war, and these do not look like English craft, at all. Besides, we should have heard something of such an expedition, by means of the papers, were there one out. It would be bad enough to be visited by explorers; yet, I fear these are worse than explorers."

    Bridget very well understood her husband's apprehensions on the subject of exploring parties. As yet, the colony had got on very well, without having the question of nationality called into the account; but it had now become so far important, as, in a small way, to be a nursery for seamen; and there was much reason to fear that the ruthless policy of the strong would, in the event of a discovery, make it share the usual fortunes of the weak. It was on account of this dread of foreign interference, that so much pains had been taken to conceal the history and state of the little community, the strongest inducements being placed before all the seamen who went to Europe, to be discreet and silent. As for the Kannakas, they did not know enough to be very dangerous, and could not, at all, give any accurate idea of the position of the islands, had they been better acquainted than they were with their relation to other communities, and desirous of betraying them.

    The governor now sent another note down to Heaton, with a request that orders might be forwarded along the cliffs, for every one to keep out of sight; as well as directions that care should be taken not to let any smoke even be seen to rise from the plain. This message was speedily followed by another, directing that all the men should be assembled, and the usual preparations made for defence. He also asked if it were not possible to send a whale-boat out, by keeping immediately under the cliffs, and going well to windward, in such a manner as to get a communication across to the Reef, in order to put the people on their guard in that quarter. One or two whale-boats were always in the cove, and there were several crews of capital oarsmen among the people of the Peak. If such a boat could be prepared, it was to be held in readiness, as the governor himself might deem it expedient to cross the strait.

    All this time the strange vessels were not idle, but drew nearer to the Peak, at a swift rate of sailing. It was not usual for mere merchantmen to be as weatherly, or to make as much way through the water, as did all these craft. On account of the great elevation at which the governor stood, they appeared small, but he was too much accustomed to his situation not to know how to make the necessary allowances. After examining her well, when she was within a league of the cliffs, he came to the opinion that the ship was a vessel of about six hundred tons, and that she was both armed and strongly manned. So far as he could judge, by the bird's-eye view he got, he fancied she was even frigate-built, and had a regular gundeck. In that age such craft were very common, sloops of war having that construction quite as often as that of the more modern deep-waisted vessel. As for the brigs, they were much smaller than their consort, being of less than two hundred tons each, apparently, but also armed and strongly manned. The armaments were now easily to be seen, as indeed were the crews, each and all the vessels showing a great many men aloft, to shorten sail as they drew nearer to the island.

    One thing gave the governor great satisfaction. The strangers headed well up, as if disposed to pass to windward of the cliffs, from which he inferred that none on board them knew anything of the existence or position of the cove. So much care had been taken, indeed, to conceal this spot from even the Kannakas, that no great apprehension existed of its being known to any beyond the circle of the regular colonists. As the ship drew still nearer, and came more under the cliffs, the governor was enabled to get a better view of her construction, and of the nature of her armament. That she was frigate-built was now certain, and the strength of her crew became still more evident, as the men were employed in shortening and making sail almost immediately under his eye.

    Great care was taken that no one should be visible on the Peak. Of the whole island, that was the only spot where there was much danger of a man's being seen from the ocean; for the fringe of wood had been religiously preserved all around the cliffs. But, with the exception of the single tree already mentioned, the Peak was entirely naked; and, in that clear atmosphere, the form of a man might readily be distinguished even at a much greater elevation. But the glasses were levelled at the strangers from covers long before prepared for that purpose, and no fear was entertained of the look-outs, who had their instructions, and well understood the importance of caution.

    At length, the vessels got so near, as to allow of the glasses being pointed directly down upon the upper deck of the ship, in particular. The strangers had a little difficulty in weathering the northern extremity of the island, and they came much closer to the cliffs than they otherwise would, in order to do so. While endeavouring to ascertain the country of the ship, by examining her people, the governor fancied he saw some natives on board her. At first, he supposed there might be Kannakas, or Mowrees, among the crew; but, a better look assured him that the Indians present were not acting in the character of sailors at all. They appeared to be chiefs, and chiefs in their war-dresses. This fact induced a still closer examination, until the governor believed that he could trace the person of Waally among them. The distance itself was not such as to render it difficult to recognize a form, or a face, when assisted by the glass; but the inverted position of all on board the ship did make a view less certain than might otherwise have been the case. Still the governor grew, at each instant, more and more assured that Waally was there, as indeed he believed his son to be, also. By this time, one of the men who knew the chief had come up to the Peak, with a message from Heaton, and he was of the same opinion as the governor, after taking a good look through the best glass. Bridget, too, had seen the formidable Waally, and she gave it as her opinion that he was certainly on board the ship. This was considered as a most important discovery. If Waally were there, it was for no purpose that was friendly to the colonists. The grudge he owed the last, was enduring and deadly. Nothing but the strong arm of power could suppress its outbreakings, or had kept him in subjection, for the last five years. Of late, the intercourse between the two groups had not been great; and it was now several months since any craft had been across to Ooroony's islands, from the Reef. There had been sufficient time, consequently, for great events to have been planned and executed, and, yet, that the colonists should know nothing of them.

    But, it was impossible to penetrate further into this singular mystery, so long as the strangers kept off the land. This they did of course, the three vessels passing to windward of the Peak, in a line ahead, going to the southward, and standing along the cliffs, on an easy bowline. The governor now sent a whale-boat out of the cove, under her sails, with orders to stand directly across to the Reef, carrying the tidings, and bearing a letter of instructions to Pennock and such members of the council as might be present. The letter was short, but it rather assumed the probability of hostilities, while it admitted that there was a doubt of the issue. A good look-out was to be kept, at all events, and the forces of the colony were to be assembled. The governor promised to cross himself, as soon as the strangers quitted the neighbourhood of the Peak.

    In the mean time, Heaton mounted a horse, and kept company with the squadron as it circled the island. From time to time, he sent messages to the governor, in order to let him know the movements of the strangers. While this was going on, the men were all called in from their several occupations, and the prescribed arrangements were made for defence. As a circuit of the island required several hours, there was time for everything; and the whale-boat was fairly out of sight from even the Peak, when Heaton despatched a messenger to say that the squadren had reached the southern extremity of the island, and was standing off south-east, evidently steering towards the volcano.

    Doubts now began to be felt whether the colonists would see anything more of the strangers. It was natural that navigators should examine unknown islands, cursorily at least; but it did not follow that, if trade was their object, they should delay their voyage in order to push their investigations beyond a very moderate limit. Had it not been for the undoubted presence of savages in the ship, and the strong probability that Waally was one of them, the governor would now have had hopes that he had seen the last of his visitors. Nevertheless, there was the chance that these vessels would run down to Rancocus Island, where not only might a landing be easily effected, but where the mills, the brick-yards, and indeed the principal cluster of houses, were all plainly to be seen from the offing. No sooner was it certain, therefore, that the strangers had stood away to the southward and eastward, than another boat was sent across to let the millers, brickmakers, stonequarriers, and lumbermen know that they might receive guests who would require much discretion in their reception.

    The great policy of secrecy was obviously in serious danger of being defeated. How the existence of the colony was to be concealed, should the vessels remain any time in the group, it was not easy to see; and that advantage the governor and Heaton, both of whom attached the highest importance to it, were now nearly ready to abandon in despair. Still, neither thought of yielding even this policy until the last moment, and circumstances rendered it indispensable; for so much reflection had been bestowed on that, as well as on every other interest of the colony, that it was not easy to unsettle any part of their plans—in the opinion of its rulers, at least.

    A sharp look-out for the squadron was kept, not only from the Peak, but from the southern end of the cliffs, all that day, The vessels were seen until they were quite near to the volcano, when their sudden disappearance was ascribed to the circumstance of their shortening sail. Perhaps they anchored. This could only be conjecture, however, as no boat could be trusted out to watch them, near by. Although there was no anchorage near the Peak, it was possible for a vessel to anchor anywhere in the vicinity of the volcano. The island of Vulcan's Peak appears to have been projected upwards, out of the depths of the ocean, in one solid, perpendicular wall, leaving no shallow water near it; but, as respects the other islands, the coast shoaled gradually in most places; though the eastern edge of the group was an exception to the rule. Still, vessels could anchor in any or all the coves and roadsteads of the group; and there the holding ground was unusually good, being commonly mud and sand, and these without rocks.

    The remainder of the day, and the whole of the succeeding night, were passed with much anxiety, by the governor and his friends. Time was given to receive an answer to the messages sent across to the Reef, but nothing was seen of the strangers, when day returned. The boat that came in from the Reef, reported that the coast was clear to the northward. It also brought a letter, stating that notices had been sent to all the different settlements, and that the Anne had sailed to windward, to call in all the fishermen, and to go off to the nearest whaling-ground, in order to communicate the state of things in the colony to Captain Betts and his companions, who were out. The Dragon and the Jonas, when last heard from, were cruising only about a hundred miles to windward of the group, and it was thought important, on various accounts, that they should be at once apprised of the arrival of the strangers.

    The governor was perfectly satisfied with the report of what had been done, and this so much the more because it superseded the necessity of his quitting the Peak, just at the moment. The elevation of the mountain was of so much use as a look-out, that it was every way desirable to profit by it, until the time for observing was passed, and that for action had succeeded, in its stead. Of course, some trusty person was kept constantly on the Peak, looking out for the strangers, though the day passed without one of them being seen. Early next morning, however, a whale-boat arrived from Rancocus, with four stout oarsmen in it. They had left the station, after dark, and had been pulling up against the trades most of the intervening time. The news they brought was not only alarming, but it occasioned a great deal of surprise.

    It seemed that the three strange vessels appeared off the point, at Rancocus Island, early on the morning of the preceding day. It was supposed that they had run across from the volcano in the darkness, after having been lost sight of from the Peak. Much prudence was observed by the colonists, as soon as light let them into the secret of their having such unknown neighbours. Bigelow happening to be there, and being now a man of a good deal of consideration with his fellow-citizens, he assumed the direction of matters. All the women and children ascended into the mountains, where secret places had long been provided for such an emergency, by clearing out and rendering two or three caves habitable, and where food and water were at hand. Thither most of the light articles of value were also transported. Luckily, Bigelow had caused all the saws at the mill, to be taken down and secreted. A saw was an article not to be replaced, short of a voyage to Europe, even; for in that day saws were not manufactured in America; nor, indeed, was scarcely anything else.

    When he had given his directions, Bigelow went alone to the point, to meet the strangers, who had anchored their vessels, and had landed in considerable force. On approaching the place, he found about a hundred men ashore, all well armed, and seemingly governed by a sort of military authority. On presenting himself before this party, Bigelow was seized, and taken to its leader, who was a sea-faring man, by his appearance, of a fierce aspect and most severe disposition. This man could speak no English. Bigelow tried him in Spanish, but could get no answer out of him in that tongue either; though he suspected that what he said was understood. At length, one was brought forward who could speak English, and that so well as to leave little doubt in Bigelow's mind about the stranger's being either an Englishman or an American. Communications between the parties were commenced through this interpreter.

    Bigelow was closely questioned touching the number of people in the different islands, the number of vessels they possessed, the present situation and employments of those vessels, the nature of their cargoes, the places where the property transported in the vessels was kept, and, in short, everything that bore directly on the wealth and movable possessions of the people. From the nature of these questions as well as from the appearance of the strangers, Bigelow had, at once, taken up the notion that they were pirates. In the eastern seas, piracies were often committed on a large scale, and there was nothing violent in this supposition. The agitated state of the world, moreover, rendered piracies much more likely to go unpunished then than would be the case to-day, and it was well known that several vessels often cruised together, when engaged in these lawless pursuits, in those distant quarters of the world. Then the men were evidently of different races, though Bigelow was of opinion that most of them came from the East Indies, the coasts, or the islands. The officers were mostly Europeans by birth, or the descendants of Europeans; but two-thirds of the people whom he saw were persons of eastern extraction; some appeared to be Lascars, and others what sailors call Chinamen.

    Bigelow was very guarded in his answers; so much so, indeed, as to give great dissatisfaction to his interrogators. About the Peak he assumed an air of great mystery, and said none but birds could get on it; thunder was sometimes heard coming out of its cliffs, but man could not get up to see what the place contained. This account was received with marked interest, and to Bigelow's surprise, it did not appear to awaken the distrust he had secretly apprehended it might. On the contrary, he was asked to repeat his account, and all who heard it, though a good deal embellished this time, appeared disposed to believe what he said. Encouraged by this success, the poor fellow undertook to mystify a little concerning the Reef; but here he soon found himself met with plump denials. In order to convince him that deception would be of no use, he was now taken a short distance and confronted with Waally!

    Bigelow no sooner saw the dark countenance of the chief than he knew he was in bad hands. From that moment, he abandoned all attempts at concealment, the condition of the Peak excepted, and had recourse to an opposite policy. He now exaggerated everything; the number and force of the vessels, giving a long list of names that were accurate enough, though the fact was concealed that they mostly belonged to boats; and swelling the force of the colony to something more than two thousand fighting men. The piratical commander, who went by the name of `the admiral' among his followers, was a good deal startled by this information, appealing to Waally to know whether it might be relied on for truth. Waally could not say yes or no to this question. He had heard that the colonists were much more numerous than they were formerly; but how many fighting men they could now muster was more than he could say. He knew that they were enormously rich, and among other articles of value, possessed materials sufficient for fitting out as many ships as they pleased. It was this last information that had brought the strangers to the group; for they were greatly in want of naval stores of almost all sorts.

    The admiral did not deem it necessary to push his inquiries any further at that moment; apparently, he did not expect to find much at Rancocus Island, Waally having, most probably, let him into the secret of its uses. The houses and mills were visited and plundered; a few hogs and one steer were shot; but luckily, most of the animals had been driven into a retired valley. The saw-mill was set on fire in pure wantonness, and it was burned to the ground. A new grist-mill escaped, merely because its position was not known. A great deal of injury was inflicted on the settlement merely for the love of mischief, and a brick-kiln was actually blown up in order to enjoy the fun of seeing the bricks scattered in the air. In short, the place was almost destroyed in one sense, though no attempt was made to injure Bigelow. On the contrary, he was scarcely watched, and it was no sooner dark than he collected a crew, got into his own whale-boat, and came to windward to report what was going on to the governor.

    CHAPTER XII.


    "All gone! 'tis ours the goodly land—
    Look round—the heritage behold;
    Go forth—upon the mountains stand;
    Then, if ye can, be cold."

    Sprague.

    Little doubt remained in the mind of the governor, after he had heard and weighed the whole of Bigelow's story, that he had to deal with one of those piratical squadrons that formerly infested the eastern seas, a sort of successor of the old buccaneers. The men engaged in such pursuits, were usually of different nations, and they were always of the most desperate and ruthless characters. The fact that Waally was with this party, indicated pretty plainly the manner in which they had heard of the colony, and, out of all question, that truculent chief had made his own bargain to come in for a share of the profits.

    It was highly probable that the original object of these freebooters had been to plunder the pearl-fishing vessels, and, hearing at their haunts, of Betto's group, they had found their way across to it, where, meeting with Waally, they had been incited to their present enterprise.

    Little apprehension was felt for the Peak. A vessel might hover about it a month, and never find the cove; and should the pirates even make the discovery, such were the natural advantages of the islanders, that the chances were as twenty to one, they would drive off their assailants. Under all the circumstances, therefore, and on the most mature reflection, the governor determined to cross over to the Reef, and assume the charge of the defence of that most important position. Should the Reef fall into the hands of the enemy, it might require years to repair the loss; or, what would be still more afflicting, the freebooters might hold the place, and use it as a general rendezvous, in their nefarious pursuits. Accordingly, after taking a most tender leave of his wife and children, Governor Woolston left the cove, in the course of the forenoon, crossing in a whale-boat rigged with a sail. Bridget wished greatly to accompany her husband, but to this the latter would, on no account, consent; for he expected serious service, and thought it highly probable that most of the females would have to be sent over to the Peak, for security. Finding that her request could not be granted, and feeling fully the propriety of her husband's decision, Mrs. Woolston so far commanded her feelings as to set a good example to other wives, as became her station.

    When about mid-channel, the whale-boat made a sail coming down before the wind, and apparently steering for South Cape, as well as herself. This turned out to be the Anne, which had gone to windward to give the alarm to the fishermen, and was now on her return. She had warned so many boats as to be certain they would spread the notice, and she had spoken the Dragon, which had gone in quest of the Jonas and the Abraham, both of which were a few leagues to windward. Capt. Betts, however, had come on board the Anne, and now joined his old friend, the governor, when about four leagues from the cape. Glad enough was Mark Woolston to meet with the Anne, and to find so good an assistant on board her. That schooner, which was regularly pilot-boat built, was the fastest craft about the islands, and it was a great matter to put head-quarters on board her. The Martha came next, and the whale-boat was sent in to find that sloop, which was up at the Reef, and to order her out immediately to join the governor. Pennock was the highest in authority, in the group, after the governor, and a letter was sent to him, apprising him of all that was known, and exhorting him to vigilance and activity; pointing out, somewhat in detail, the different steps he was to take, in order that no time might be lost. This done, the governor stood in towards Whaling Bight, in order to ascertain the state of things at that point.

    The alarm had been given all over the group, and when the Anne reached her place of destination, it was ascertained that the men had been assembled under arms, and every precaution taken. But Whaling Bight was the great place of resort of the Kannakas, and there were no less than forty of those men there at that moment, engaged in trying out oil, or in fitting craft for the fisheries. No one could say which side these fellows would take, should it appear that their proper chiefs were engaged with the strangers; though, otherwise, the colonists counted on their assistance with a good deal of confidence. On all ordinary occasions, a reasonably fair understanding existed between the colonists and the Kannakas. It is true, that the former were a little too fond of getting as much work as possible, for rather small compensations, out of these semi-savages; but, as articles of small intrinsic value still went a great way in these bargains, no serious difficulty had yet arisen out of the different transactions. Some persons thought that the Kannakas had risen in their demands, and put less value on a scrap of old iron, than had been their original way of thinking, now that so many of their countrymen had been back and forth a few times, between the group and other parts of the world; a circumstance that was very naturally to be expected. But the governor knew mankind too well not to understand that all unequal associations lead to discontent. Men may get to be so far accustomed to inferior stations, and to their duties and feelings, as to consider their condition the result of natural laws; but the least taste of liberty begets a jealousy and distrust that commonly raises a barrier between the master and servant, that has a never-dying tendency to keep them more or less alienated in feeling. When the colonists began to cast about them, and to reflect on the chances of their being sustained by these hirelings in the coming strife, very few of them could be sufficiently assured that the very men who had now eaten of their bread and salt, in some instances, for years, were to be relied on in a crisis. Indeed, the number of these Kannakas was a cause of serious embarrassment with the governor, when he came to reflect on his strength, and on the means of employing it.

    Fully two hundred of the savages, or semi-savages, were at that moment either scattered about among the farm-houses, or working at the different places where shipping lay, or were out whaling to windward. Now, the whole force of the colony, confining it to fighting-men, and including those who were absent, was just three hundred and sixty-three. Of these, three hundred might, possibly, on an emergency, be brought to act on any given point, leaving the remainder in garrisons. But a straggling body of a hundred and fifty of these Kannakas, left in the settlements, or on the Reef, or about the crater, while the troops were gone to meet the enemy, presented no very pleasing picture to the mind of the governor. He saw the necessity of collecting these men together, and of employing them actively in the service of the colony, as the most effectual mode of preventing their getting within the control of Waally. This duty was confided to Bigelow, who was sent to the Reef without delay, taking with him all the Kannakas at Whaling Bight, with orders to put them on board the shipping at the Reef — schooners, sloops, lighters, &c., of which there were now, ordinarily, some eight or ten to be found there—and to carry them all to windward; using the inner channels of the group. Here was a twenty-four hours' job, and one that would not only keep everybody quite busy, but which might have the effect to save all the property in the event of a visit to the Reef by the pirates. Bigelow was to call every Kannaka he saw to his assistance, in the hope of thus getting most of them out of harm's way.

    Notwithstanding this procedure, which denoted a wise distrust of these Indian allies, the governor manifested a certain degree of confidence towards a portion of them, that was probably just as discreet in another way. A part of the crew of every vessel, with the exception of those that went to the Peak, was composed of Kannakas; and no less than ten of them were habitually employed in the Anne, which carried two whale-boats for emergencies. None of these men were sent away, or were in any manner taken from their customary employments. So much confidence had the governor in his own authority, and in his power to influence these particular individuals, that he did not hesitate about keeping them near himself, and, in a measure, of entrusting the safety of his person to their care. It is true, that the Kannakas of both the Anne and the Martha were a sort of confidential seamen, having now been employed in the colony several years, and got a taste for the habits of the settlers.

    When all his arrangements were made, the governor came out of Whaling Bight in the Anne, meeting Betts in the Martha off South Cape. Both vessels then stood down along the shores of the group, keeping a bright look-out in the direction of Rancocus Island, or towards the southward and westward. Two or three smaller crafts were in company, each under the direction of some one on whom reliance could be placed. The old Neshamony had the honour of being thus employed, among others. The south-western angle of the group formed a long, low point, or cape of rock, making a very tolerable roadstead on its north-western side, or to leeward. This cape was known among the colonists by the name of Rancocus Needle, from the circumstance that it pointed with mathematical precision to the island in question. Thus, it was a practice with the coasters to run for the extremity of this cape, and then to stand away on a due south-west course, certain of seeing the mountains for which they were steering in the next few hours. Among those who plied to and fro in this manner, were many who had no very accurate notions of navigation; and, to them, this simple process was found to be quite useful.

    Off Rancocus Needle, the governor had appointed a rendezvous for the whole of his little fleet. In collecting these vessels, six in all, including four boats, his object had not been resistance — for the armaments of the whole amounted to but six swivels, together with a few muskets— but vigilance. He was confident that Waally would lead his new friends up towards the Western Roads, the point where he had made all his own attacks, and where he was most acquainted; and the position under the Needle was the best station for observing the approach of the strangers, coming as they must, if they came at all, from the south-west.

    The Anne was the first craft to arrive off the point of the Needle, and she found the coast clear. As yet, no signs of invaders were to be seen; and the Martha being within a very convenient distance to the eastward, a signal was made to Captain Betts to stand over towards the Peak, and have a search in that quarter. Should the strangers take it into their heads to beat up under the cliffs again, and thence stretch across to the group, it would bring them in with the land to windward of the observing squadron, and give them an advantage the governor was very far from wishing them to obtain. The rest of the craft came down to the place of rendezvous, and kept standing off and on, under short sail, close in with the rocks, so as to keep in the smoothest of the water. Such was the state of things when the sun went down in the ocean.

    All night the little fleet of the colonists remained in the same uncertainty as to the movements of their suspicious visitors. About twelve the Martha came round the Needle, and reported the coast clear to the southward. She had been quite to the cove, and had communicated with the shore. Nothing had been seen of the ship and her consorts since the governor left, nor had any further tidings been brought up from to leeward, since the arrival of Bigelow. On receiving this information, the governor ordered his command to run off, in diverging lines, for seven leagues each, and then to wait for day. This was accordingly done; the Anne and Martha, as a matter of course, outstripping the others. At the usual hour day re-appeared, when the look-out aloft, on board the Anne, reported the Martha about two leagues to the northward, the Neshamony about as far to the southward, though a league farther to windward. The other craft were known to be to the northward of the Martha, but could not be seen. As for the Neshamony, she was coming down with a flowing sheet, to speak the governor.

    The sun had fairly risen, when the Neshamony came down on the Anne's weather-quarter, both craft then standing to the northward. The Neshamony had seen nothing. The governor now directed her commander to stand directly down towards Rancocus Island. If she saw nothing, she was to go in and land, in order to get the news from the people ashore. Unless the information obtained in this way was of a nature that demanded a different course, she was to beat up to the volcano, reconnoitre there, their stand across to the cove, and go in; whence she was to sail for the Reef, unless she could hear of the governor at some other point, when she was to make the best of her way to him .

    The Anne now made sail towards the Martha, which sloop was standing to the northward, rather edging from the group, under short canvass. No land was in sight, though its haze could be discovered all along the eastern board, where the group was known to lie; but neither the Peak, nor the Volcano, nor Rancocus heights could now be seen from the vessels. About ten the governor spoke Captain Betts, to ask the news. The Martha had seen nothing; and, shortly after, the three boats to the northward joined, and made the same report. Nothing had been seen of the strangers, who seemed, most unaccountably, to be suddenly lost!

    This uncertainty rendered all the more reflecting portion of the colonists exceedingly uneasy. Should the pirates get into the group by either of its weather channels, they would not only find all the property and vessels that had been taken in that direction, at their mercy, but they would assail the settlements in their weakest parts, render succour more difficult, and put themselves in a position whence it would be easiest to approach or to avoid their foes. Any one understanding the place, its facilities for attacking, or its defences, would naturally endeavour to enter the group as well to windward as possible; but Waally had never attempted anything of the sort; and, as he knew little of the inner passages, it was not probable he had thought of suggesting a course different from his own to his new friends. The very circumstance that he had always approached by the same route, was against it; for, if his sagacity had not pointed out a preferable course for himself, it was not to be expected it would do it for others. Still, it was not unreasonable to suppose that practised seamen might see the advantages which the savage had overlooked, and a very serious apprehension arose in the minds of the governor and Betts, in particular, touching this point. All that could be done, however, was to despatch two of the boats, with orders to enter the group by the northern road, and proceed as far as the Reef. The third boat was left to cruise off the Needle, in order to communicate with anything that should go to that place of rendezvous with a report, and, at the same time, to keep a look-out for the pirates. With the person in charge of this boat, was left the course to be steered by those who were to search for the governor, as they arrived off the Needle, from time to time.

    The Anne and Martha bore up, in company, as soon as these arrangements were completed, it being the plan now to go and look for the strangers. Once in view, the governor determined not to lose sight of the pirates, again, but to remain so near them, as to make sure of knowing what they were about. In such cases, a close look-out should always be kept on the enemy, since an advantage in time is gained by so doing, as well as a great deal of uncertainty and indecision avoided.

    For seven hours the Anne and Martha stood towards Rancocus Island, running off about two leagues from each other, thereby `spreading a clew,' as sailors call it, that would command the view of a good bit of water. The tops of the mountains were soon seen, and by the end of the time mentioned, most of the lower land became visible. Nevertheless, the strangers did not come in sight. Greatly at a loss how to proceed, the governor now sent the Martha down for information, with orders for her to beat up to the Needle, as soon as she could, the Anne intending to rendezvous there, next morning, agreeably to previous arrangements. As the Martha went off before the wind, the Anne hauled up sharp towards the Peak, under the impression that something might have been seen of the strangers from the high land there. About four in the morning the Anne went into the cove, and the governor ascended to the plain to have an interview with Heaton. He found everything tranquil in that quarter. Nothing had been seen of the strange squadron, since it went out of sight, under the volcano; nor had even the Neshamony come in. The governor's arrival was soon known, early as it was, and he had visits from half the women on the island, to inquire after their absent husbands. Each wife was told all the governor knew, and this short intercourse relieved the minds of a great many.

    At eight, the Anne sailed again, and at ten she had the Needle in sight, with three boats off it, on the look-out. Here, then, were tidings at last; but, the impatience of the governor was restrained, in order to make out the character of a sail that had been seen coming down through the straits, under a cloud of canvas. In a short time, this vessel was made out to be the Abraham, and the Anne hauled up to get her news. The two schooners spoke each other about twelve o'clock, but the Abraham had no intelligence to impart. She had been sent, or rather carried by Bigelow, out by the eastern passage, and had stood along the whole of the weather-side of the group, to give notice to the whalers where to go; and she had notified the two brigs to go in to-windward, and to remain in Weather Bay, where all the rest of the dull crafts had been taken for safety; and then had come to-leeward to look for the governor. As the Abraham was barely a respectable sailer, it was not deemed prudent to take her too near the strangers; but, she might see how matters were situated to the eastward. By keeping on the weather-coast, and so near the land as not to be cut off from it, she would be of particular service; since no enemy could approach in that quarter, without being seen; and Bigelow's familiarity with the channels would enable him, not only to save his schooner by running in, but would put it in his power to give notice throughout the whole group, of the position and apparent intentions of the strangers. The Abraham, accordingly, hauled by the wind, to beat back to her station, while the Anne kept off for the Needle.

    At the rendezvous, the governor found most of his craft waiting for him. The Neshamony was still behind; but all the rest had executed their orders, and were standing off and on, near the cape, ready to report. Nothing had been seen of the strangers! It was certain they had not approached the group, for two of the boats had just come out of it, having left the colonists busy with the preparations for defence, but totally undisturbed in other respects. This information gave the governor increased uneasiness. His hope of hearing from the pirates, in time to be ready to meet them, now depended on his reports from to leeward. The Neshamony ought soon to be in; nor could it be long before the Martha would return. The great source of apprehension now came from a suspicion that some of the Kannakas might be acting as pirates, along with Waally. For Waally himself no great distrust was felt, since he had never been allowed to see much of the channels of the group; but it was very different with the sea-going Kannakas, who had been employed by the colonists. Some of these men were familiar with all the windings and turnings of the channels, knew how much water could be taken through a passage, and, though not absolutely safe pilots, perhaps, were men who might enable skilful seamen to handle their vessels with tolerable security within the islands. Should it turn out that one or two of these fellows had undertaken to carry the strangers up to windward, and to take them into one of the passages in that quarter of the group, they might be down upon the different fortified points before they were expected, and sweep all before them. It is true, this danger had been in a measure foreseen, and persons had been sent to look out for it; but it never had appeared so formidable to the governor, as now that he found himself completely at fault where to look for his enemy. At length, a prospect of fresh reports appeared. The Neshamony was seen in the southern board, standing across from the Peak; and about the same time, the Martha was made out in the south-western, beating up from Rancocus Island direct. As the first had been ordered to land, and had also been round by the volcano, the Anne hauled up for her, the governor being impatient to get her tidings first. In half an hour, the two vessels were alongside of each other. But the Neshamony had very little that was new to tell! The pirates had remained on the island but a short time after Bigelow and his companions got away, doing all the damage they could, however, in that brief space. When they left, it was night, and nothing very certain could be told of their movements. When last seen, however, they were on a wind, and heading to the southward, a little westerly; which looked like beating up towards the volcano, the trades now blowing due south-east. But the Neshamony had been quite round the volcano, without obtaining a sight of the strangers. Thence she proceeded to the Peak, where she arrived only a few hours after the governor had sailed, going into the cove and finding all quiet. Of course, the Martha could have no more to say than this, if as much; and the governor was once more left to the pain of deep suspense. As was expected, when Betts joined, he had nothing at all to tell. He had been ashore at Rancocus Point, heard the complaints of the people touching their losses, but had obtained no other tidings of the wrong-doers. Unwilling to lose time, he staid but an hour, and had been beating back to the rendezvous the rest of the period of his absence. Was it possible that the strangers had gone back to Betto's group, satisfied with the trifling injuries they had inflicted? This could hardly be; yet it was not easy to say where else they had been. After a consultation, it was decided that the Martha should stand over in that direction, in the hope that she might pick up some intelligence, by meeting with fishing canoes that often came out to a large cluster of rocks, that lay several leagues to windward of the territories of Ooroony and Waally. Captain Betts had taken his leave of the governor, and had actually got on board his own vessel, in order to make sail, when a signal was seen flying on board one of the boats that was kept cruising well out in the straits, intimating that strange vessels were seen to windward. This induced the governor to recall the Martha, and the whole of the look-out vessels stood off into the straits.

    In less than an hour, all doubts were removed. There were the strangers, sure enough, and what was more, there was the Abraham ahead of them, pushing for Cape South passage, might and main; for the strangers were on her heels, going four feet to her three. It appeared, afterwards, that the pirates, on quitting Rancocus Island, had stood off to the southward, until they reached to windward of the volcano, passing however a good bit to leeward of the island, on their first stretch, when, finding the Peak just dipping, they tacked to the northward and westward, and stood off towards the ordinary whaling-ground of the colony, over which they swept in the expectation of capturing the brigs. The pirates had no occasion for oil, which they probably would have destroyed in pure wantonness, but they were much in want of naval stores, cordage in particular, and the whaling gear of the two brigs would have been very acceptable to them. While running in for the group, after an unsuccessful search, they made the Abraham, and gave chase. That schooner steered for the straits, in the hope of finding the governor; but was so hard pressed by her pursuers, as to be glad to edge in for Cape South roads, intending to enter the group, and run for the Reef, if she could do no better.

    Luckily, the discovery of the look-out boat prevented the execution of the Abraham's project, which would have led the pirates directly up to the capital. But, no sooner did the governor see how things were situated, than he boldly luffed up towards the strangers, intending to divert them from the chase of the Abraham; or, at least, to separate them, in chase of himself. In this design he was handsomely seconded by Betts, in the Martha, who hauled his wind in the wake of the Anne, and carried everything that would draw, in order to keep his station. This decision and show of spirit had its effect. The two brigs, which were most to the southward, altered their course, and edged away for the Anne and Martha, leaving the ship to follow the Abraham alone. The governor was greatly rejoiced at this, for he had a notion a vessel as large as the strange ship would hesitate about entering the narrow waters, on account of her draught; she being much larger than any craft that had ever been in before, as the Kannakas must know, and would not fail to report to the pirates. The governor supposed this ship to be a vessel of between six and seven hundred tons measurement. Her armament appeared to be twelve guns of a side, below, and some eight or ten guns on her quarter-deck and forecastle. This was a formidable craft in those days, making what was called in the English service, an eight-and-twenty gun frigate, a class of cruisers that were then found to be very useful. It is true, that the first class modern sloop-of-war would blow one of those little frigates out of water, being several hundred tons larger, with armaments, crews and spars in proportion; but an eight-and-twenty gun frigate offered a very formidable force to a community like that of the crater, and no one knew it better than the governor.

    The three strangers all sailed like witches. It was well for the Abraham that she had a port so close under her lee, or the ship would have had her, beyond the smallest doubt. As it was she caught it, as she rounded the cape, as close in as she could go, the frigate letting slip at her the whole of her starboard broadside, which cut away the schooner's gaff, jib-stay, and main-topmast, besides killing a Kannaka, who was in the main-cross-trees at the time. This last occurrence turned out to be fortunate, in the main, however, since it induced all the Kannakas to believe that the strangers were their enemies, in particular; else why kill one of their number, when there were just as many colonists as Kannakas to shoot at!

    As the governor expected, the ship did not venture to follow the Abraham in. That particular passage, in fact, was utterly unknown to Waally, and those with him, and he could not give such an account of it as would encourage the admiral to stand on. Determined not to lose time unnecessarily, the latter hauled short off shore, and made sail in chase of the Anne and Martha, which, by this time, were about mid-channel, heading across to the Peak. It was not the wish of the governor, however, to lead the strangers any nearer to the cove than was necessary, and, no sooner did he see the Abraham well within the islands, her sails concealed by the trees, of which there was now a little forest on this part of the coast, and the ship drawing well off the land in hot pursuit of himself, than he kept away in the direction of Rancocus Island, bringing the wind on his larboard quarter. The strangers followed, and in half an hour they were all so far to leeward of Cape South, as to remove any apprehension of their going in there very soon.

    Thus far, the plan of the governor had succeeded to admiration. He had his enemies in plain sight, within a league of him, and in chase of his two fastest craft. The best sailing of the Anne and Martha was on a wind, and, as a matter of course, they could do better, comparatively, in smooth water, than larger craft. No sooner, therefore, had he got his pursuers far enough off the land, and far enough to leeward, than the governor wore, or jibed would be the better word, running off northwest, with the wind on his starboard quarter. This gave the strangers a little the advantage, in one sense, though they lost it in another. It brought them on his weather-beam; pretty well forward of it, too; but the Needle was directly ahead of the schooner and sloop, and the governor foresaw that his pursuers would have to keep off to double that, which he was reasonably certain of reaching first.

    Everything turned out as the governor anticipated. The pirates had near a league of water more to pass over, before they could double the Needle, than the Anne and the Martha had; and, though those two crafts were obliged to haul up close to the rocks, under a distant fire from all three of their pursuers, no harm was done, and they were soon covered by the land, and were close-hauled in smooth water, to leeward of the group. Twenty minutes later, the strangers came round the cape, also, bearing up sharp, and following their chase. This was placing the enemy just where the colonists could have wished. They were now to-leeward of every point in the settlements, looking up towards the roads, which opened on the western passage, or that best known to Waally, and which he would be most likely to enter, should he attempt to pilot the strangers in. This was getting the invaders precisely where the governor wished them to be, if they were to attack him at all. They could not reach the Reef in less than twenty-four hours, with their knowledge of the channel; would have to approach it in face of the heaviest and strongest batteries, those provided for Waally; and, if successful in reaching the inner harbour, would enter it under the fire of the long twelves mounted on the crater, which was, rightly enough, deemed to be the citadel of the entire colony, unless, indeed, the Peak might better deserve that name.

    CHAPTER XIII.


    "It scares the sea-birds from their nests;
           They dart and wheel with deafening screams;
    Now dark—and now their wings and breasts
           Flash back amid disastrous gleams.
    O, sin! what hast thou done on this fair earth?
    The world, O man! is wailing o'er thy birth."

    Dana.

    It was the policy of the colonists to lead their pursuers directly up to the Western Roads. On the small island, under which vessels were accustomed to anchor, was a dwelling or two, and a battery of two guns—nine-pounders. These guns were to command the anchorage. The island lay directly in front of the mouth of the passage, making a very beautiful harbour within it; though the water was so smooth in the roads, and the last were so much the most convenient for getting under-way in, that this more sheltered haven was very little used. On the present occasion, however, all the colony craft beat up past the island, and anchored inside of it. The crews were then landed, and they repaired to the battery, which they found ready for service in consequence of orders previously sent.

    Here, then, was the point where hostilities would be likely to commence, should hostilities commence at all. One of the boats was sent across to the nearest island inland, where a messenger was landed, with directions to carry a letter to Pennock, at the Reef. This messenger was compelled to walk about six miles, the whole distance in a grove of young palms and bread-fruit trees; great pains having been taken to cultivate both of these plants throughout the group, in spots favourable to their growth. After getting through the grove, the path came out on a plantation, where a horse was kept for this especial object; and here the man mounted and galloped off to the Reef, soon finding himself amid a line of some of the most flourishing plantations in the colony. Fortunately, however, as things then threatened, these plantations were not on the main channel, but stood along the margin of a passage which was deep enough to receive any craft that floated, but which was a cul-de-sac, that could be entered only from the eastward. Along the margin of the ship-channel, there was not yet soil of the right quality for cultivation, though it was slowly forming, as the sands that lay thick on the adjacent rocks received other substances by exposure to the atmosphere.

    The Anne and her consorts had been anchored about an hour, when the strangers hove-to in the roads, distant about half a mile from the battery. Here they all hoisted white flags, as if desirous of having a parley. The governor did not well know how to act. He could not tell whether or not it would do to trust such men; and he as little liked to place Betts, or any other confidential friend, in their power, as he did to place himself there. Nevertheless, prudence required that some notice should be taken of the flag of truce; and he determined to go off a short distance from the shore in one of his own boats, and hoist a white flag, which would be as much as to say that he was waiting there to receive any communication that the strangers might chose to send him.

    It was not long after the governor's boat had reached her station, which was fairly within the short range of the two guns in the battery, ere a boat shoved off from the ship, showing the white flag, too. In a few minutes, the two boats were within the lengths of each other's oars, riding peacefully side by side.

    On board the stranger's boat, in addition to the six men who were at the oars, were three persons in the sternsheets. One of these men, as was afterwards ascertained, was the admiral himself; a second was an interpreter, who spoke English with a foreign accent, but otherwise perfectly well; and the third was no other than Waally! The governor thought a fierce satisfaction was gleaming in the countenance of the savage when they met, though the latter said nothing. The interpreter opened the communications.

    "Is any one in that boat," demanded this person, "who is empowered to speak for the authorities ashore?"

    "There is," answered the governor, who did not deem it wise, nevertheless, exactly to proclaim his rank. "I have full powers, being directly authorized by the chiefmagistrate of this colony."

    "To what nation does your colony belong?"

    This was an awkward question, and one that had not been at all anticipated, and which the governor was not fully prepared to answer.

    "Before interrogatories are thus put, it might be as well for me to know by what authority I am questioned at all," returned Mr. Woolston. "What are the vessels which have anchored in our waters, and under what flag do they sail?"

    "A man-of-war never answers a hail, unless it comes from another man-of-war," answered the interpreter, smiling.

    "Do you, then, claim to be vessels of war?"

    "If compelled to use our force, you will find us so. We have not come here to answer questions, however, but to ask them. Does your colony claim to belong to any particular nation, or not?"

    "We are all natives of the United States of America, and our vessels sail under her flag."

    "The United States of America!" repeated the interpreter, with an ill-concealed expression of contempt. "There is good picking among the vessels of that nation, as the great European belligerents well know; and while so many are profiting by it, we may as well come in for our share."

    It may be necessary to remind a portion of our readers, that this dialogue occurred more than forty years ago, and long before the republic sent out its fleets and armies to conquer adjacent states; when, indeed, it had scarce a fleet and army to protect its own coasts and frontiers from insults and depredations. It is said that when the late Emperor of Austria, the good and kind-hearted Francis II., was shown the ruins of the little castle of Habsburg, which is still to be seen crowning a low height, in the canton of Aarraw, Switzerland, he observed, "I now see that we have not always been a great family." The governor cared very little for the fling at his native land, but he did not relish the sneer, as it indicated the treatment likely to be bestowed on his adopted country. Still, the case was not to be remedied except by the use of the means already provided, should his visitors see fit to resort to force.

    A desultory conversation now ensued, in which the strangers pretty plainly let their designs be seen. In the first place they demanded a surrender of all the craft belonging to the colony, big and little, together with all the naval stores. This condition complied with, the strangers intimated that it was possible their conquests would not be pushed much further. Of provisions, they stood in need of pork, and they understood that the colony had hogs without number. If they would bring down to the island a hundred fat hogs, with barrels and salt, within twenty-four hours, it was probable, however, no further demand for provisions would be made. They had obtained fifty barrels of very excellent flour at Rancocus Island, and could not conveniently stow more than that number, in addition to the demanded hundred barrels of pork. The admiral also required that hostages should be sent on board his ship, and that he should be provided with proper pilots, in order that he, and a party of suitable size, might take the Anne and the Martha, and go up to the town, which he understood lay some twenty or thirty miles within the group. Failing of an acquiescence in these terms, war, and war of the most ruthless character, was to be immediately proclaimed. All attempts to obtain an announcement of any national character, on the part of the strangers, was evaded; though, from the appearance of everything he saw, the governor could not now have the smallest doubt that he had to do with pirates.

    After getting all out of the strangers that he could, and it was but little at the best, the governor quietly, but steadily refused to accede to any one of the demands, and put the issue on the appeal to force. The strangers were obviously disappointed at this answer, for the thoughtful, simple manner of Mark Woolston had misled them, and they had actually flattered themselves with obtaining all they wanted without a struggle. At first, the anger of the admiral threatened some treacherous violence on the spot, but the crews of the two boats were so nearly equal, that prudence, if not good faith, admonished him of the necessity of respecting the truce. The parties separated, however, with denunciations, nay maledictions, on the part of the strangers, the colonists remaining quiet in demeanor, but firm.

    The time taken for the two boats to return to their respective points of departure was but short; and scarcely was that of the stranger arrived alongside of its vessel, ere the ship fired a gun. This was the signal of war, the shot of that first gun falling directly in the battery, where it took off the hand of a Kannaka, besides doing some other damage. This was not a very favourable omen, but the governor encouraged his people, and to work both sides went, trying who could do the other the most harm. The cannonading was lively and well sustained, though it was not like one of the present time, when shot are hollow, and a gun is chambered and, not unfrequently, has a muzzle almost as large as the open end of a flour-barrel, and a breech as big as a hogshead. At the commencement of this century a long twelve-pounder was considered a smart piece, and was thought very capable of doing a good deal of mischief. The main battery of the ship was composed of guns of that description, while one of the brigs carried eight nines, and the other fourteen sixes. As the ship mounted altogether thirty, if not thirty-two, guns, this left the governor to contend with batteries that had in them at least twenty-six pieces, as opposed to his own two. A couple of lively guns, nevertheless, well-served and properly mounted, behind good earthen banks, are quite equal to several times their number on board ship. Notwithstanding the success of the first shot of the pirates, this truth soon became sufficiently apparent, and the vessels found themselves getting the worst of it. The governor, himself, or Captain Betts pointed every gun that was fired in the battery, and they seldom failed to make their marks on the hulls of the enemy. On the other hand, the shot of the shipping was either buried in the mounds of the battery, or passed over its low parapets. Not a man was hurt ashore, at the end of an hour's struggle, with the exception of the Kannaka first wounded, while seven of the pirates were actually killed, and near twenty wounded.

    Had the combat continued in the manner in which it was commenced, the result would have been a speedy and signal triumph in favour of the colony. But, by this time, the pirate admiral became convinced that he had gone the wrong way to work, and that he must have recourse to some management, in order to prevail against such stubborn foes. Neither of the vessels was anchored, but all kept under way, manoeuvring about in front of the battery, but one brig hauled out of the line to the northward, and making a stretch or two clear of the line of fire, she came down on the north end of the battery, in a position to rake it. Now, this battery had been constructed for plain, straightforward cannonading in front, with no embrasures to command the roads on either flank. Curtains of earth had been thrown up on the flanks, to protect the men, it is true, but this passive sort of resistance could do very little good in a protracted contest. While this particular brig was gaining that favourable position, the ship and the other brig fell off to leeward, and were soon at so long a shot, as to be out of harm's way. This was throwing the battery entirely out of the combat, as to anything aggressive, and compelled a prompt decision on the part of the colonists. No sooner did the nearest brig open her fire, and that within short canister range, than the ship and her consort hauled in again on the southern flank of the battery, the smallest vessel leading, and feeling her way with the lead. Perceiving the utter uselessness of remaining, and the great danger he ran of being cut off, the governor now commenced a retreat to his boats. This movement was not without danger, one colonist being killed in effecting it, and two more of the Kannakas wounded. It succeeded, notwithstanding, and the whole party got off to the Anne and Martha.

    This retreat, of course, left the island and the battery at the mercy of the pirates. The latter landed, set fire to the buildings, blew up the magazine, dismounted the guns, and did all the other damage to the place that could be accomplished in the course of a short visit. They then went on board their vessels, again, and began to beat up into the Western Passage, following the colonists who preceded them, keeping just out of gun-shot.

    The Western Passage was somewhat crooked, and different reaches were of very frequent occurrence. This sometimes aided a vessel in ascending, or going to windward, and sometimes offered obstacles. As there were many other passages, so many false channels, some of which were culs-de-sacs, it was quite possible for one ignorant of the true direction to miss his way; and this circumstance suggested to the governor an expedient which was highly approved of by his friend and counsellor, captain Betts, when it was laid before that plain, but experienced, seaman. There was one false passage, about a league within the group, which led off to the northward, and far from all the settlements, that offered several inducements to enter it. In the first place, it had more of the appearance of a main channel, at its point of junction, than the main channel itself, and might easily be mistaken for it; then, it turned right into the wind's eye, after beating up it for a league; and at the end of a long reach that ran due-south-east, it narrowed so much as to render it questionable whether the Anne and Martha could pass between the rocks, into a wide bay beyond. This bay was the true cul-de-sac, having no other outlet or inlet than the narrow pass just mentioned; though it was very large, was dotted with islands, and reached quite to the vicinity of Loam Island, or within a mile, or two, of the Reef.

    The main question was whether the schooner and the sloop could pass through the opening which communicated between the reach and the bay. If not, they must inevitably fall into the hands of the pirates, should they enter the false channel, and be followed in. Then, even admitting that the Anne and Martha got through the narrow passage, should the pirates follow them in their boats, there would be very little probability of their escaping; though they might elude their pursuers for a time among the islands. Captain Betts was of opinion that the two vessels could get through, and was strongly in favour of endeavouring to lead the enemy off the true course to the Reef, by entangling them in this cul-de-sac. If nothing but delay was gained, delay would be something. It was always an advantage to the assailed to have time to recover from their first alarm, and to complete their arrangements. The governor listened to his friend's arguments with favour, but he sent the Neshamony on direct to the Reef, with a letter to Pennock, acquainting that functionary with the state of things, the intended plan, and a request that a twelve-pounder, that was mounted on a travelling carriage, might be put on board the boat, and sent to a landing, whence it might easily be dragged by hand to the narrow passage so often mentioned. This done, he took the way into the false channel himself.

    The governor, as a matter of course, kept at a safe distance ahead of the pirates in the Anne and the Martha. This he was enabled to do quite easily, since fore-and-aft vessels make much quicker tacks than those that are square-rigged. As respects water, there was enough of that almost everywhere; it being rather a peculiarity of the group, that nearly every one of its passages had good channels and bold shores. There was one shoal, however, and that of some extent, in the long reach of the false channel named; and when the governor resolved to venture in there, it was not without the hope of leading the pirate ship on it. The water on this shoal was about sixteen feet deep, and there was scarce a hope of either of the brigs fetching up on it; but, could the ship be enticed there, and did she only strike with good way on her, and on a falling tide, her berth might be made very uncomfortable. Although this hope appeared faintly in the background of the governor's project, his principal expectation was that of being able to decoy the strangers into a cul-de-sac, and to embarrass them with delays and losses. As soon as the Neshamony was out of sight, the Anne and Martha, therefore, accompanied by the other boats, stood into the false channel, and went off to the northward merrily, with a leading wind. When the enemy reached the point, they did not hesitate to follow, actually setting studding sails in their eagerness not to be left too far behind. It is probable, that Waally was of but little service to his allies just then, for, after all, the knowledge of that chief was limited to a very imperfect acquaintance with such channels as would admit of the passage of even canoes. The distances were by no means trifling in these crooked passages. By the true channel, it was rather more than seven and twenty miles from the western roads to the Reef; but, it was fully ten more by this false channel, even deducting the half league where there was no passage at all, or the bottom of the bag. Now, it required time to beat up such a distance, and the sun was setting when the governor reached the shoal already mentioned, about which he kept working for some time, in the hope of enticing the ship on it in the dark. But the pirates were too wary to be misled, an this fashion. The light no sooner left them than they took in all their canvas and anchored. It is probable, that they believed themselves on their certain way to the Reef, and felt indisposed to risk anything by adventuring in the obscurity. Both parties, consequently, prepared to pass the night at their anchors. The Anne and Martha were now within less than a mile of the all-important passage, through which they were to make their escape, if they escaped at all. The opportunity of ascertaining the fact was not to be neglected, and it was no sooner so dark as to veil his movements than the governor went on board the Martha, which was a vessel of more beam than the Anne, and beat her up to the rocks, in order to make a trial of its capacity. It was just possible to take the sloop through in several places; but, in one spot, the rocks came too near together to admit of her being hauled between them. The circumstances would not allow of delay, and to work everybody went, with such implements as offered, to pick away the rock and to open a passage. By midnight, this was done; and the Martha was carried through into the bay beyond. Here she stood off a short distance and anchored. The governor went back to his own craft and moved her about a mile, being apprehensive of a boat attack in the darkness, should he remain where he was. This precaution was timely, for, in the morning, after day had dawned, no less than seven boats were seen pulling down to the pirates, which had, no doubt, been looking for the schooner and the sloop in vain. The governor got great credit for this piece of management; more even than might have been expected, the vulgar usually bestowing their applause on acts of a glittering character, rather than on those which denote calculation and forethought.

    As the day advanced the pirates re-commenced their operations. The delay, however, had given the colonists a great advantage. There had been time to communicate with the Reef, and to receive the gun sent for. It had greatly encouraged the people up at the town, to hear that their enemies were in the false channel; and they redoubled their efforts, as one multiplies his blows on a retreating enemy. Pennock sent the governor most encouraging reports, and gave him to understand that he had ordered nearly all the men in from the out-posts, leaving just enough to have a look-out, and to keep the Kannakas in order. As it was now understood that the attack must be on the capital, there was every reason for taking this course.

    All the vessels were soon under way again. The pirates missed the Martha, which they rightly enough supposed had gone ahead. They were evidently a good deal puzzled about the channel, but supposed it must be somewhere to windward. In the mean time, the governor kept the Anne manoeuvring around the shoal, in the hope of luring the ship on it. Nor was he without rational hopes of success, for the brigs separated, one going close to each side of the sound, to look for the outlet, while the ship kept beating up directly in its centre, making a sinuous course towards the schooner, which was always near the shallow water. At length the governor was fully rewarded for his temerity; the admiral had made a stretch that carried him laterally past the lee side of the shoal, and when he went about, he looked directly for the Anne, which was standing back and forth near its weather margin. Here the governor held on, until he had the satisfaction of seeing the ship just verging on the weather side of the shoal, when he up helm, and stood off to leeward, as if intending to pass out of the cul-de-sac by the way he had entered, giving his pursuers the slip. This bold manoeuvre took the pirate admiral by surprise, and being in the vessel that was much the nearest to the Anne, he up helm, and was plumped on the shoal with strong way on him, in less than five minutes! The instant the governor saw this, he hauled his wind and beat back again, passing the broadside of the ship with perfect impunity, her people being too much occupied with their own situation, to think of their guns, or of molesting him.

    The strange ship had run aground within half a mile of the spot where the twelve-pounder was planted, and that gun now opened on her with great effect. She lay quartering to this new enemy, and the range was no sooner obtained, than every shot hulled her. The governor now landed, and went to work seriously, first ordering the Anne carried through the pass, to place her beyond the reach of the brigs. A forge happened to be in the Anne, to make some repairs to her iron work, and this forge, a small one it was true, was taken ashore, and an attempt was made to heat some shot in it. The shot had been put into the forge an hour or two before, but a fair trial was not made until the whole apparatus was landed. For the next hour the efforts of both sides were unremitted. One of the brigs went to the assistance of the admiral, while the other endeavoured to silence the gun, which was too securely placed, however, to mind her broadsides. One shot hulling her, soon drove her to leeward; after which, all the attention of the pirates was bestowed on their ship.

    The admiral, beyond all doubt, was very awkwardly placed. He had the whole width of the shoal to leeward of him, could only get off by working directly in the face of the fire, and had gone on with seven knots way on his ship. The bottom was a soft mud; and the colonists knew that nothing but anchors laid to windward, with a heavy strain and a good deal of lightening, would ever take that vessel out of her soft berth. Of this fact the pirates themselves soon began to be convinced, for they were seen pumping out their water. As for the brigs, they were by no means well handled. Instead of closing with the battery, and silencing the gun, as they might have done, they kept aloof, and even rendered less assistance to the ship than was in their power. In point of fact, they were in confusion, and manifested that want of order and submission to authority, as well as self-devotion, that would have been shown among men in an honest service: guilt paralyzed their efforts, rendering them timid and distrustful.

    After near two hours of cannonading, during which the colonists had done the pirates a good deal of damage, and the pirates literally had not injured the colonists at all, the governor was ready with his hot shot, which he had brought to something more than a red heat. The gun was loaded with great care, and fired, after having been deliberately pointed by the governor himself. The ship was hulled, and a trifling explosion followed on board. That shot materially added to the confusion among the pirates, and it was immediately followed by another, which struck, also. It was now so apparent that confusion prevailed among the pirates, that the governor would not take the time necessary to put in the other hot shot, but he loaded and fired as fast as he could, in the ordinary way.

    In less than a quarter of an hour after the first hot shot was fired, smoke poured out of the admiral's main-deck ports; and, two minutes later, it was succeeded by flames.

    From that moment the result of the conflict was no longer doubtful. The pirates, among whom great confusion prevailed, even previously to this disaster, now lost all subordination, and it was soon seen that each man worked for himself, striving to save as much as he could of his ill-gotten plunder. The governor understood the state of the enemy, and, though prudence could scarcely justify his course, he determined to press him to the utmost. The Anne and Martha were both brought back through the pass, and the twelve-pounder was taken on board the former, there being room to fight it between her masts. As soon as this was done, the two craft bore down on the brigs, which were, by this time, a league to leeward of the burning ship, their commanders having carried them there to avoid the effects of the expected explosion. The admiral and his crew saved themselves in the boats, abandoning nearly all their property, and losing a good many men. Indeed, when the last boat left the ship, there were several of her people below, so far overcome by liquor, as to be totally helpless. These men were abandoned too, as were all the wounded, including Waally, who had lost an arm by the fire of the battery.

    Neither did the governor like the idea of passing very near the ship, which had now been burning fully an hour. In going to leeward, he gave her a berth, and it was well he did, for she blew up while the Anne and Martha, as it was, were considerably within a quarter of a mile of her. The colonists ever afterwards considered an incident connected with this explosion, as a sort of Providential manifestation of the favour of Heaven. The Martha was nearest to the ship, at the instant of her final disaster, and very many fragments were thrown around her; a few even on her decks. Among the last was a human body, which was cast a great distance in the air, and fell, like a heavy clod, across the gunwale of the sloop. This proved to be the body of Waally, one of the arms having been cut away by a shot, three hours before! Thus perished a constant and most wily enemy of the colony, and who had, more than once, brought it to the verge of destruction, by his cupidity and artifices.

    From this moment, the pirates thought little of anything but of effecting their retreat, and of getting out into open water again. The governor saw this, and pressed them hard. The twelve-pounder opened on the nearest brig, as soon as her shot would tell; and even the Martha's swivel was heard, like the bark of a cur that joins in the clamour when a strange dog is set upon by the pack of a village. The colonists on shore flew into the settlements, to let it be known that the enemy was retreating, when every dwelling poured out its inmates in pursuit. Even the females now appeared in arms; there being no such incentive to patriotism, on occasions of the kind, as the cry that the battle has been won. Those whom it might have been hard to get within the sound of a gun, a few hours before, now became valiant, and pressed into the van, which bore a very different aspect, before a retreating foe, from that which it presented on their advance.

    In losing Waally, the strangers lost the only person among them who had any pretension to be thought a pilot. He knew very little of the channels to the Reef, at the best, though he had been there thrice; but, now he was gone, no one left among them knew anything about them at all. Under all the circumstances, therefore, it is not surprising that the admiral should think more of extricating his two brigs from the narrow waters, than of pursuing his original plan of conquest. It was not difficult to find his way back by the road he had come; and that road he travelled as fast as a leading breeze would carry him along it. But retreat, as it now appeared, was not the only difficulty with which this freebooter had to contend. It happened that no kind feeling existed between the admiral and the officers of the largest of the brigs. So far had their animosity extended, that the admiral had deemed it expedient to take a large sum of money, which had fallen to the share of the vessel in question, out of that brig, and keep it on board the ship, as a guaranty that they would not run away with their craft. This proceeding had not strengthened the bond between the parties; and nothing had kept down the strife but the expectation of the large amount of plunder that was to be obtained from the colony. That hope was now disappointed; and, the whole time the two vessels were retiring before the Anne and the Martha, preparations were making on board one of the brigs to reclaim this ill-gotten treasure, and on board the other to retain it. By a species of freemasonry peculiar to their pursuits, the respective crews were aware of each other's designs; and when they issued nearly abreast out of the passage, into the inner bay of the Western Roads, one passed to the southward of the island, and the other to the northward; the Anne and Martha keeping close in their wakes.

    As the two vessels cleared the island and got into open water, the struggle commenced in earnest; the disaffected brig firing into the admiral. The broadside was returned, and the two vessels gradually neared each other, until the canopies of smoke which accompanied their respective movements became one. The combat now raged, and with a savage warmth, for hours; both brigs running off the land under short canvas. At length the firing ceased, and the smoke so far cleared away as to enable the governor to take a look at the damages done. In this respect, there was little to choose; each vessel having suffered, and seemingly each about as much as the other. After consuming an hour or two in repairing damages, the combat was renewed; when the two colony craft, seeing no prospects of its soon terminating, and being now several leagues to leeward of the group, hauled up for the roads again. The brigs continued their fight, always running off before the wind, and went out of sight, canopied by smoke, long after the reports of their guns had become inaudible. This was the last the governor ever saw or heard of these dangerous enemies.

    CHAPTER XIV.

    Vox populi, vox dei.

    Venerable Axiom.

    After this unlooked-for termination of what the colonists called the `Pirate-War,' the colony enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity. The whaling business was carried on with great success, and many connected with it actually got rich. Among these was the governor, who, in addition to his other means, soon found himself in possession of more money than he could profitably dispose of in that young colony. By his orders, no less than one hundred thousand dollars were invested in his name, in the United States six per cents, his friends in America being empowered to draw the dividends, and, after using a due proportion in the way of commissions, to re-invest the remainder to his credit.

    Nature did quite as much as art, in bringing on the colony; the bounty of God, as the industry of man. It is our duty, however, to allow that the colonists did not so regard the matter. A great change came over their feelings, after the success of the `Pirate-War,' inducing them to take a more exalted view of themselves and their condition than had been their wont. The ancient humility seemed suddenly to disappear; and in its place a vainglorious estimate of themselves and of their prowess arose among the people. The word "people," too, was in everybody's mouth, as if the colonists themselves had made those lovely islands, endowed them with fertility, and rendered them what they were now fast becoming— scenes of the most exquisite rural beauty, as well as granaries of abundance. By this time, the palm-tree covered more or less of every island; and the orange, lime, shaddock and other similar plants, filled the air with the fragrance of their flowers, or rendered it bright with the golden hues of their fruits. In short, everything adapted to the climate was flourishing in the plantations, and plenty reigned even in the humblest dwelling.

    This was a perilous condition for the healthful humility of human beings. Two dangers beset them; both coloured and magnified by a common tendency. One was that of dropping into luxurious idleness—the certain precursor, in such a climate, of sensual indulgences; and the other was that of "waxing fat, and kicking." The tendency common to both, was to place self before God, and not only to believe that they merited all they received, but that they actually created a good share of it.

    Of luxurious idleness, it was perhaps too soon to dread its worst fruits. The men and women retained too many of their early habits and impressions to drop easily into such a chasm; on the contrary, they rather looked forward to producing results greater than any which had yet attended their exertions. An exaggerated view of self, however, and an almost total forgetfulness of God, took the place of the colonial humility with which they had commenced their career in this new region. These feelings were greatly heightened by three agents, that men ordinarily suppose might have a very different effect—religion, law, and the press.

    When the Rancocus returned, a few months after the repulse of the pirates, she had on board of her some fifty emigrants; the council still finding itself obliged to admit the friends of families already settled in the colony, on due application. Unhappily, among these emigrants were a printer, a lawyer, and no less than four persons who might be termed divines. Of the last, one was a presbyterian, one a methodist,—the third was a baptist, and the fourth a quaker. Not long after the arrival of this importation, its consequences became visible. The sectaries commenced with a thousand professions of brotherly love, and a great parade of Christian charity; indeed they pretended that they had emigrated in order to enjoy a higher degree of religious liberty than was now to be found in America, where men were divided into sects, thinking more of their distinguishing tenets than of the Being whom they professed to serve. Forgetting the reasons which brought them from home, or quite possibly carrying out the impulses which led them to resist their former neighbours, these men set to work, immediately, to collect followers, and believers after their own peculiar notions. Parson Hornblower, who had hitherto occupied the ground by himself, but who was always a good deal inclined to what are termed "distinctive opinions," buckled on his armour, and took the field in earnest. In order that the sheep of one flock should not be mistaken for the sheep of another, great care was taken to mark each and all with the brand of sect. One clipped an ear, another smeared the wool (or drew it over the eyes) and a third, as was the case with Friend Stephen Dighton, the quaker, put on an entire covering, so that his sheep might be known by their outward symbols, far as they could be seen. In a word, on those remote and sweet islands, which, basking in the sun and cooled by the trades, seemed designed by providence to sing hymns daily and hourly to their maker's praise, the subtleties of sectarian faith smothered that humble submission to the divine law by trusting solely to the mediation, substituting in its place immaterial observances and theories which were much more strenuously urged than clearly understood. The devil, in the form of a "professor," once again entered Eden; and the Peak, with so much to raise the soul above the grosser strife of men, was soon ringing with discussions on "free grace," "immersion," "spiritual baptism," and the "apostolical succession." The birds sang as sweetly as ever, and their morning and evening songs hymned the praises of their creator as of old; but, not so was it with the morning and evening devotions of men. These last began to pray at each other, and if Mr. Hornblower was an exception, it was because his admirable liturgy did not furnish him with the means of making these forays into the enemy's camp.

    Nor did the accession of law and intelligence help the matter much. Shortly after the lawyer made his appearance, men began to discover that they were wronged by their neighbours, in a hundred ways which they had never before discovered. Law, which had hitherto been used for the purposes of justice, and of justice only, now began to be used for those of speculation and revenge. A virtue was found in it that had never before been suspected of existing in the colony; it being discovered that men could make not only very comfortable livings, but, in some cases, get rich, by the law; not by its practice, but by its practices. Now came into existence an entire new class of philanthropists; men who were ever ready to lend their money to such of the needy as possessed property, taking judgment bonds, mortgages, and other innocent securities, which were received because the lender always acted on a principle of not lending without them, or had taken a vow, or made their wives promises; the end of all being a transfer of title, by which the friendly assistant commonly relieved his dupe of the future care of all his property. The governor soon observed that one of these philanthropists rarely extended his saving hand, that the borrower did not come out as naked as the ear of the corn that has been through the sheller, or nothing but cob; and that, too, in a sort of patent-right time. Then there were the labourers of the press to add to the influence of those of religion and the law. The press took up the cause of human rights, endeavouring to transfer the power of the state from the public departments to its own printing-office; and aiming at establishing all the equality that can flourish when one man has a monopoly of the means of making his facts to suit himself, leaving his neighbours to get along under such circumstances as they can. But the private advantage secured to himself by this advocate of the rights of all, was the smallest part of the injury he did, though his own interests were never lost sight of, and coloured all he did; the people were soon convinced that they had hitherto been living under an unheard-of tyranny, and were invoked weekly to arouse in their might, and be true to themselves and their posterity. In the first place, not a tenth of them had ever been consulted on the subject of the institutions at all, but had been compelled to take them as they found them. Nor had the present incumbents of office been placed in power by a vote of a majority, the original colonists having saved those who came later to the island all trouble in the premises. In these facts was an unceasing theme of declamation and complaint to be found. It was surprising how little the people really knew of the oppression under which they laboured, until this stranger came amongst them to enlighten their understandings. Nor was it less wonderful how many sources of wrong he exposed, that no one had ever dreamed of having an existence. Although there was not a tax of any sort laid in the colony, not a shilling ever collected in the way of import duties, he boldly pronounced the citizens of the islands to be the most overburthened people in christendom! The taxation of England was nothing to it, and he did not hesitate to proclaim a general bankruptcy as the consequence, unless some of his own expedients were resorted to, in order to arrest the evil. Our limits will not admit of a description of the process by which this person demonstrated that a people who literally contributed nothing at all, were overtaxed; but any one who has paid attention to the opposing sides of a discussion on such a subject, can readily imagine how easily such an apparent contradiction can be reconciled, and the proposition demonstrated.

    In the age of which we are writing, a majority of mankind fancied that a statement made in print was far more likely to be true than one made orally. Then he who stood up in his proper person and uttered his facts on the responsibility of his personal character, was far less likely to gain credit than the anonymous scribbler, who recorded his lie on paper, though he made his record behind a screen, and half the time as much without personal identity as he would be found to be without personal character, were he actually seen and recognised. In our time, the press has pretty effectually cured all observant persons at least of giving faith to a statement merely because it is in print, and has become so far alive to its own great inferiority as publicly to talk of conventions to purify itself, and otherwise to do something to regain its credit; but such was not the fact, even in America, forty years since. The theory of an unrestrained press has fully developed itself within the last quarter of a century, so that even the elderly ladies, who once said with marvellous unction, "It must be true, for it 's in print," are now very apt to say, "Oh! it 's only a newspaper account!" The foulest pool has been furnished by a beneficent Providence with the means of cleansing its own waters.

    But the "Crater Truth-Teller" could utter its lies, as a privileged publication, at the period of this narrative. Types still had a sanctity; and it is surprising how much they deceived, and how many were their dupes. The journal did not even take the ordinary pains to mystify its readers, and to conceal its own cupidity, as are practised in communities more advanced in civilization. We dare say that journals are to be found in London and Paris, that take just as great liberties with the fact as the Crater Truth-Teller; but they treat their readers with a little more outward respect, however much they may mislead them with falsehoods. Your London and Paris publics are not to be dealt with as if composed of credulous old women, but require something like a plausible mystification to throw dust in their eyes. They have a remarkable proneness to believe that which they wish, it is true; but, beyond that weakness, some limits are placed to their faith, and appearances must be a good deal consulted.

    But at the crater no such precaution seemed to be necessary. It is true that the editor did use the pronoun "we," in speaking of himself; but he took all other occasions to assert his individuality, and to use his journal diligently in its behalf. Thus, whenever he got into the law, his columns were devoted to publicly maintaining his own side of the question, although such a course was not only opposed to every man's sense of propriety, but was directly flying into the teeth of the laws of the land; but little did he care for that. He was a public servant, and of course all he did was right. To be sure, other public servants were in the same category, all they did being wrong; but he had the means of telling his own story, and a large number of gaping dunces were ever ready to believe him. His manner of filling his larder is particularly worthy of being mentioned. Quite as often as once a week, his journal had some such elegant article as this, viz: — "Our esteemed friend, Peter Snooks" — perhaps it was Peter Snooks, Esquire—"has just brought us a fair specimen of his cocoa-nuts, which we do not hesitate in recommending to the housekeepers of the crater, as among the choicest of the group." Of course, 'Squire Snooks was grateful for this puff, and often brought more cocoa-nuts. The same great supervision was extended to the bananas, the bread-fruit, the cucumbers, the melons, and even the squashes, and always with the same results to the editorial larder. Once, however, this worthy did get himself in a quandary with his use of the imperial pronoun. A mate of one of the vessels inflicted personal chastisement on him, for some impertinent comments he saw fit to make on the honest tar's vessel; and, this being matter of intense interest to the public mind, he went into a detail of all the evolutions of the combat. Other men may pull each other's noses, and inflict kicks and blows, without the world's caring a straw about it; but the editorial interest is too intense to be overlooked in this manner. A bulletin of the battle was published; the editor speaking of himself always in the plural, out of excess of modesty, and to avoid egotism (!) in three columns which were all about himself, using such expressions as these: — "We now struck our antagonist a blow with our fist, and followed this up with a kick of our foot, and otherwise we made an assault on him that he will have reason to remember to his dying day." Now, these expressions, for a time, set all the old women in the colony against the editor, until he went into an elaborate explanation, showing that his modesty was so painfully sensitive that he could not say I on any account, though he occupied three more columns of his paper in explaining the state of our feelings. But, at first, the cry went forth that the battle had been of two against one; and that even the simple-minded colonists set down as somewhat cowardly. So much for talking about we in the bulletin of a single combat!

    The political effects produced by this paper, however, were much the most material part of its results. Whenever it offended and disgusted its readers by its dishonesty, selfishness, vulgarity, and lies—and it did this every week, being a hebdomadal — it recovered the ground it had lost by beginning to talk of `the people' and their rights. This the colonists could not withstand. All their sympathies were enlisted in behalf of him who thought so much of their rights; and, at the very moment he was trampling on these rights, to advance his own personal views, and even treating them with contempt by uttering the trash he did, they imagined that he and his paper in particular, and its doctrines in general, were a sort of gift from Heaven to form the palladium of their precious liberties!

    The great theory advanced by this editorial tyro, was, that a majority of any community had a right to do as it pleased. The governor early saw, not only the fallacies, but the danger of this doctrine; and he wrote several communications himself, in order to prove that it was false. If true, he contended it was true altogether; and that it must be taken, if taken as an axiom at all, with its largest consequences. Now, if a majority has a right to rule, in this arbitrary manner, it has a right to set its dogmas above the commandments, and to legalize theft, murder, adultery, and all the other sins denounced in the twentieth chapter of Exodus. This was a poser to the demagogue, but he made an effort to get rid of it, by excepting the laws of God, which he allowed that even majorities were bound to respect. Thereupon, the governor replied that the laws of God were nothing but the great principles which ought to govern human conduct, and that his concession was an avowal that there was a power to which majorities should defer. Now, this was just as true of minorities as it was of majorities, and the amount of it all was that men, in establishing governments, merely set up a standard of principles which they pledged themselves to respect; and that, even in the most democratical communities, all that majorities could legally effect was to decide certain minor questions which, being necessarily referred to some tribunal for decision, was of preference referred to them. If there was a power superior to the will of the majority, in the management of human affairs, then majorities were not supreme; and it behooved the citizen to regard the last as only what they really are, and what they were probably designed to be—tribunals subject to the control of certain just principles.

    Constitutions, or the fundamental law, the governor went on to say, were meant to be the expression of those just and general principles which should control human society, and as such should prevail over majorities. Constitutions were expressly intended to defend the rights of minorities; since without them, each question, or interest, might be settled by the majority, as it arose. It was but a truism to say that the oppression of the majority was the worst sort of oppression; since the parties injured not only endured the burthen imposed by many, but were cut off from the sympathy of their kind, which can alleviate much suffering, by the inherent character of the tyranny.

    There was a great deal of good sense, and much truth in what the governor wrote, on this occasion; but of what avail could it prove with the ignorant and short-sighted, who put more trust in one honeyed phrase of the journal, that flourished about the `people' and their `rights,' than in all the arguments that reason, sustained even by revelation, could offer to show the fallacies and dangers of this new doctrime. As a matter of course, the wiles of the demagogue were not without fruits. Although every man in the colony, either in his own person, or in that of his parent or guardian, had directly entered into the covenants of the fundamental law, as that law then existed, they now began to quarrel with its provisions, and to advance doctrines that would subvert everything as established, in order to put something new and untried in its place. Progress was the great desideratum; and change was the hand-maiden of progress. A sort of `puss in the corner' game was started, which was to enable those who had no places to run into the seats of those who had. This is a favourite pursuit of man, all over the world, in monarchies as well as in democracies; for, after all that institutions can effect, there is little change in men by putting on, or in taking off ermine and robes, or in wearing `republican simplicity,' in office or out of office; but the demagogue is nothing but the courtier, pouring out his homage in the gutters, instead of in an ante-chamber.

    Nor did the governor run into extremes in his attempts to restrain the false reasoning and exaggerations of the demagogue and his deluded, or selfish followers. Nothing would be easier than to demonstrate that their notions of the rights of numbers was wrong, to demonstrate that were their theories carried out in practice, there could be, and would be nothing permanent or settled in human affairs; yet not only did each lustrum, but each year, each month, each week, each hour, each minute demand its reform. Society must be periodically reduced to its elements, in order to redress grievances. The governor did not deny that men had their natural rights, at the very moment he insisted that these rights were just as much a portion of the minority as of the majority. He was perfectly willing that equal laws should prevail, as equal laws did prevail in the colony, though he was not disposed to throw everything into confusion merely to satisfy a theory. For a long time, therefore, he opposed the designs of the new-school, and insisted on his vested rights, as established in the fundamental law, which had made him ruler for life. But "it is hard to kick against the pricks." Although the claim of the governor was in every sense connected with justice, perfectly sacred, it could not resist the throes of cupidity, selfishness, and envy. By this time, the newspaper, that palladium of liberty, had worked the minds of the masses to a state in which the naked pretension of possessing rights that were not common to everybody else was, to the last degree, "tolerable and not to be endured." To such a height did the fever of liberty rise, that men assumed a right to quarrel with the private habits of the governor and his family, some pronouncing him proud because he did not neglect his teeth, as the majority did, eat when they ate, and otherwise presumed to be of different habits from those around him. Some even objected to him because he spat in his pocket-handkerchief, and did not blow his nose with his fingers.

    All this time, religion was running riot, as well as politics. The next-door neighbours hated each other most sincerely, because they took different views of regeneration, justification, predestination and all the other subtleties of doctrine. What was remarkable, they who had the most clouded notions of such subjects were the loudest in their denunciations. Unhappily, the Rev. Mr. Hornblower, who had possession of the ground, took a course which had a tendency to aggravate instead of lessening this strife among the sects. Had he been prudent, he would have proclaimed louder than ever "Christ, and him crucified;" but, he made the capital mistake of going up and down, crying with the mob, "the church, the church!" This kept constantly before the eyes and ears of the dissenting part of the population—dissenting from his opinions if not from an establishment—the very features that were the most offensive to them. By "the church" they did not understand the same divine institution as that recognised by Mr. Hornblower himself, but surplices, and standing up and sitting down, and gowns, and reading prayers out of a book, and a great many other similar observances, which were deemed by most of the people relics of the "scarlet woman." It is wonderful, about what insignificant matters men can quarrel, when they wish to fall out. Perhaps religion, under these influences, had quite as much to do with the downfall of the governor, which shortly after occurred, as politics, and the newspaper, and the new lawyer, all of which and whom did everything that was in their power to destroy him.

    At length, the demagogues thought they had made sufficient progress to spring their mine. The journal came out with a proposal to call a convention, to alter and improve the fundamental law. That law contained a clause already pointing out the mode by which amendments were to be made in the constitution; but this mode required the consent of the governor, of the council, and finally, of the people. It was a slow, deliberative process, too, one by which men had time to reflect on what they were doing, and so far protected vested rights as to render it certain that no very great revolution could be effected under its shadow. Now, the disaffected aimed at revolution—at carrying out completely the game of "puss in the corner," and it became necessary to set up some new principle by which they could circumvent the old fundamental law.

    This was very easily accomplished in the actual state of the public mind; it was only to carry out the doctrine of the sway of the majority to a practical result; and this was so cleverly done as actually to put the balance of power in the hands of the minority. There is nothing new in this, however, as any cool-headed man may see in this enlightened republic of our own, daily examples in which the majority-principle works purely for the aggrandizement of a minority clique. It makes very little difference how men are ruled; they will be cheated; for, failing of rogues at head-quarters to perform that office for them, they are quite certain to set to work to devise some means of cheating themselves. At the crater this last trouble was spared them, the opposition performing that office in the following ingenious manner.

    The whole colony was divided into parishes, which exercised in themselves a few of the minor functions of government. They had a limited legislative power, like the American town meetings. In these parishes, laws were passed, to require the people to vote `yes' or `no,' in order to ascertain whether there should, or should not be, a convention to amend the constitution. About one-fourth of the electors attended these primary meetings, and of the ten meetings which were held, in six "yes" prevailed by average majorities of about two votes in each parish. This was held to be demonstration of the wishes of the majority of the people to have a convention, though most of those who staid away did so because they believed the whole procedure not only illegal, but dangerous. Your hungry demagogue, however, is not to be defeated by any scruples so delicate. To work these élites of the colony went, to organise an election for members of the convention. At this election about a third of the electors appeared, the candidates succeeding by handsome majorities, the rest staying away because they believed the whole proceedings illegal. Thus fortified by the sacred principle of the sway of majorities, these representatives of a minority, met in convention, and formed an entirely new fundamental law; one, indeed, that completely subverted the old one, not only in fact, but in theory. In order to get rid of the governor to a perfect certainty, for it was known that he could still command more votes for the office than any other man in the colony, one article provided that no person should hold the office of governor, either prospectively, or perspectively, more than five years, consecutively. This placed Mr. Mark Woolston on the shelf at the next election. Two legislative bodies were formed, the old council was annihilated, and everything was done that cunning could devise, to cause power and influence to pass into new hands. This was the one great object of the whole procedure, and, of course, it was not neglected.

    When the new constitution was completed, it was referred back to the people for approval. At this third appeal to the popular voice, rather less than half of all the electors voted, the constitution being adopted by a majority of one-third of those who did. By this simple, and exquisite republican process, was the principle of the sway of majorities vindicated, a new fundamental law for the colony provided, and all the old incumbents turned out of office. `Silence gives consent,' cried the demagogues, who forgot they had no right to put their questions!

    Religion had a word to say in these changes. The circumstance that the governor was an Episcopalian reconciled many devout Christians to the palpable wrong that was done him; and it was loudly argued that a church government of bishops, was opposed to republicanism, and consequently ought not to be entertained by republicans. This charming argument, which renders religious faith secondary to human institutions, instead of human institutions secondary to religions faith, thus completely putting the cart before the horse, has survived that distant revolution, and is already flourishing in more eastern climes. It is as near an approach to an idolatrous worship of self, as human conceit has recently tolerated.

    As a matter of course, elections followed the adoption of the new constitution. Pennock was chosen governor for two years; the new lawyer was made judge, the editor, secretary of state and treasurer; and other similar changes were effected. All the Woolston connection were completely laid on the shelf. This was not done so much by the electors, with whom they were still popular, as by means of the nominating committees. These nominating committees were expedients devised to place the power in the hands of a few, in a government of the many. The rule of the majority is so very sacred a thing that it is found necessary to regulate it by legerdemain. No good republican ever disputes the principle, while no sagacious one ever submits to it. There are various modes, however, of defeating all `sacred principles,' and this particular `sacred principle' among the rest. The simplest is that of caucus nominations. The process is a singular illustration of the theory of a majority-government. Primary meetings are called, at which no one is ever present, but the wire-pullers and their puppets. Here very fierce conflicts occur between the wire-pullers themselves, and these are frequently decided by votes as close as majorities of one, or two. Making the whole calculation, it follows that nominations are usually made by about a tenth, or even a twentieth of the body of the electors; and this, too, on the supposition that they who vote actually have opinions of their own, as usually they have not, merely wagging their tongues as the wires are pulled. Now, these nominations are conclusive, when made by the ruling party, since there are no concerted means of opposing them. A man must have a flagrantly bad character not to succeed under a regular nomination, or he must be too honest for the body of the electors; one fault being quite as likely to defeat him as the other.

    In this way was a great revolution effected in the colony of the crater. At one time, the governor thought of knocking the whole thing in the head, by the strong arm; as he might have done, and would have been perfectly justified in doing. The Kannakas were now at his command, and, in truth, a majority of the electors were with him; but political jugglery held them in duress. A majority of the electors of the state of New York are, at this moment, opposed to universal suffrage, especially as it is exercised in the town and village governments, but moral cowardice holds them in subjection. Afraid of their own shadows, each politician hesitates to `bell the cat.' What is more, the select aristocrats and monarchists are the least bold in acting frankly, and in saying openly what they think; leaving that office to be discharged, as it ever will be, by the men who—true democrats, and not canting democrats— willing to give the people just as much control as they know how to use, or which circumstances will allow them to use beneficially to themselves, do not hesitate to speak with the candour and manliness of their principles. These men call things by their right names, equally eschewing the absurdity of believing that nature intended rulers to descend from male to male, according to the order of primogeniture, or the still greater nonsense of supposing it necessary to obtain the most thrifty plants from the hotbeds of the people, that they may be transplanted into the beds of state, reeking with the manure of the gutters.

    The governor submitted to the changes, through a love of peace, and ceased to be anything more than a private citizen, when he had so many claims to be first, and when, in fact, he had so long been first. No sovereign on his throne, could write Gratiá Dei before his titles with stricter conformity to truth, than Mark Woolston; but his right did not preserve him from the ruthless plunder of the demagogue. To his surprise, as well as to his grief, Pennock was seduced by ambition, and he assumed the functions of the executive with quite as little visible hesitation, as the heir apparent succeeds to his father's crown.

    It would be untrue to say that Mark did not feel the change; but it is just to add that he felt more concern for the future fate of the colony, than he did for himself or his children. Nor, when he came to reflect on the matter, was he so much surprised that he could be supplanted in this way, under a system in which the sway of the majority was so much lauded, when he did not entertain a doubt that considerably more than half of the colony preferred the old system to the new, and that the same proportion of the people would rather see him in the Colony House, than to see John Pennock in his stead. But Mark—we must call him the governor no longer—had watched the progress of events closely, and began to comprehend them. He had learned the great and all-important political truth, THAT THE MORE A PEOPLE ATTEMPT TO EXTEND THEIR POWER DIRECTLY OVER STATE AFFAIRS, THE LESS THEY, IN FACT, CONTROL THEM, AFTER HAVING ONCE PASSED THE POINT OF NAMING LAWGIVERS AS THEIR REPRESENTATIVES; MERELY BESTOWING ON A FEW ARTFUL MANAGERS THE INFLUENCE THEY VAINLY IMAGINE TO HAVE SECURED TO THEMSELVES. This truth should be written in letters of gold, at every corner of the streets and highways in a republic; for truth it is, and truth, those who press the foremost on another path will the soonest discover it to be. The mass may select their representatives, may know them, and may in a good measure so far sway them, as to keep them to their duties; but when a constituency assumes to enact the part of executive and judiciary, they not only get beyond their depth, but into the mire. What can , what does the best-informed layman, for instance, know of the qualifications of this or that candidate to fill a seat on the bench! He has to take another's judgment for his guide; and a popular appointment of this nature, is merely transferring the nomination from an enlightened, and, what is everything, a RESPONSIBLE authority, to one that is unavoidably at the mercy of second persons for its means of judging, and is as IRRESPONSIBLE AS AIR.

    At one time, Mark Woolston regretted that he had not established an opposition paper, in order to supply an antidote for the bane; but reflection satisfied him it would have been useless. Everything human follows its law, until checked by abuses that create resistance. This is true of the monarch, who misuses power until it becomes tyranny; of the nobles, who combine to restrain the monarch, until the throes of an aristocracy-ridden country proclaim that it has merely changed places with the prince; of the people, who wax fat and kick! Everything human is abused; and it would seem that the only period of tolerable condition is the transition state, when the new force is gathering to a head, and before the storm has time to break. In the mean time, the earth revolves, men are born, live their time, and die; communities are formed and are dissolved; dynasties appear and disappear; good contends with evil, and evil still has its day; the whole, however, advancing slowly but unerringly towards that great consummation, which was designed from the beginning, and which is as certain to arrive in the end, as that the sun sets at night and rises in the morning. The supreme folly of the hour is to imagine that perfection will come before its stated time.

    CHAPTER XV.


    "This is thy lesson, mighty sea!
           Man calls the dimpled earth his own,
    The flowery vale, the golden lea;
           And on the wild gray mountain-stone
    Claims nature's temple for his throne!
           But where thy many voices sing
    Their endless song, the deep, deep tone
           Calls back his spirit's airy wing,
    He shrinks into himself, when God is king!"

    Lunt.

    For some months after the change of government, Mark Woolston was occupied in attending to the arrangement of his affairs, preparatory to an absence of some length. Bridget had expressed a strong wish to visit America once more, and her two eldest children were now of an age when their education had got to be a matter of some solicitude. It was the intention of their father to send them to Pennsylvania for that purpose, when the proper time arrived, and to place them under the care of his friends there, who would gladly take the charge. Recent events probably quickened this intention, both as to feeling and time, for Mark was naturally much mortified at the turn things had taken.

    There was an obvious falling-off in the affairs of the colony from the time it became transcendantly free. In religion, the sects ever had fair-play, or ever since the arrival of the parsons, and that had been running down, from the moment it began to run into excesses and exaggerations. As soon as a man begins to shout in religion, he may be pretty sure that he is "hallooing before he is out of the woods." It is true, that all our feelings exhibit themselves, more or less, in conformity to habits and manners, but there is something profane in the idea that the spirit of God manifests its presence in yells and clamour, even when in possession of those who have not been trained to the more subdued deportment of reason and propriety. The shouting and declamatory parts of religion may be the evil spirits growling and yelling before they are expelled, but these must not be mistaken for the voice of the Ancient of Days.

    The morals decayed as religion obtained its false directions. Self-righteousness, the inseparable companion of the quarrels of sects, took the place of humility, and thus became prevalent that most dangerous condition of the soul of man, when he imagines that he sanctifies what he does; a frame of mind, by the way, that is by no means strange to very many who ought to be conscious of their unworthiness. With the morals of the colony, its prosperity, even in worldly interests, began to lose ground. The merchants, as usual, had behaved badly in the political struggle. The intense selfishness of the caste kept them occupied with the pursuit of gain, at the most critical moments of the struggle, or when their influence might have been of use; and when the mischief was done, and they began to feel its consequences, or, what to them was the same thing, to fancy that the low price of oil in Europe was owing to the change of constitution at the Crater, they started up in convulsed and mercenary efforts to counteract the evil, referring all to money, and not manifesting any particular notions of principles concerning the manner in which it was used. As the cooler heads of the minority—perhaps we ought to say of the majority, for, oddly enough, the minority now actually ruled in Craterdom, by carrying out fully the principle of the sway of the majority—but, as the cooler heads of the colony well understood that nothing material was to follow from such spasmodic and ill-directed efforts, the merchants were not backed in their rising, and, as commonly happens with the slave, the shaking of their chains only bound them so much the tighter.

    At length the Rancocus returned from the voyage on which she had sailed just previously to the change in the constitution, and her owner announced his intention to go in her to America, the next trip, himself. His brothers, Heaton, Anne, their children, and, finally, Captain Betts, Friend Martha, and their issue, all, sooner or later, joined the party; a desire to visit the low shores of the Delaware once more, uniting with the mortification of the recent changes, to induce them all to wish to see the land of their fathers before they died. All the oil in the colony was purchased by Woolston, at rather favourable prices, the last quotations from abroad being low: the ex-governor disposed of most of his movables, in order to effect so large an operation. He also procured a glorious collection of shells, and some other light articles of the sort, filling the ship as full as she could be stowed. It was then that the necessity of having a second vessel became apparent, and Betts determined to withdraw his brig from the fishery, and to go to America in her. The whales had been driven off the original fishing-ground, and the pursuit was no longer as profitable as it had been, three fish having been taken formerly to one now; a circumstance the hierarchy of the Crater did not fail to ascribe to the changes in the constitution, while the journal attributed it to certain aristocratical tendencies which, as that paper averred, had crept into the management of the business.

    The vessels were loaded, the passengers disposing of as many of their movables as they could, and to good advantage, intending to lay in fresh supplies in Philadelphia, and using the funds thus obtained to procure a freight for the brig. At the end of a month, both vessels were ready; the different dwellings were transferred to new occupants, some by lease and others by sales, and all those who contemplated a voyage to America were assembled at the crater. Previously to taking leave of a place that had become endeared to him by so many associations and interests, Mr. Woolston determined to take the Anne, hiring her of the government for that purpose—Governor Pennock condescendingly deciding that the public interests would not suffer by the arrangement—and going in her once more through the colony, on a tour of private, if not of official inspection. Bridget, Heaton, Anne, and Captain Betts, were of the party; the children being left at the crater, in proper custody.

    The first visit was paid to Rancocus Island. Here the damage done by the pirates had long been repaired; and the mills, kilns and other works, were in a state of prosperous industry. The wild hogs and goats were now so numerous as to be a little troublesome, particularly the former; but, a good many being shot, the inhabitants did not despair of successfully contending with them for the possession of the place. There were cattle, also, on this island; but they were still tame, the cows giving milk, and the oxen being used in the yoke. These were the descendants of the single pair Woolston had sent across, less than twelve years before, which had increased in an arithmetical proportion, care having been taken not to destroy any. They now exceeded a hundred, of whom quite half were cows; and the islanders occasionally treated themselves to fresh beef. As cows had been brought into the colony in every vessel that arrived, they were now in tolerably good numbers, Mark Woolston himself disposing of no less than six when he broke up his farming establishment for a visit to America. There were horses, too, though not in as great numbers as there were cows and oxen. Boats were so much used, that roadsters were very little needed; and this so much the less, on account of the great steadiness of the trades. By this time, everybody understood the last; and the different channels of the group were worked through with almost the same facility as would have been the case with so many highways. Nevertheless, horses were to be found in the colony, and some of the husbandmen preferred them to the horned cattle in working their lands.

    A week was passed in visiting the group. Something like a consciousness of having ill-treated Mark was to be traced among the people; and this feeling was manifested under a well-known law of our nature, which rendered those the most vindictive and morose, who had acted the worst. Those who had little more to accuse themselves of than a compliant submission to the wrong-doing of others, in political matters everywhere the most numerous class of all, received their visiters well enough, and in many instances they treated their guests with delicacy and distinction. On the whole, however, the late governor derived but little pleasure from the intercourse, so much mouthing imbecility being blended with the expressions of regret and sympathy, as to cause him to mourn over the compliance of his fellow-creatures, more than to rejoice at their testimony in his own favour.

    But, notwithstanding all these errors of man, nature and time had done their work magnificently since the last "progress" of Woolston among the islands. The channels were in nearly every instance lined with trees, and the husbandry had assumed the aspect of an advanced civilization. Hedges, beautiful in their luxuriance and flowers, divided the fields; and the buildings which contribute to the comforts of a population were to be found on every side. The broad plains of soft mud, by the aid of the sun, the rains, the guano, and the plough, had now been some years converted into meadows and arable lands; and those which still lay remote from the peopled parts of the group, still nine-tenths of its surface, were fast getting the character of rich pastures, where cattle, and horses, and hogs were allowed to roam at pleasure. As the cock crowed from the midst of his attendant party of hens and chickens, the ex-governor in passing would smile sadly, his thoughts reverting to the time when its predecessor raised its shrill notes on the naked rocks of the Reef!

    That Reef itself had undergone more changes than any other spot in the colony, as the Peak had undergone fewer. The town by this time contained more than two hundred buildings, of one sort and another, and the population exceeded five hundred souls. This was a small population for so many tenements: but the children, as yet, did not bear a just proportion to the adults. The crater was the subject of what to Mark Woolston was a most painful lawsuit. From the first, he had claimed that spot as his private property; though he had conceded its use to the public, under a lease, since it was so well adapted, by natural formation, to be a place of refuge when invasions were apprehended. But the crater he had found barren, and had rendered fertile; the crater had even seemed to him to be an especial gift of Providence bestowed on him in his misery; and the crater was his by possession, as well as by other rights, when he received strangers into his association. None of the older inhabitants denied this claim. It is the last comers who are ever the most anxious to dispute ancient rights. As they can possess none of these established privileges themselves, they dislike that others should enjoy them; and association places no restraints on their cupidity. Pennock, once in the hands of "the people," was obliged to maintain their rights, or what some among them chose to call their rights; and he authorized the attorney-general to bring an action of ejectment against the party in possession. Some pretty hard-faced trickery was attempted in the way of legislation, in order to help along the claim of the public; for, if the truth must be said, the public is just as wont to resort to such unworthy means to effect its purposes as private individuals, when it is deemed necessary. But there was little fear of the "people's" failing; they made the law, and they administered it, through their agents; the power being now so completely in their hands that it required twice the usual stock of human virtue to be able to say them nay, as had formerly been the case. God help the man whose rights are to be maintained against the masses, when the immediate and dependent nominees of those masses are to sit in judgment! If the public, by any inadvertency, have had the weakness to select servants that are superior to human infirmities, and who prefer to do right rather than to do as their masters would have them, it is a weakness that experience will be sure to correct, and which will not be often repeated.

    The trial of this cause kept the Woolstons at the crater a week longer than they would have remained. When the cause was submitted to the jury, Mr. Attorney-General had a great deal to say about aristocracy and privileged orders, as well as about the sacred rights of the people. To hear him, one might have imagined that the Woolstons were princes, in the full possession of their hereditary states, and who were dangerous to the liberties of the mass, instead of being what they really were, citizens without one right more than the meanest man in the colony, and with even fewer chances of maintaining their share of these common rights, in consequence of the prejudice, and jealousy, and most of all, the envy, of the majority. Woolston argued his own cause, making a clear, forcible and manly appeal to the justice and good sense of the jury, in vindication of his claims; which, on every legal as well as equitable principle, was out of all question such as every civilized community should have maintained. But the great and most powerful foe of justice, in cases of this sort, is SLANG; and SLANG in this instance came very near being too much for law. The jury were divided, ten going for the `people,' and two for the right; one of the last being Bigelow, who was a fearless, independent fellow, and cared no more for the bug-bear called the `people,' by the slang-whangers of politics, than he did for the Emperor of Japan.

    The day after this fruitless trial, which left Mark's claim in abeyance until the next court, a period of six months, the intended travellers repaired on board ship, and the brig, with her party, went to sea, under her owner, captain Betts, who had provided himself with a good navigator in the person of his mate. The Rancocus, however, crossed over to the Peak, and the passengers all ascended to the plain, to take leave of that earthly paradise. Nature had done so much for this place, that it had been the settled policy of Mark Woolston to suffer its native charms to be marred as little as possible. But the Peak had ever been deemed a sort of West-End of the Colony; and, though the distribution of it had been made very fairly, those who parted with their shares receiving very ample compensations for them, a certain distinction became attached to the residence on the Peak. Some fancied it was on account of its climate; some, because it was a mountain, and was more raised up in the world than the low islands near it; some, because it had most edible birds, and the best figs; but none of those who now coveted residences there for their families, or the name of residences there, would allow even to themselves, what was the simple fact, that the place received it highest distinction on account of the more distinguished individuals who dwelt on it. At first, the name was given to several settlements in the group, just as the Manhattanese have their East and West Broadway; and, just for the very same reasons that have made them so rich in Broadways, they will have ere long, first-fifth, second-fifth, and third-fifth avenue, unless common sense begins to resume its almost forgotten sway among the aldermen. But this demonstration in the way of names, did not satisfy the minor-majorrity, after they got into the ascendant; and a law was passed authorizing a new survey, and a new subdivision of the public lands on the Peak, among the citizens of the colony. On some pretence of justice, that is not very easily to be understood, those who had property there already were not to have shares in the new lottery; a lottery, by the way, in which the prizes were about twice as large as those which had originally been distributed among the colonists.

    But, Mark and Bridget endeavoured to forget everything unpleasant in this visit to their much-loved home. They regarded the place as a boon from Providence, that demanded all their gratitude, in spite of the abuses of which it was the subject; and never did it seem to them more exquisitely beautiful, perhaps it never had been more perfectly lovely, than it appeared the hour they left it. Mark remembered it as he found it, a paradise in the midst of the waters, wanting only in man to erect the last great altar in his heart, in honour of its divine creator. As yet, its beauties had not been much marred; though the new irruption menaced them with serious injuries.

    Mr. and Mrs. Woolston took leave of their friends, and tore themselves away from the charming scenery of the Peak, with heavy hearts. The Rancocus was waiting for them, under the lee of the island, and everybody was soon on board her. The sails were filled, and the ship passed out from among the islands, by steering south, and hauling up between the Peak and the volcano. The latter now seemed to be totally extinct. No more smoke arose from it, or had indeed risen from it, for a twelvemonth. It was an island, and in time it might become habitable, like the others near it.

    Off Cape Horn the Rancocus spoke the Dragon; Captain Betts and his passengers being all well. The two vessels saw no more of each other until the ship was coming out of the Bay of Rio, as the brig was going in. Notwithstanding this advantage, and the general superiority of the sailing of the Rancocus, such was the nature of the winds that the last encountered, that when she passed Cape May lights the brig was actually in the bay, and ahead of her; This circumstance, however, afforded pleasure rather than anything else, and the two vessels landed their passengers on the wharves of Philadelphia within an hour of each other.

    Great was the commotion in the little town of Bristol at the return of all the Woolstons, who had gone off, no one knew exactly whither; some saying to New Holland; others to China; and a few even to Japan. The excitement extended across the river to the little city of Burlington, and there was danger of the whole history of the colony's getting into the newspapers. The colonists, however, were still discreet, and in a week something else occurred to draw the attention of the multitude, and the unexpected visit was soon regarded like any other visit.

    Glad enough, notwithstanding, were the near relatives of Bridget and Anne, in particular, to see those two fine young women again. Neither appeared much more than a twelvemonth older than when she went away. This was owing to the delicious, yet not enervating climate, in which both had lived. They were mothers, and a little more matronly in appearance, but none the less lovely; their children, like themselves, were objects of great interest, in their respective families, and happy indeed were the households which received them. It in no degree lessened the satisfaction of any of the parties, that the travellers had all returned much better off in their circumstances than when they went away. Even the two younger Woolstons were now comfortable, and early announced an intention not to return to the islands. As for the ex-governor, he might be said to be rich; but his heart was still in the colony, over the weaknesses of which his spirit yearned, as the indulgent parent feels for the failings of a backsliding child. Nevertheless, Bridget was persuaded to remain with her father a twelvemonth longer than her husband, for the health of the old gentleman had become infirm, and he could not bear to part with his only child so soon again, after she had once been restored to his arms. It was, therefore, decided, that Mr. Mark Woolston should fill the Rancocus with such articles as were deemed the most useful to the colony, and go back in that vessel, leaving his wife and children at Bristol, with the understanding he would return and seek them the succeeding summer. A similar arrangement was made for the wife and children of Captain Betts, Friend Martha Betts being much in the practice of regulating her conduct by that of Friend Bridget Woolston. Betts sold his brig, and consented to go in the Rancocus as a passenger, having no scruples, now he had become comparatively wealthy, about eating with his old shipmate, and otherwise associating with him, though it was always as a sort of humble companion.

    The Heatons determined to remain in America, for a time at least. Mr. Heaton felt the ingratitude of the colonists even more keenly than his brother-in-law; for he knew how much had been done for them, and how completely they had forgotten it all. Anne regretted the Peak, and its delicious climate; but her heart was mainly concentred in her family, and she could not be otherwise than happy, while permitted to dwell with her husband and children.

    When the Rancocus sailed, therefore, she had no one on board her but Mark Woolston and Betts, with the exception of her proper crew. Her cargo was of no great intrinsic value, though it consisted in articles much used, and consequently in great demand, in the colony. As the vessel had lain some months at Philadelphia, where she had been thoroughly repaired and new-coppered, she sailed well, and made an excellent run to Rio, nor was her passage bad as far as the straits of La Maire. Here she encountered westerly gales, and the Cape may be said to have been doubled in a tempest. After beating about for six weeks in that stormy ocean, the ship finally got into the Pacific, and went into Valparaiso. Here Mark Woolston received very favourable offers for most of his cargo, but, still feeling desirous to serve his colony, he refused them all, setting sail for the islands as soon as he had made a few repairs, and had a little refreshed his crew.

    The passages between Valparaiso and the Crater had usually consumed about five weeks, though somewhat dependent on the state of the trades. On this occasion the run was rather long, it having been attempted to find a new course. Formerly, the vessels had fallen in with the Crater, between Betto's group and the Reef, which was bringing them somewhat to leeward, and Mr. Woolston now thought he would try a more southern route, and see if he could not make the Peak, which would not only bring him to windward, but which place was certainly giving him a more striking object to fall in with than the lower islands of the group.

    It was on the morning of one of the most brilliant days of those seas, that Captain Saunders met the ex-governor on the quarter-deck, as the latter appeared there for the first time since quitting his berth, and announced that he had just sent look-outs aloft to have a search for the land. By his reckoning they must be within twelve leagues of the Peak, and he was rather surprised that it was not yet visible from the deck. Make it they must very shortly; for he was quite certain of his latitude, and did not believe that he could be much out of the way, as respected his longitude. The cross-trees were next hailed, and the inquiry was made if the Peak could not be seen ahead. The answer was, that no land was in sight, in any part of the ocean!

    For several hours the ship ran down before the wind, and the same extraordinary vacancy existed on the waters! At length an island was seen, and the news was sent down on deck. Towards that island the ship steered, and about two in the afternoon, she came up close under its lee, and backed her topsail. This island was a stranger to all on board! The navigators were confident they must be within a few leagues of the Peak, as well as of the volcano; yet nothing could be seen of either, while here was an unknown island in their places! This strange land was of very small dimensions, rising out of the sea about three hundred feet. Its extent was no great matter, half a mile in diameter perhaps, and its form nearly circular. A boat was lowered, and a party pulled towards it.

    As Mr. Woolston approached this as yet strange spot, something in its outlines recurred to his memory. The boat moved a little further north, and he beheld a solitary tree. Then a cry escaped him, and the whole of the terrible truth flashed on his mind. He beheld the summit of the Peak, and the solitary tree was that which he had himself preserved as a signal. The remainder of his paradise had sunk beneath the ocean!

    On landing, and examining more minutely, this awful catastrophe was fully confirmed. No part of Vulcan's Peak remained above water but its rocky summit, and its venerable deposit of guano. All the rest was submerged; and when soundings were made, the plain, that spot which had almost as much of Heaven as of earth about it, according to the unenlightened minds of its inhabitants, was found to be nearly a hundred fathoms deep in the ocean!

    It is scarcely possible to describe the sickening awe which came over the party, when they had assured themselves of the fatal facts by further observation. Everything, however, went to confirm the existence of the dire catastrophe. These internal fires had wrought a new convulsion, and the labours and hopes of years had vanished in a moment. The crust of the earth had again been broken; and this time it was to destroy, instead of to create. The lead gave fearful confirmation of the nature of the disaster, the soundings answering accurately to the known formation of the land in the neighbourhood of the Peak. But, in the Peak itself, it was not possible to be mistaken: there it was in its familiar outline, just as it had stood in its more elevated position, when it crowned its charming mountain, and overlooked the whole of that enchanting plain which had so lately stretched beneath. It might be said to resemble, in this respect, that sublime rock, which is recognised as a part of the "everlasting hills," in Cole's series of noble landscapes that is called "the March of Empire;" ever the same amid the changes of time, and civilization, and decay, there it was the apex of the Peak; naked, storm-beaten, and familiar to the eye, though surrounded no longer by the many delightful objects which had once been seen in its neighbourhood.

    Saddened, and chastened in spirit, by these proofs of what had befallen the colony, the party returned to the ship. That night they remained near the little islet; next day they edged away in the direction of the place where the volcano had formerly risen up out of the waves. After running the proper distance, the ship was hove-to, and her people sounded; two hundred fathoms of line were out, but no bottom was found. Then the Rancocus bore up for the island which had borne her own name. The spot was ascertained, but the mountain had also sunk into the ocean. In one place, soundings were had in ten fathoms water, and here the vessel was anchored. Next day, when the ship was again got under way, the anchor brought up with it, a portion of the skeleton of a goat. It had doubtless fallen upon the remains of such an animal, and hooking it with its flukes thus unexpectedly brought once more to the light of day, the remains of a creature that may have been on the very summit of the island, when the earthquake in which it was swallowed, occurred.

    The Rancocus next shaped her course in the direction of the group. Soundings were struck near the western roads, and it was easy enough to carry the vessel towards what had formerly been the centre of those pleasant isles. The lead was kept going, and a good look-out was had for shoals; for, by this time, Mr. Woolston was satisfied that the greatest changes had occurred at the southward, as in the former convulsion, the group having sunk but a trifle compared with the Peak; nevertheless, every person, as well as thing, would seem to have been engulfed. Towards evening, however, as the ship was feeling her way to windward with great caution, and when the ex-governor believed himself to be at no great distance from the centre of the group, the look-outs proclaimed shoal-water, and even small breakers, about half a mile on their larboard beam. The vessel was hove-to, and a boat went to examine the place, Woolston and his friend Betts going in her.

    The shoal was made by the summit of the crater; breakers appearing in one or two places where the hill had been highest. The boat met with no difficulty, however, in passing over the spot, merely avoiding the white water. When the lead was dropped into the centre of the crater, it took out just twenty fathoms of line. That distance, then, below the surface of the sea, had the crater, and its town, and its people sunk! If any object had floated, as many must have done, it had long before drifted off in the currents of the ocean, leaving no traces behind to mark a place that had so lately been tenanted by human beings. The Rancocus anchored in twenty-three fathoms, it being thought she lay nearly over the Colony House, and for eight-and-forty hours the exploration was continued. The sites of many a familiar spot were ascertained, but nothing could be found on which even a spar might be anchored, to buoy out a lost community.

    At the end of the time mentioned, the ship bore up for Betto's group. There young Ooroony was found, peacefully ruling as of old. Nothing was known of the fate of the colonists, though surprise had been felt at not receiving any visits from their vessels. The intercourse had not been great of late, and most of the Kannakas had come away. Soon after the Woolstons had left, the especial friends of humanity, and the almost exclusive lovers of the "people" having begun to oppress them by exacting more work than was usual, and forgetting to pay for it. These men could say but little about the condition of the colony beyond this fact. Not only they, but all in the group, however, could render some account of the awful earthquake of the last season, which, by their descriptions, greatly exceeded in violence anything formerly known in those regions. It was in that earthquake, doubtless, that the colony of the crater perished to a man.

    Leaving handsome and useful presents with his friend, young Ooroony, and putting ashore two or three Kannakas who were in the vessel, Woolston now sailed for Valparaiso. Here he disposed of his cargo to great advantage, and purchased copper in pigs at almost as great. With this new cargo he reached Philadelphia, after an absence of rather more than nine months.

    Of the colony of the crater and its fortunes, little was ever said among its survivors. It came into existence in a manner that was most extraordinary, and went out of it in one that was awful. Mark and Bridget, however, pondered deeply on these things; the influence of which coloured and chastened their future lives. The husband often went over, in his mind, all the events connected with his knowledge of the Reef. He would thus recall his shipwreck and desolate condition when suffered first to reach the rocks; the manner in which he was the instrument in causing vegetation to spring up in the barren places; the earthquake, and the upheaving of the islands from out of the waters; the arrival of his wife and other friends; the commencement and progress of the colony; its blessings, so long as it pursued the right, and its curses, when it began to pursue the wrong; his departure, leaving it still a settlement surrounded with a sort of earthly paradise, and his return, to find all buried beneath the ocean. Of such is the world and its much-coveted advantages. For a time our efforts seem to create, and to adorn, and to perfect, until we forget our origin and destination, substituting self for that divine hand which alone can unite the elements of worlds as they float in gasses, equally from His mysterious laboratory, and scatter them again into thin air when the works of His hand cease to find favour in His view.

    Let those who would substitute the voice of the created for that of the Creator, who shout "the people, the people," instead of hymning the praises of their God, who vainly imagine that the masses are sufficient for all things, remember their insignificance and tremble. They are but mites amid millions of other mites, that the goodness of providence has produced for its own wise ends; their boasted countries, with their vaunted climates and productions, have temporary possessions of but small portions of a globe that floats, a point, in space, following the course pointed out by an invisible finger, and which will one day be suddenly struck out of its orbit, as it was originally put there, by the hand that made it. Let that dread Being, then, be never made to act a second part in human affairs, or the rebellious vanity of our race imagine that either numbers, or capacity, or success, or power in arms, is aught more than a short-lived gift of His beneficence, to be resumed when His purposes are accomplished.

    THE END.