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The Crater by James Fenimore Cooper

J >> James Fenimore Cooper >> The Crater




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. Henton 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. Sea sand 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 fruit-bearing 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
thins 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 dumbfounded 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 rep_tyles_ 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 XVIII.



"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 cannonades 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 mercy!" 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 afternoon
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!