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Файл:The Crater; or, Vulcan’s Peak A Tale of the Pacific
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THE CRATER; OR, VULCAN’S PEAK: A TALE OF THE PACIFIC
was intended to measure about eighty tons. A craft of that size
would be of the greatest service to them, as it would enable
the colonists to visit any part of the Pacifi c they pleased, and
obtain such supplies as they might fi nd necessary. Nor was
this all; by mounting on her two of the carronades, she would
effectually give them the command of their own seas, so far
as the natives were concerned at least. Mark had some books
on the draughting of vessels, and Bigelow had once before
laid down a brig of more than a hundred tons in dimensions.
Then the stores, rigging, copper, &c., of the ship, could never
be turned to better account than in the construction of another vessel, and it was believed she could furnish materials
enough for two or three such craft. Out of compliment to his
old owner, Mark named this schooner in embryo, the ‘Friend
Abraham White,’ though she was commonly known afterwards as the ‘Abraham.’
The cutting of the frame of the intended schooner was
a thing easy enough, with expert American axemen, and with
that glorious implement of civilization, the American axe. But
it was not quite so easy to get the timber down to the cove.
The keel, in particular, gave a good deal of trouble. Heaton
had brought along with him both cart and wagon wheels,
and without that it is questionable if the stick could have
been moved by any force then at the command of the colony. By suspending it in chains beneath the axles, however, it
was found possible to draw it, though several of the women
had to lend their aid in moving the mass. When at the head of
the Stairs, the timber was lowered on the rock, and was slid
downwards, with occasional lifts by the crowbar and hand-
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
spike. When it reached the water it was found to be much
too heavy to fl oat, and it was by no means an easy matter to
buoy it up in such a way that it might be towed. The Anne was
three times as long making her passage with this keel in tow,
as she was without it. It was done, however, and the laying of
the keel was effected with some little ceremony, in the presence of nearly every soul belonging to the colony.
The getting out and raising of the frame of the ‘Friend
Abraham White’ took six weeks. Great importance was attached to success in this matter, and everybody assisted in
the work with right good will. At one time it was doubted if
stuff enough could be found in the ship to plank her up with,
and it was thought it might become necessary to break up
the Rancocus, in order to complete the job. To Bridgets great
joy, however, the good old Rancocus – so they called her,
though she was even then only eight years old – the good
old Rancocus’ time had not yet come, and she was able to
live in her cabin for some months longer. Enough planks were
found by using those of the ‘twixt decks, a part of which were
not bolted down at all to accomplish all that was wanted.
Heaton was a man of singular tastes, which led him to as
remarkable acquirements. Among other accomplishments,
he was a very good general mechanician, having an idea of
the manner in which most of the ordinary machinery
ought to be, not only used, but fabricated. At the point where
the rivulet descended the cliff into the sea, he discovered
as noble a mill-seat as the heart of man could desire to possess. To have such a mill-seat at command, and not to use it,
would, of itself, have made him unhappy, and he could not be
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THE CRATER; OR, VULCAN’S PEAK: A TALE OF THE PACIFIC
easy until he and Peters, who had also a great taste and some
skill in that sort of thing, were hard at work building a sawmill. The saw had been brought from America, as a thing very
likely to be wanted, and three months after these, two ingenious men had commenced their work, the saw was going,
cutting teak, as well as a species of excellent yellow pine that
was found in considerable quantities, and of very respectable
size, along the cliffs in the immediate vicinity of the mill.
The great diffi culty to be overcome in that undertaking, was
the transportation of the timber. By cutting the trees most
favourably situated fi rst, logs were got into the pond without
much labour; but after they were in planks, or boards, or joists,
they were quite seven miles horn the head of the Stairs, in
the vicinity of which it was, on several accounts, the most desirable to dwell. Had the Abraham been kept on the stocks,
until the necessary timber was brought from the mill, across
the plain of Eden, she would have been well seasoned before
launching; but, fortunately, that was not necessary – materials suffi cient for her were got on board the ship, as mentioned, with some small additions of inch boards that were
cut to fi nish her joiners’ work.
Months passed, as a matter of course, while the schooner
and the mill were in the course of construction. The work
on the fi rst was frequently intermitted, by little voyages in
the other craft, and by labour necessary to be done in preparing dwellings on the Peak, to meet the rainy season, which
was now again near at hand. Past experience had told Mark
that the winter months in his islands, if winter a season could
be termed, during which most of the trees, all the grasses, and
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
many of the fruits continued to grow and ripen as in summer,
were not very formidable. It is true it then rained nearly every
day, but it was very far from raining all day. Most of the rain, in
fact, fell at night, commencing a little after the turn in the day,
and terminating about midnight. Still it must be very unpleasant to pass such a season beneath canvass, and, about
six weeks ere the wet time commenced, everybody turned to,
with a will, to erect, proper framed houses. Now that the mill
was sawing, this was no great task, the pine working beautifully and easily into almost every article required.
Heaton laid out his house with some attention to taste,
and more to comfort. It was of one story, but fully a hundred
feet in length, and of half that in depth. Being a common
American dwelling that was clap-boarded, it was soon put up
and enclosed, the climate requiring very little attention to
warmth. There were windows, and even glass, a small quantity of that article having been brought along by the colonists.
The fl oors were beautiful, and extremely well laid down; nor
were the doors, window-shutters, &c., neglected. The whole,
moreover, was painted, the stores of the ship still furnishing
the necessary materials. But there was neither chimney nor
plastering, for Heaton had neither bricks nor lime. Bricks he
insisted he could and would make, and did, though in no great
number; but lime, for some time, baffl ed his ingenuity. At last,
Socrates suggested the burning of oyster-shells, and by dint of
fi shing a good deal, among the channels of the reef, a noble
oyster-bed was found, and the boats brought in enough of
the shells to furnish as much lime as would put up a chim-
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THE CRATER; OR, VULCAN’S PEAK: A TALE OF THE PACIFIC
ney for the kitchen; one apartment for that sort of work being
made, as yet, to suffi ce for the wants of all who dwelt in Eden.
These various occupations and interests consumed many
months, and carried the new-comers through the fi rst wet
season which they encountered as a colony. As everybody
was busy, plenty reigned, and the climate being so very delicious as to produce a sense of enjoyment in the very fact of
existence, everybody but Peters was happy. He, poor fellow,
mourned much for his Peggy, as he called the pretty young
heathen wife he had left behind him in Waally’s country.
CHAPTER XVI
«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 fi shing 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 fi rst 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 fi ne 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 fl ow, on the Reef
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THE CRATER; OR, VULCAN’S PEAK: A TALE OF THE PACIFIC
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 if 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 infl uence of security,
abundance, and a most seductive climate.
As time rolled on, in the fi rst 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 diffi culty, 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
Wally’s group in quest of his lost companion. Mark knew
317
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
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 was
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 her 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
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THE CRATER; OR, VULCAN’S PEAK: A TALE OF THE PACIFIC
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 fi fteen 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 lit-
319
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
tle 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 satisfi ed 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 fi rst,
this was taken as an indication of hostilities, but, on getting
a second look, our mariners were satisfi ed 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.
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