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The Crater by James Fenimore Cooper

J >> James Fenimore Cooper >> The Crater




The weather still continued clouded and menacing. Betts was of opinion,
therefore, that it might be well to stow the provisions and water they
intended to use in the pinnace, while she was on the stocks, as they
could work round her so much the more easily then than afterwards.
Accordingly, the breakers were got out, on board the ship, and filled
with fresh water. They were then stuck into the raft. A barrel of beef,
and one of pork followed, with a quantity of bread. At two trips the
raft carried all the provisions and stores that were wanted, and the
cargoes were landed, rolled up to the side of the pinnace, hoisted on
board of her, by means of the throat-halliard, and properly stowed. Two
grapnels, or rather one grapnel, and a small kedge, were found among the
pinnace's materials, everything belonging to her having been stowed in
the same part of the ship. These, too, were carried round to the
ship-yard, got on board, and their hawsers bent. In a word, every
preparation was made that might be necessary to make sail on the
pinnace, and to proceed to sea in her, at once.

It was rather late in the afternoon of the third clouded day, that Betts
himself admitted no more could be done to the Neshamony, previously to
putting her into the water When our two mariners ceased the business of
the day, therefore, it was with the understanding that they would turn
out early in the morning, wedge up, and launch. An hour of daylight
remaining, Mark went up to the Summit to select a few melons, and to
take a look at the state of the plantations and gardens. Before
ascending the hill, the young man walked through his garden in the
crater, where everything was flourishing and doing well. Many of the
vegetables were by this time fit to eat, and there was every prospect of
there being a sufficient quantity raised to meet the wants of two or
three persons for a long period ahead. The sight of these fruits of his
toil, and the luxuriance of the different plants, caused a momentary
feeling of regret in Mark at the thought of being about to quit the
place for ever. He even fancied he should have a certain pleasure in
returning to the Reef; and once a faint outline of a plan came over his
mind, in which he fancied that he might bring Bridget to this place, and
pass the rest of his life with her, in the midst of its peace and
tranquillity. This was but a passing thought, however, and was soon
forgotten in the pictures that crowded on his mind, in connection with
the great anticipated event of the next day.

While strolling about the little walks of his garden, the appearance of
verdure along the edge of the crater, or immediately beneath the cliff,
caught Mark's eye. Going hastily to the spot, he found that there was a
long row of plants of a new sort, not only appearing above the ground,
but already in leaf, and rising several inches in height. These were the
results of the seeds of the oranges, lemons, limes, shaddocks, figs, and
other fruits of the tropics, that he had planted there as an experiment,
and forgotten. While his mind was occupied with other things, these
seeds had sent forth their shoots, and the several trees were growing
with the rapidity and luxuriance that distinguish vegetation within the
tropics. As Mark's imagination pictured what might be the effects of
cultivation and care on that singular spot, a sigh of regret mingled
with his hopes for the future, as he recollected he was so soon to
abandon the place for ever; while on the Summit, too, this feeling of
regret was increased, rather than diminished. So much of the grass-seed
had taken, and the roots had already so far extended, that acres were
beginning to look verdant and smiling. Two or three months had brought
everything forward prodigiously, and the frequency of the rains in
showers, added to the genial warmth of the sun, gave to vegetation a
quickness and force that surprised, as much as it delighted our young
man.

That night Mark and Betts both slept in the ship. They had a fancy it
might be the last in which they could ever have any chance of doing so,
and attachment to the vessel induced both to return to their old berths;
for latterly they had slept in hammocks, swung beneath the ship-yard
awning, in order to be near their work. Mark was awoke at a very early
hour, by the howling of a gale among the rigging and spars of the
Rancocus, sounds that he had not heard for many a day, and which, at
first, were actually pleasant to his ears. Throwing on his clothes, and
going out on the quarter-deck, he found that a tempest was upon them.
The storm far exceeded anything that he had ever before witnessed in the
Pacific. The ocean was violently agitated, and the rollers came in over
the reef, to windward, with a force and majesty that seemed to disregard
the presence of the rocks. It was just light, and Mark called Bob, in
alarm. The aspect of things was really serious, and, at first, our
mariners had great apprehensions for the safety of the ship. It was
true, the sea-wall resisted every shock of the rollers that reached it,
but even the billows after they were broken by this obstacle, came down
upon the vessel with a violence that brought a powerful strain on every
rope-yarn in the sheet-cable. Fortunately, the ground-tackle, on which
the safety of the vessel depended, was of the very best quality, and the
anchor was known to have an excellent hold. Then, the preservation of
the ship was no longer a motive of the first consideration with them;
that of the pinnace being the thing now most to be regarded. It might
grieve them both to see the Rancocus thrown upon the rocks, and broken
up; but of far greater account was it to their future prospects that the
Neshamony should not be injured. Nor were the signs of the danger that
menaced the boat to be disregarded. The water of the ocean appeared to
be piling in among these reefs, the rocks of which resisted its passage
to leeward, and already was washing up on the surface of the Reef, in
places, threatening them with a general inundation. It was necessary to
look after the security of various articles that were scattered about on
the outer plain, and our mariners went ashore to do so.

Although intending so soon to abandon the Reef altogether, a sense of
caution induced Mark to take everything he could within the crater. All
the lower portions of the outer plain were already covered with water,
and those sagacious creatures, the hogs, showed by their snuffing and
disturbed manner of running about, that they had internal as well as
external warnings of danger. Mark pulled aside the curtain, and let all
the animals into the crater. Poor Kitty was delighted to get on the
Summit, whither she soon found her way, by ascending the steps commonly
used by her masters. Fortunately for the plants, the grass was in too
great abundance, and too grateful to her, not to be her choice in
preference to any other food. As for the pigs, they got at work in a
pile of sea-weed, and overlooked the garden, which was at some distance,
until fairly glutted, and ready to lie down.

In the meanwhile the tempest increased in violence, the sea continued to
pile among the rocks, and the water actually covered the whole of the
outer plain of the Reef Now it was that Mark comprehended how the base
of the crater had been worn by water, the waves washing past it with
tremendous violence. There was actually a strong current running over
the whole of the reef, without the crater; the water rushing to leeward,
as if glad to get past the obstacle of the island on any terms, in order
to hasten away before the tempest. Mark was fully half an hour engaged
in looking to his marquee and its contents, all of which were exposed,
more or less, to the power of the gale. After securing his books,
furniture, &c., and seeing that the stays of the marquee itself were
likely to hold out, he cast an eye to the ship, which was on that side
of the island, also. The staunch old 'Cocus, as Bob called her, was
rising and falling with the waves that now disturbed her usually placid
basin; but, as yet, her cable and anchor held her, and no harm was done.
Fortunately, our mariners, when they unbent the sails, had sent down all
the upper and lighter spars, and had lowered the fore and main yards on
the gunwale, measures of precaution that greatly lessened the strain on
her ground-tackle. The top-gallant-masts had also been lowered, and the
vessel was what seamen usually term 'snug.' Mark would have been very,
very sorry to see her lost, even though he did expect to have very
little more use out of her; for he loved the craft from habit.

After taking this look at the ship, our mate passed round the Summit,
having two or three tumbles on his way in consequence of puffs of wind,
until he reached the point over the gate-way, which was that nearest to
the ship-yard. It now occurred to him that possibly it might become
necessary to look a little to the security of the Neshamony, for by this
time the water on the reef was two or three feet deep. To his surprise,
on looking round for Bob, whom he thought to be at work securing
property near the gateway, he ascertained that the honest fellow had
waded down to the ship-yard, and clambered on board the pinnace, with a
view to take care of her. The distance between the point where Mark now
stood and the Neshamony exceeded half a mile, and communication with the
voice would have been next to impossible, had the wind not blown as it
did. With the roaring of the seas, and the howling of the gale, it was
of course entirely out of the question. Mark, however, could see his
friend, and see that he was gesticulating, in the most earnest manner,
for himself to join him. Then it was he first perceived that the pinnace
was in motion, seeming to move on her ways. Presently the blockings were
washed from under her, and the boat went astern half her length at a
single surge. Mark made a bound down the hill, intending to throw
himself into the racing surf, and to swim off to the aid of Betts; but,
pausing an instant to choose a spot at which to get down the steep, he
looked towards the ship-yard, and saw the pinnace lifted on a sea, and
washed fairly clear of the land!




Chapter IX.



"Man's rich with little, were his judgments true;
Nature is frugal, and her wants are few;
These few wants answered bring sincere delights,
But fools create themselves new appetites."

Young.


It would have been madness in Mark to pursue his intention. A boat, or
craft of any sort, once adrift in such a gale, could not have been
overtaken by even one of those islanders who are known to pass half
their lives in the water; and the young man sunk down on the rock,
almost gasping for breath in the intensity of his distress. He felt more
for Bob than he did for himself, for escape with life appeared to him to
be a forlorn hope for his friend. Nevertheless, the sturdy old sea-dog
who was cast adrift, amid the raging of the elements, comported himself
in a way to do credit to his training. There was nothing like despair in
his manner of proceeding; but so coolly and intelligently did he set
about taking care of his craft, that Mark soon found himself a curious
and interested observer of all he did, feeling quite as much of
admiration for Bob's steadiness and skill, as concern for his danger.

Betts knew too well the uselessness of throwing over his kedge to
attempt anchoring. Nor was it safe to keep the boat in the trough of the
sea, his wisest course being to run before the gale until he was clear
of the rocks, when he might endeavour to lie-to, if his craft would bear
it. In driving off the Reef the Neshamony had gone stern foremost,
almost as a matter of course, vessels usually being laid down with their
bows towards the land. No sooner did the honest old salt find he was
fairly adrift, therefore, than he jumped into the stern-sheets and put
the helm down. With stern-way on her, this caused the bows of the craft
to fall off; and, as she came broadside to the gale, Mark thought she
would fall over, also. Some idea could be formed of the power of the
wind, in the fact that this sloop-rigged craft, without a rag of sail
set, and with scarce any hamper aloft, no sooner caught the currents of
air abeam, than she lay down to it, as one commonly sees such craft do
under their canvas in stiff breezes.

It was a proof that the Neshamony was well modelled, that she began to
draw ahead as soon as the wind took her fairly on her broadside, when
Betts shifted the helm, and the pinnace fell slowly off. When she had
got nearly before the wind, she came up and rolled to-windward like a
ship, and Mark scarce breathed as he saw her plunging down upon the
reefs, like a frantic steed that knows not whither he is rushing in his
terror. From the elevated position he occupied, Mark could see the ocean
as far as the spray, which filled the atmosphere, would allow of
anything being seen at all. Places which were usually white with the
foam of breakers, could not now be distinguished from any of the raging
cauldron around them, and it was evident that Bob must run at hazard.
Twenty times did Mark expect to see the pinnace disappear in the foaming
waves, as it drove furiously onward; but, in each instance, the light
and buoyant boat came up from cavities where our young man fancied it
must be dashed to pieces, scudding away to leeward like the sea-fowl
that makes its flight with wings nearly dipping. Mark now began to hope
that his friend might pass over the many reefs that lay in his track,
and gain the open water to leeward. The rise in the ocean favoured such
an expectation, and no doubt was the reason why the Neshamony was not
dashed to pieces within the first five minutes after she was washed off
her ways. Once to leeward of the vast shoals that surrounded the crater,
there was the probability of Bob's finding smoother water, and the
chance of his riding out the tempest by bringing his little sloop up
head to sea. The water through which the boat was then running was more
like a cauldron, bubbling and boiling under some intense heat produced
by subterranean fires, than the regular, rolling billows of the ocean
when piled up by gales. Under the lee of the shoals this cauldron would
disappear, while the mountain waves of the open ocean could not rise
until a certain distance from the shallow water enabled them to 'get
up,' as sailors express it. Mark saw the Neshamony for about a quarter
of an hour after she was adrift, though long before the expiration of
even that brief period she was invisible for many moments at a time, in
consequence of the distance, her want of sail, her lowness in the water,
and the troubled state of the element through which she was driving. The
last look he got of her was at an instant when the spray was filling the
atmosphere like a passing cloud; when it had driven away, the boat could
no longer be seen!

Here was a sudden and a most unexpected change for the worse in the
situation of Mark Woolston! Not only had he lost the means of getting
off the island, but he had lost his friend and companion. It was true,
Bob was a rough and an uncultivated associate; but he was honest as
human frailty could leave a human being, true as steel in his
attachments, strong in body, and of great professional skill. So great,
indeed, was the last, that our young man was not without the hope he
would be able to keep under the lee of the shoals until the gale broke,
and then beat up through them, and still come to his rescue. There was
one point, in particular, on which Mark felt unusual concern. Bob knew
nothing whatever of navigation. It was impossible to teach him anything
on that subject. He knew the points of the compass, but had no notion of
the variations, of latitude or longitude, or of anything belonging to
the purely mathematical part of the business. Twenty times had he asked
Mark to give him the latitude and longitude of the crater; twenty times
had he been told what they were, and just as often had he forgotten
them. When questioned by his young friend, twenty-four hours after a
lesson of this sort, if he remembered the figures at all, he was apt to
give the latitude for the longitude, or the longitude for the latitude,
the degrees for the minutes, or the minutes for the degrees. Ordinarily,
however, he forgot all about the numbers themselves. Mark had in vain
endeavoured to impress on his mind the single fact that any number which
exceeded ninety must necessarily refer to longitude, and not to
latitude; for Bob could not be made to remember even this simple
distinction. He was just as likely to believe the Reef lay in the
hundred and twentieth degree of latitude, as he was to fancy it lay in
the twentieth. With such a head, therefore, it was but little to be
expected Bob could give the information to others necessary to find the
reef, even in the almost hopeless event of his ever being placed in
circumstances to do so. Still, while so completely ignorant of
mathematics and arithmetic, in all their details, few mariners could
find their way better than Bob Betts by the simple signs of the ocean.
He understood the compass perfectly, the variations excepted; and his
eye was as true as that of the most experienced artist could be, when it
became necessary to judge of the colour of the water. On many occasions
had Mark known him intimate that the ship was in a current, and had a
weatherly or a lee set, when the fact had escaped not only the officers,
but the manufacturers of the charts. He judged by ripples, and sea-weed,
and the other familiar signs of the seas, and these seldom failed him.
While, therefore, there was not a seaman living less likely to find the
Reef again, when driven off from its vicinity, by means of observations
and the charts, there was not a seaman living more likely to find it, by
resorting to the other helps of the navigator. On this last peculiarity
Mark hung all his hopes of seeing his friend again, when the gale should
abate.

Since the moment when all the charge of the ship fell upon his
shoulders, by the loss of Captain Crutchely, Mark had never felt so
desolate, as when he lost sight of Bob and the Neshamony. Then, indeed,
did he truly feel himself to be alone, with none between him and his God
with whom to commune. It is not surprising, therefore, that one so much
disposed to cherish his intercourse with the Divine Spirit, knelt on the
naked rock and prayed. After this act of duty and devotion, the young
man arose, and endeavoured to turn his attention to the state of things
around him.

The gale still continued with unabated fury. Each instant the water rose
higher and higher on the Reef, until it began to enter within the
crater, by means of the gutters that had been worn in the lava, covering
two or three acres of the lower part of its plain. As for the Rancocus,
though occasionally pitching more heavily than our young man could have
believed possible behind the sea-wall, her anchor still held, and no
harm had yet come to her. Finding it impossible to do any more, Mark
descended into the crater, where it was a perfect lull, though the wind
fairly howled on every side, and got into one of the South American
hammocks, of which there had been two or three in the ship, and of which
he had caused one to be suspended beneath the sort of tent he and poor
Bob had erected near the garden. Here Mark remained all the rest of that
day, and during the whole of the succeeding night. But for what he had
himself previously seen, the roar of the ocean on the other side of his
rocky shelter, and the scuffling of the winds about the Summit, he might
not have been made conscious of the violence of the tempest that was
raging so near him. Once and awhile, however, a puff of air would pass
over him; but, on the whole, he was little affected by the storm, until
near morning, when it rained violently. Fortunately, Mark had taken the
precaution to give a low ridge to all his awnings and tent-coverings,
which turned the water perfectly. When, therefore, he heard the
pattering of the drops on the canvas, he did not rise, but remained in
his hammock until the day returned. Previously to that moment, however,
he dropped into a deep sleep, in which he lay several hours.

When consciousness returned to Mark, he lay half a minute trying to
recall the past. Then he listened for the sounds of the tempest. All was
still without, and, rising, he found that the sun was shining, and that
a perfect calm reigned in the outer world. Water was lying in spots, in
holes on the surface of the crater, where the pigs were drinking and the
ducks bathing. Kitty stood in sight, on the topmost knoll of the Summit,
cropping the young sweet grass that had so lately been refreshed by
rain, disliking it none the less, probably, from the circumstance that a
few particles of salt were to be found among it, the deposit of the
spray. The garden looked smiling, the plants refreshed, and nothing as
yet touched in it, by the visitors who had necessarily been introduced.

Our young man washed himself in one of the pools, and then crossed the
plain to drive out the pigs and poultry, the necessity of husbanding his
stores pressing even pain fully on his mind. As he approached the
gate-way, he saw that the sea had retired; and, certain that the animals
would take care of themselves, he drove them through the hole, and
dropped the sail before it. Then he sought one of the ascents, and was
soon on the top of the hill. The trades had returned, but scarce blew in
zephyrs; the sea was calm; the points in the reefs were easily to be
seen; the ship was at rest and seemingly uninjured, and the whole view
was one of the sweetest tranquillity and security. Already had the pent
and piled waters diffused themselves, leaving the Reef as before, with
the exception that those cavities which contained rain-water, during
most of the year, now contained that which was not quite so palatable.
This was a great temporary inconvenience, though the heavy showers of
the past night had done a good deal towards sweetening the face of the
rock, and had reduced most of the pools to a liquid that was brackish
rather than salt. A great many fish lay scattered about, on the island,
and Mark hastened down to examine their qualities.

The pigs and poultry were already at work on the game that was so
liberally thrown in their way, and Mark felt indebted to these
scavengers for aiding him in what he perceived was now a task
indispensable to his comfort. After going to the ship, and breaking his
fast, he returned to the crater, obtained a wheelbarrow, and set to work
in earnest to collect the fish, which a very few hours' exposure to the
sun of that climate would render so offensive as to make the island next
to intolerable. Never in his life did our young friend work harder than
he did all that morning. Each load of fish, as it was-wheeled into the
crater, was thrown into a trench already prepared for that purpose, and
the ashes were hauled over it, by means of the hoe. Feeling the
necessity of occupation to lessen his sorrow, as well as that of getting
rid of pestilence, which he seriously apprehended from this inroad of
animal substances, Mark toiled two whole days at this work, until fairly
driven from it by the intolerable effluvium which arose, notwithstanding
all he had done, on every side of the island. It is impossible to say
what would have been consequences had not the birds come, in thousands,
to his relief. They made quick work of it, clearing off the fish in
numbers that would be nearly incredible. As it was, however, our young
hermit was driven into the ship, where-he passed a whole week, the
steadiness of the trades driving the disagreeable odours to leeward. At
the end of that time he ventured ashore, where he found it possible to
remain, though the Reef did not get purified for more than a month.
Finding a great many fish still remaining that neither hog nor bird
would touch, Mark made a couple of voyages to Loam Island, whence he
brought two cargoes of the deposit, and landed at the usual place. This
he wheeled about the Reef, throwing two or three-shovels full on each
offensive creature, thus getting rid of the effluvium and preparing a
considerable store of excellent manure for his future husbandry. It may
be as well said here, that, at odd times, he threw these little deposits
into large heaps, and subsequently wheeled them into the crater, where
they were mixed with the principal pile of compost that had now been,
for months, collecting there.

It is a proof of the waywardness of human nature that we bear great
misfortunes better than small ones. So it proved with Mark, on this
occasion; for, much as he really regarded Bob, and serious as was the
loss of his friend to himself, the effects of the inundation occupied
his thoughts, and disturbed him more, just at that time, than the
disappearance of the Neshamony. Nevertheless, our young man had not
forgotten to look out for the missing boat, in readiness to hail its
return with joy. He passed much of the week he was shut up in the ship
in her topmast-cross-trees, vainly examining the sea to leeward, in the
hope of catching a distant view of the pinnace endeavouring to bear up
through the reefs. Several times he actually fancied he saw her; but it
always turned out to be the wing of some gull, or the cap of a distant
breaker. It was when Mark had come ashore again, and commenced the toil
of covering the decayed fish, and of gathering them into piles, that
these smaller matters supplanted the deep griefs of his solitude.