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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
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 selfi sh 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 identity of existence more perfect than those
with which the American wife clings to her husband. She is
literally «bone of his bone, and fl esh of his fl esh». 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 home-duties, that the imputation to which
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
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 fi rst
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 fi gs, melons, limes, shaddocks, and even cocoa-nuts,
all were now to be had, and in quantities quite suffi cient 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 mere luscious and temporary of
the bountiful products of horticulture, the peach (in its perfection) occupies a place altogether apart, having no rival in
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THE CRATER; OR, VULCAN’S PEAK: A TALE OF THE PACIFIC
its exquisite fl avour, 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 fi nd his proper dominions, after a run of four hundred
miles; for a very trifl ing 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 suffi cient as it was,
and there was very little probability that the colony would
meet with any further diffi culty 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
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
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, fi dgeting. «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 twoand-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 satisfi ed. What is more,
Bill, your wife does not come empty-handed, having a great
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THE CRATER; OR, VULCAN’S PEAK: A TALE OF THE PACIFIC
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 satisfi ed
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 affi nity to the governor, whose substitute he then was,
435
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
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 confi ned 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
artifi cial 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 magnifi cence 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 XXII
«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
refl ected, 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 fi nd
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
437
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
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 fi t; 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
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THE CRATER; OR, VULCAN’S PEAK: A TALE OF THE PACIFIC
theories to which every attendant fact gives the lie, but the ascertaining, as near as human infi rmity 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 fi rst to make this great discovery; 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 satisfi ed 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 fi rst 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 defi ance,
had such a person existed. But there was no rival; not a being
present desiring to see another in his place.
The fi rst 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 offi ce, and of its dignity, of the respect due to authority, and of the men who wielded
it, 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 gover-
439
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
nor», 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 fi rst act of Abraham Woolston, on being sworn
into offi ce, 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: –
Males, 147 Male Adults, 113 Male Children, 34 Male Married 101 Females, 158 Female Adults, 121 Female Children,
37 Female Married, 101 Widowers 1 Widows, 4 Seamen, 38
Mechanics, 26 Physician, 1 Student in Medicine, 1 Lawyer, 1
Clergyman, 1 Population, 305
Here, then, was a community composed already of three
hundred and fi ve 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 offi ces for life. This last provision was
made to prevent the worst part, and the most corrupting in-
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