The Crater; Or, Vulcan's Peak Part 22

"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 to G.o.d 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 cuc.u.mbers, 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 G.o.d."

"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 isn'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 isn'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 isn'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 cla.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 inst.i.tution 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 subst.i.tute 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 cla.s.s 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 ent.i.tled 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 pa.s.sengers 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 pa.s.sengers, 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 anch.o.r.ed 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 acc.u.mulation of materials, princ.i.p.ally ashes and scoriae, 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 circ.u.mference. 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 a.s.sume 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 pa.s.sing 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 anch.o.r.ed 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 quant.i.ties 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 quant.i.ties 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 particularly 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, pa.s.sing the last two months of their lives amid the delightful groves of the Peak. Here they had acorns in abundance, though their princ.i.p.al 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, princ.i.p.ally on account of the whalers. One, and the largest of these isolated settlements, was in the Whaling Bight, quite near to Blubber Islano, 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 oils 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 at 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 s.p.a.ce 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.