[figure description] Page 134.[end figure description]

Whoever has read the delightful romance of
Robinson Crusoe, can more readily imagine the
thoughts, and occupations, and pursuits of this
young and solitary pair, a kind of Adam and Eve,
in these charming solitudes. What was so delightfully
imagined in that book, was here carried into
practical operation. Innumerable arrangements
for comfort and convenience were dictated by their
daily wants. To get home every thing of value
from the boxes, was the work of three or four days.
This was deemed an employment of more importance,
than even the journey over the mountains for
fire. The dead cast on the shore, he felt to be a
solemn, though a painful duty, to sink in the water.
The clothes, necessary for his own apparel, and for
hers, hard necessity compelled him to lay by for
emergency and for future use. Much, which the
habits of his fair companion would have required
in another society, and another order of things—
such as laces, splendid dresses, and female ornaments—
was found in the larger box, and delivered

[figure description] Page 135.[end figure description]

over to her. It was a painful privation, when their
bread-fruit entirely failed. Its delicious flavour and
nutritive qualities, rendered it pleasant to the one,
and almost necessary to the other. Actual necessity
is a powerful teacher. To her this breakfast
of uncooked oysters, and spoiled and pulverized
bread, was hard and unsavoury fare. But, though
her countenance evinced that she felt the unpleasantness
of the necessity, this food would sustain
life. After a few trials, it even became a matter
of jesting between them, which should partake of
this unpalatable bread with the least repugnance;
the young man, always accustomed to plain and
humble fare, or the spoiled beauty, used to all the
luxuries and indulgences of wealth. But the more
gaily she sustained these privations, the more anxious
was he to obtain fire, and with it light for the
evening in the grotto, and the means of using animal
food. A thousand comforts could be had from
that source, which could come from no other. Of
course the journey over the mountains, with a view
to obtain the volcanic fire, was a project set for the
experiment of an early day.

Prior, however, in order of importance even to
that project, he deemed the necessity of examining
the hulk of the Australasia, which, when he left
the tent where he found and saved his companion,
was still remaining wedged in between the rocks.
To swim through the breakers to the wreck, the
only means of arriving there, was an arduous task,
and not without danger. There were, probably, a

[figure description] Page 136.[end figure description]

mass of bodies of the drowned; and he thought it
not unlikely, that of the father of his companion.
But there were a thousand things, which he hoped
to obtain, of prime and indispensible importance
to his comfort and security. Then, he expected he
might obtain guns and gunpowder, and the means
of furnishing that fire, which was so much sought,
and so necessary to their comfort and sustenance.

But his fair companion soon taught him, that
we may change our climate and our sky, and experience
the most complete reverses, and be placed
in the most humiliating positions, without changing
the mind, the habits, and dispositions. For a few
of the first days of their residence together, the
beauties of the scenery, the novelty of their situation,
and the variety of their occupations filled her
desires, and rendered her cheerful and happy. She
accompanied him on his necessary excursions,
chatted cheerfully of the past, related all that she
had seen in the gay circles in which she had formerly
acted so important a part, and evidently
manifested chagrin, that her companion could relate
her no corresponding narratives of interest in kind.
The grandeur of the scenery soon palled upon her
eye. She wearied of their unsavoury food, and
repined most of all at the Egyptian darkness of
their nights. Night had long been to her the scene
of show, splendour, and all the artificial excitement
of the high circles in which she had mixed. The
enjoyment had passed, but the craving of habit
remained. Though enjoined to leave her part of

[figure description] Page 137.[end figure description]

the grotto, immediately upon the departure of the
sun, she apparently felt not sufficiently thankful,
that he was punctual to his part of the contract, to
the very letter. She explained to him, not without
blushing and tears, that she could not endure the
hopeless and silent gloom of the long evenings, and
that she saw no reason of decorum or duty, that forbade
their passing the hours, until the time of their
retirement, together. When he gaily remarked, that
this was an evil of easy and certain remedy, she
seemed to suffer, on the other hand, from the apprehension,
that he would consider this complaint
the result of rudeness, or undue condescension.

As the day after this conversation was assigned
for the projeet of going on board the wreck, and
as she had questioned him on the subject, until he
had confessed, that he considered the effort not
without hazard; with the authority of her former
days, she positively forbade the attempt, and told
him, that she would cheerfully accompany him on
his expedition up the mountain for fire. To this he
objected the extreme fatigue, and the difficulty
which she would experience, in clambering up such
steep and dangerous precipices, as composed the
ascent of those precipitous elevations. In reply
to this she objected to his frequent and long absences,
under the name and pretence of business,
declaring, that any conceivable danger and toil
were preferable to the heart-wearing dreariness of
her condition, when left alone. The conversation
ended in chiding complaints and tears. She

[figure description] Page 138.[end figure description]

requested him, in marked vexation—although the customary
hour of his retirement had not come—to
leave her division of the grotto.

The next morning he determined to make the
experiment of a visit to the hulk of the ship. Accordingly,
having left her breakfast in readiness,
he departed by early dawn for the western cove.
He judged the rocks, on which the wreck was cast,
to be three hundred paces from the shore. He left
his coat and hat on the shore, bound his head with
a handkerchief, and committed himself fearlessly to
the water. It was a calm morning, and the sea
was as a mirror. He found no difficulty in reaching
the wreck. He clambered up the rocks, upon
which it was raised many feet above the level of
the calm sea, and entered it with shuddering. The
hulk of the ship was almost entire. After it had
capsized, as has been related, appearances were,
that it drifted on the mountainous sea to these
rocks, near which it must have been, when that
event took place. It must have been borne on the
mountain-billows between the two rocks, which held
it fast. The storm subsided soon afterwards, and
left it raised high above the ordinary level of the
sea. When the surface of the sea became calm,
the water drained from the ship, leaving it perfectly
dry. It seemed to have been washed a second time
by the spray on the night of the thunder storm,
which has been described. A few bodies only were
found in the hulk. The cattle and sheep, he remembered,
had been cast adrift at the

[figure description] Page 139.[end figure description]

commencement of the storm. Most of the people, that had
not taken to the boats, appeared to have perished
in the surf, in attempting to reach the shore. The
spectacle, as it was, affected him with sickness and
horror. Every thing, that had not been washed
away by the waves, remained, as it had been left.
There was every thing on board, that he could
have desired,—furniture, beds, clothing; articles of
show and luxury for the opulent colonists, among
which articles were the whole of the very expensive
preparations of Mr. Wellman, for a residence in
New Holland. There was merchandize for the
merchants at Port Jackson; and there were implements
of every sort, for commencing forming establishments,
which he valued highest of all. Most
of these articles were packed in water-proof enclosures.
The hulk had so soon parted with its water,
through the fissures, made when the ship struck on
the rocks, that none of the articles were much damaged
by the sea.

The first reflection was an obvious one. How
valueless was all this wealth and luxury to those
unfortunates, whose bodies were stretched before
him! How invaluable would they be to him, if he
were destined to spend his days on the island! The
unpleasant reflection immediately followed, that
the hulk was distant five miles from his grotto—
that between it and the shore was a surf, in times of
the slightest commotion of the sea, impassable—
and even were the articles all landed, it would be
the work of a year, to convey such of them as he

[figure description] Page 140.[end figure description]

needed, by hand to his grotto. Another unpleasant
reflection, naturally associated with this, and it was,
that the first severe storm would probably carry
away the hulk, and bury all these invaluable treasures
in the deep.

His first duty was, to commit all the bodies to
the waves. His next, to imagine some expedient,
by which he could convey to the shore two or three
muskets, a quantity of gun powder, flints and steels,
and all the necessary apparatus for kindling, and
renewing fire. To construct a skiff, would be a
work of time. To remain on board over night,
would be to inflict the most cruel apprehensions
upon the companion of his solitude. A raft, large,
strong and convenient, such as he could manage
with a sail, and of materials to live upon the water
by their own buoyancy, this was his first and most
obvious thought. No time was to be lost. He
was strong, active, and expert in the use of tools.
There was every thing at hand, requisite for the
construction which he meditated. He let down by
levers four spare spars, spiked them strongly together,
and overlaid them with plank. This was
accomplished by noon. A number of muskets, a
small but complete assortment of farmer's tools, a
set of carpenter's implements, two boxes of clothing,
cloths, and articles of luxury, intended for his companion;
a box of books and stationary, a barrel of
gunpowder, and two or three barrels of the ship's
stores, let down on to the platform by a tackle, formed
the first load. A thousand things were suggested

[figure description] Page 141.[end figure description]

to his memory, as necessary or useful. But he
reflected, that the more he loaded his raft, the
deeper it would sink, and the more unmanageable
it would become, and the less probability there
would be of his reaching the eastern cove, distant
five miles, by the light of the sun. The whole was
ready by two in the afternoon. He erected a sail
in the centre, and prepared a sweep, in the form of
a rudder, behind; took advantage of a whispering
western breeze; looked up to the sky for success;
unloosed the fast, by which his raft was connected
to the hulk; and sped away before the wind. He
was at once assured, that his rudder commanded
the direction of his frail craft; but to him, whose
anxiety for her whom he had left behind, caused
him to wish for the wings of the wind, the progress
was vexatiously slow. He was well aware,
too, that the slightest storm would instantly shake
his raft in sunder. It may be supposed, therefore,
that he watched the clouds with trembling apprehension,
and that an hour seemed to him, in the
measure of time, as a day. Providence had destined
him a safe arrival. The sun, indeed, was
behind the western mountains, just as he neared the
two projecting cliffs, between which was the cove.
The wind and the current were both in his favour.
He happily calculated the medial distance, and
entered safely; and in a few minutes, with a heart
palpitating with joy and triumph, completed his
hazardous experiment, by laying his raft beside the
shore. To fasten his raft, and to place all his

[figure description] Page 142.[end figure description]

treasures on the shore, were but labours of a moment.
Such was his impatience to reach the grotto, that,
fatigued as he was, by such great exertions through
the day, he sprang away with only implements for
kindling fire, and food of the ship's stores, together
with coffee and sugar, to prepare a supper of such
a comparatively sumptuous kind, as his new resources
allowed; and with quick step, he eagerly
pressed on with his load for the grotto.

The dusk of twilight, enabled him to discover
his companion standing on the terrace. “Courage,”
he cried, “my sister. I have brought you fire,
food, comforts, light for your evenings, and books
for your solitude.” It was with difficulty, that he
laboured up the steps with his heavy load. She
held out her hand to him, and said, “I suppose I
must welcome you, though you have manifested
the cruelty to leave me unwarned, and with only
grounds to suppose, that you had found means to
escape from the island, and leave me to perish
alone.” As she said this, the resentment which she
seemed to have striven to keep up, in aid of pride
and firmness, failed her, and she burst into an
agony of tears.

This, it is true, was a damping reception after
an absence of so much hazard, and an adventure
of such complete success. He felt, that he had
been in fault, for allowing a momentary resentment
of the preceding evening to sway him to
venture on this absence, without forewarning her
of his purpose. He confessed his fault, and asked

[figure description] Page 143.[end figure description]

her pardon, assuring her at the same time, that one
inducement to attempt the adventure without forewarning
her, was, that she had absolutely forbidden
it; and that he was reluctant to enter on a project,
however indispensable, which she not only disavowed,
but forbade. “But I have accomplished
it,” said he, “and with the most complete success.
Hence forward,” he continued, “my sister, if you
will allow your humble friend to use that affectionate
title, you can have all the comforts of
civilization. You can concentrate your thoughts
in reading and study, and have every thing but
society. The Almighty is my witness, that you
shall never be reminded by me, that you are not
skreened by the sanctity of a mother's protection.
All I ask of you is, to trust me. I have convinced
myself, that your father is not among those who
perished. When the boats were taken in the last
extremity, the shore was near. It is possible, it is
even probable, that your father may be on this
island. Or, more probably, they landed here,
waited until the storm abated, and then departed in
the long boat for New Holland, which cannot be
far distant. Courage, then, my fair and unhappy
sister. I have been reared both modestly and religiously.
You shall find me a chevalier Bayard,
without reproach at least, if not without fear. All
I desire, is your entire confidence. That I can
hope to win only by time; and I will so conduct,
with such scrupulous regard to honour and duty,
that I will compel you to grant me that in the end.”

[figure description] Page 144.[end figure description]

To this speech, if such it may be called, the first
he had made, and which was now extorted from
him in the joy of his success in the hazardous adventure
of the day, she replied by drawing herself
up, and assuming the indignant air of a proud and
injured belle. “This is fine, Mr. Steward,” said
she, “very fine. You have been among the Houri
to-day, I should suppose, and possibly you have
made free with nectar on ship board. I have no
fears on the score, to which you have with so much
gallantry, alluded. I have already given you full
credit, either for honour or insensibility. But, I
put it to your humanity, sir, to inform me, how,
with all your capacity for making such a speech
as you have just done me the honour of addressing
to me, and proffering such a show of exceeding
sentimentality, I ask, how you could reconcile it to
your humanity, to go off this morning, without
giving me notice of your intended purpose? What,
think you, must have been the colour of my
thoughts, through this long day? I do not doubt,
sir, that you carry courage to the point of rashness.
You are the first person, whom I have ever known
before, uniting courage with cruelty. You found
me, you will say, and saved my life. I grant you
so. But a thousand times would I rather have
perished with you on your raft, than have been left
in this great and splendid sepulchre, to die a long
and living death. I have only one more remark,
sir. If you mean to leave me alone again, unwarned,
kill me, sir, before you depart. I can but

[figure description] Page 145.[end figure description]

add the homely, but strong adage, `poor company
is better than none.' ”

He could not fail to remark, amidst this apparent
irony, anger, and seeming grief and resentment,
that kind feelings, forgiveness, and even triumph
and joy, were in her countenance. Such language,
too, it must be admitted, came with a better grace
from a young and beautiful woman, in the conscious
charms of loveliness of form and countenance,
and graceful indignation, and in the grief and helplessness
of her peculiar condition, than it would
have had in different circumstances. He received it
with apparent complacence; and gaily replied, that
he would hope that happier hours would bring
happier dispositions, and that he was exhausted
with fatigue and hunger, and must prepare supper
for himself. He hoped, however, that she would
manifest her magnanimity and forgiveness, by
sharing it with him.

So saying, he descended, and soon returned
with fuel, which he placed in his hearth. Next
candles and candlesticks were produced. The fire
flickered and blazed brightly on the hearth. Candles
were lighted, and placed in both divisions of
the grotto. The gorgeousness and splendour of
these grand basaltic apartments, when thus brilliantly
illuminated, creating in a moment an enchanted
palace, may be imagined, but cannot be
described. The brilliance, the inspiring cheerfulness,
the imposing effect of the spectacle, was irresistible.
It reminded her of the fetes of London.

[figure description] Page 146.[end figure description]

Nothing but the society and the music were wanting.
The revulsion, the transition, in inspiring
joy and cheerfulness, banished gloom, and chagrin,
and ill-feeling, if any remained. She held out her
hand. “You have behaved badly, my brother,”
she said; “but I must forgive you, in consequence
of the benefits you have procured us. Promise me
only that you will never undertake another enterprise
without forewarning me, and allowing me to
share it with you, if I choose, and I will immediately
show you that I am not altogether a useless
being in existence. I am not much used, you must
suppose, to the duties of the kitchen; but I will be
your housekeeper. You shall see how comfortably
I will arrange every thing that belongs to the interior
of your establishment. Indeed,” she added,
looking up to the lofty vaulted summit of the grotto,
which was kindled with all the colours of the bow,
“we want nothing but two or three fine young
ladies and gentlemen to have a party.”

Rejoiced to see her more cheerful than he had
yet seen her, and glad to remark the departure of
gloom and resentment from her countenance, he
admonished her, that provisions and coffee might
be prepared, and that it was only necessary to
bring the requisite vessels from the shore. They
descended together to the shore. The necessary
vessels were selected and carried to the grotto. He
was amused and delighted with the grace and
promptness with which, for the first time probably
in her life, she put herself to the duties of the kitchen.

[figure description] Page 147.[end figure description]

It was cause for mutual jest and mirth between
them, to compare their comparative cleverness in
this new occupation to both.

But cheerfulness and mutual emulation were
successful. The coffee was parched and ground.
Pickled tongues and fresh oysters were produced.
Sweet and undamaged bread and butter were found
among the stores. Claret and water were at hand.
They were seated at a table, which would have
been comfortable under any circumstances; and it
needed little effect of imagination and contrast to
render it delicious here. He remarked, that he
had now the means of taking and domesticating
whatsoever animals or birds they should choose,
either for use or beauty; and that with a musquet,
and with hooks and lines, there could be henceforward
no want of food. She added, in a tone of
cheerful sincerity, that it would now be delightful
to explore the charming country about them for
the delicious bread-fruit. She concluded by saying,
that all she required, in reference to future visits to
the wreck was, that she might be allowed to accompany
him on the raft. This, she remarked, would
hinder him from attempting the voyage when the
weather was not safe; or, if danger occurred, would
expose them, as she earnestly desired it might be,
to perish together. Assured on this point, they
conversed long and cheerfully together, on a thousand
points of discussion, as interesting and pleasant
to them as they would be useless and tedious
in the detail to any but them.

[figure description] Page 148.[end figure description]

A couple of days ensued, in which the wind was
adverse to sailing the raft to the wreck, and in these
days they made excursions in the beautiful solitudes
that surrounded the grotto. Nature every where
speaks one language to the young, innocent, and
happy. She forgot her pride in the midst of these
flowering lawns, and gave up her heart to the joy
of health, and the beauty of nature and the animal
creation about her. It was evident, indeed, that
the pride which had been fostered by long habits
of luxury and indulgence, was only humbled, not
crushed nor subdued. It was evident, that amidst
these solitudes, feelings and thoughts natural in the
regions where they were inspired, but preposterous
here, arose every moment in her bosom. But,
during these days, in the first indulgence of comfortable
food, books, and the cheerfulness of fire,
and lighted apartments in the long tropical evenings,
she was all animation, gaiety, kindness, and
good will. She tripped by his side, with the fresh
vivacity, and in the splendour of beauty of the gay
birds that flitted about her. She gathered the flowers,
and admired their novelty, hues, and fragrance. She
never tired, in watching the beauty of the skipping
animals, that frolicked in their view. She admired
the verdure and prodigious foliage of the grand
palms. Every new tree, bush, or flowering shrub,
was an object either of curiosity or pleasure. Her
eye kindle with the genuine poetic fire, in view of
the black mountains, pouring their columns of volcanic
smoke from their cloud-enveloped summits,

[figure description] Page 149.[end figure description]

in spiral columns. The lovely lake, which they
visited, drew from her again exclamations of delight;
and she remarked, that its shores must be
the home of dryads and nymphs. While she was
thus happy, nature took the form and colouring of
her own thoughts and feelings; and every thing
was seen invested with the hues of the rainbow, and
showed as good and fair as she felt joyful.

It was not the least of his trials, to be thus placed
in relation to a woman so lovely, so graceful, so
highly educated, so capable of all that interests
the susceptible heart, or fills the youthful eye. The
peculiar duties of a relation, so without parallel,
was neither misunderstood or forgotten for a moment.
But to observe those duties scrupulously,
in thought, in word, in look, in action, and never
for an instant to overlook them, was not rendered
less difficult or trying, by remarking, what even
humility itself could not overlook, that consideration,
deference, and almost attentive kindness,
marked her deportment towards him, during the
happy rambles of these two days. The groves of
Eden, before sin had saddened them, were scarcely
more fresh. The seftness of the air, and the aspect
of the delightful scenery, were inspiring. The
young solitary felt, that these delicious hours might
end in disappointment. On the second day, they
had wandered so far, that she complained of fatigue,
and expressed a desire to repose in the shade. It
appeared that they were nearly opposite the chief
volcanic crater; for prodigious masses of smoke,

[figure description] Page 150.[end figure description]

like the burst from a whole park of artillery, fired
at once, arose from the summit. From the shade
where they sat, they mutually admired the magnificence
and sublimity of the prospect that was spread
before them, which commanded extensive portions
of the lawn upon either hand, fine views of the
peaks of the mountains, and a boundless prospect
of the broad sea, in some points of view rippling
in blue, and in others purpled with the richness of
the radiance of the declining sun. Here they reposed,
in silent admiration, for half an hour. They
then resumed their way home. In approaching it,
by a new route, they walked near the margin of
one of those prodigious basins, known by the name
“sink holes.” It appeared to include an extent of
a couple of acres, was as regular in its concavity
as a basin, with a depth, perhaps, of eighty feet.
At the bottom, as generally happens in these singular
cavities, gurgled a spring, which was encircled
with palmettos, and the tropical shrubs that delight
in a wet soil. His companion admired it
from above, and fancied that she discerned bread-fruit.
He instantly scrambled down its steep declivity,
and to his unspeakable satisfaction, discovered
not only one, but a cluster of bread-fruit
trees, loaded with fruit, and in a situation so peculiar
and secluded, or looking so suspicious to the
birds that prey on it, that not a fruit seemed to
have been touched. The supply was ample, and it
was situated but a moderate distance from the grotto.

As he came up with his hands loaded, and gave

[figure description] Page 151.[end figure description]

her the fruit, and related the chances of an easy
and constant supply, it seemed a circumstance of
peculiar gratification to her, that she had made the
discovery, and had proved that she was not wholly
useless, and that she sometimes brought good fortune.
Feeding upon this fruit had raised her from
her sickness. Her fondness for it, was probably
increased by association. “My dear brother,”
said she, “this is fortunate indeed. You know not
how much I admire this delicious fruit. What a
delightful abode would this island be, if my father
were only here!” This naturally led him to renewed
assurances of the means that he should now
possess, to build a boat that might carry them from
the island, and that he purposed to make that one
of his earliest efforts, in which he would either succeed,
or perish.

They returned, refreshed and delighted, to the
grotto. The cheerful fire blazed. The coffee was
prepared, and she seemed to manifest no offence,
when he compared her bustling round, in preparing
the arrangements for supper, to Eucharis in the cave
of Calypso. After this supper, prepared by themselves,
and for themselves, and which circumstances
rendered so exhilarating, a long and interesting conversation
ensued. The full and unrestrained disclosure
of the powers of her mind, showed it to be
of great vigour, compass, and richness; with dispositions
naturally good and amiable, and a heart
formed to admire, and practise excellence; but
spoiled by mismanagement, pride, and indulgence.

[figure description] Page 152.[end figure description]

This she confessed, and lamented with great frankness.
She entered into the history of her past life,
and ran through the names, as of a muster-roll, of
those who had composed the splendid circles, where
she had so recently shone preeminent. The want
of keeping of such remembrances, with all that now
belonged to her condition, struck her in its proper
light. At the same time, she confessed, that she
constantly resisted the inclination to converse
about these gone by scenes. She lamented the influence
of the views and habits of her former career;
admitted that she had been reared without energy,
or capacity for any useful pursuit or employment;
and that she had been trained only to dazzle others,
and gratify her own pride and vanity. She continued,
“in a healthy, and virtuous, and educated
woman of your own condition, and your own
country, you would have, Oh! what a treasure!
What have you,” she added, blushing deeply,
“what have you in me? A proud, spoiled, useless,
vain, capricious, and flattered thing, once called a
beauty. But, indeed,” she continued, “I will attempt
to reform. I will remember, that I am here
in the furnace. Aid me, my dear brother; for in
whatever condition you have been born, I well understand,
that you are both wiser and better than
myself; aid me, that I may come forth, as gold.”
To suppose, that after such a conversation, held
under such circumstances, he would not reply in a
manner somewhat corresponding, would be to suppose
him more or less than man. Indeed, he was

[figure description] Page 153.[end figure description]

proceeding in a strain, which reason and conscience,
and his rules, so rigidly prescribed by and for himself,
interdicted. He felt his danger and came to a
firm pause.

While they were engaged in this conversation,
which he felt ought not to be continued, they were interrupted
by the alarming and terrible phenomenon
of a volcanic eruption. The craters, as has been
remarked, were on the other side of the mountains;
and they could see the volume of ignited and
flaming lava, projected with the inconceivable
omnipotence of that Power, that we absurdly denominate
nature, into the higher regions. Feeble
efforts to paint the awfulness and sublimity of this
scene by words, would be thrown away. The
island rocked to its centre. Vivid lightning, followed
by tremendous peals of thunder, darted from
the dark crimson column of ascending lava. The
island, and the illimitable extent of the surrounding
sea, and the dark bosom of night received a lurid
and portentous crimson colouring, from the immense
mass of flaming matter, thrown up by this
incalculable force. The crimson column produced
an awful shadowing in the sea, as the scorching
volume rolled into its depths, the effect of which,
no pencil or words could reach. They both fled
to the open area in front of the grotto; and she,
with the paleness of death in her countenance, held
fast to his arm. In a few minutes the eruption
ceased; but the hollow roar of the ocean, continued
to evince, that the action of these central fires

[figure description] Page 154.[end figure description]

deeply agitated its heaving bosom. It was not
until the eruption had ceased for half an hour, that
she became assured, that the final catastrophe of
nature had not come.

The solemn train of thoughts, that ensued on
their return to the grotto, naturally introduced a
conversation upon the subject of religion. Her
heart was manifestly softened and penitent. It was
deep and affecting on both sides. Each expressed
the hope, that the peculiar discipline, trials, and
burdens, which Providence had imposed on them,
might prove salutary; and that, isolated, and
lonely, as they were, they might hold communion
with God, and endure all that was before them, as
they ought. The Bible was produced, from which
he read the beautiful hundred and fourth psalm;
and from the Episcopal service, which was that in
which she had been reared, he read a prayer and a
collect, suitable to the occasion. She joined her
sweet voice to his in an evening hymn; and whenever
the day terminated happily, and in good and
cheerful feelings on her part, this was his invariable
custom, before he retired to rest. The night passed
without any renewal of the terrific phenomena of
renewed eruption, though she shrieked at midnight
from ideal terrors in a dream, that the eruption was
renewed. Her cries instantly brought him to her
side. She became calm and assured, as she realized,
that she had only been dreaming.

In the morning, the wind was fair to sail again
to the wreck. Much that was there, would be

[figure description] Page 155.[end figure description]

essential to their mutual comfort on the island. To
save the planks, the iron, the cordage, the tools
and implements, would be necessary for the construction
of the boat, which he contemplated. The
beds were important for their mutual necessities.
The cloth would be required for a thousand uses,
that time would develope. A dispute ensued,
managed on her part not without bitterness. She
insisted, that they had already all that was necessary
for comfort and subsistence; that life, as it
was, had too many enjoyments to put at hazard,
on such a dangerous voyage; that if he had had
the fortune to perform it once in safety, there was
no sure ground to calculate thence, that it would
always be so, and that at any rate, existence there
alone, would be absolutely insupportable; and she
concluded by insisting upon sharing the voyage, if
he persisted in attempting it. When the question
bade fair to become too animated, at least on one
part, it was finally terminated by his postponing
the attempt, until he had built a skiff of the planks
already brought to land. He thought it scarcely
probable, that so sudden a gale could arise, as that
he might not be able to detach a skiff from the raft,
and row safely through the little distance that interposed
between the course of the raft and the
shore.

The next morning, then, saw him on the shore,
employed as a ship carpenter, and her under a contiguous
shade, with her paper and writing materials
spread before her, on a plank, which he had

[figure description] Page 156.[end figure description]

prepared as a table. She occupied herself in reading,
or writing, or embroidering; and he was earnestly
and intently engaged in building a firm and safe
skiff. On the third day the skiff was completed.
The wind was still favourable; and, according to
the compact, they both took passage together in
the skiff, attached to the raft, which moved slowly
out of the little cove, and was soon speeding to the
wreck before the breeze. They reached it in safety.
It was of course a melancholy spectacle to her to
revisit the scene of her misfortunes. But, having
overcome the first shock, she was not only cheerful,
but useful; for while he was intently engaged in
labours, she was occupied in judging and selecting
the most important articles for removal. Enough
planks for the contemplated boat was by him considered
as lading of the most essential importance,
and he determined that the half of that and each
succeeding cargo should be planks. The loading
was completed. Beds, clothing, books, and articles
of use for his purposes, or of convenience or ornament
for her, were selected. The wind, which
blew from the west in the morning, regularly shifted
to the east in the evening. When this breeze had
risen, they hoisted their sail, the parties occupying
the attending skiff, and sailed pleasantly and safely
into the cove. The cargo was landed as before.
It would require the succeeding day to bestow the
cargo of that day in the grotto. They had now
the comfort of beds, and tables, and chairs, and ottomans,
and sofas, and various articles of the kind,

[figure description] Page 157.[end figure description]

which often drew sighs from their fair present possessor,
as she meditated for what different places and
uses they were intended. With propensities, which
circumstances may modify, but not obliterate from
the female mind, her apartment, as it may be called,
was fitted up in a style of luxury and splendour, in
keeping with her former habits and tastes, and its
natural magnificence. He aided her with delight
in suspending her crimson curtains, in looping her
festoons, and arranging the splendid drapery of her
bed; for the costly hanging ornaments and furniture
which were intended for a number of the most
opulent families in New Holland, had all been ordered
and freighted in this ill-fated ship; and the
parties remarked, that their apartments were of a
size to require furniture and fittings sufficient for
the supply of a colony.

When it came his turn to have his apartment
furnished, her taste was to bestow upon it a magnificence
similar to her own. He smiled, and resisted
so firmly, that it received no other additions
than the plain and simple arrangements required
by comfort, and in keeping with the light of the
place, and his condition and circumstances. But
when by the light of evening he contemplated the
taste, the splendour, and drapery of hers, he could
not but experience the dazzling and imposing effect.
To render it still more striking, she presided at
their supper in a dress of taste and richness. While
she sat in this huge apartment, brilliantly lighted,
in all the pride of youthful beauty, heightened in

[figure description] Page 158.[end figure description]

its effect by one of those rich dresses which had
been intended to grace her first entrance into society
in Port Jackson, she seemed to have felt the illusion
of her own contrivance, and to be looking
round for the entrance of the numerous circle and
the brilliant party that was to grace her saloon.

But a single companion sat with her at a table.
He was modest and humble; but he was in the
pride of high principles, of manly beauty, of
guarded decorum and respect, where all laws but
those of honour and principle were unavailing. He
had saved her life. On all occasions, she saw him
constraining his will, sacrificing his wishes, and
lavish of exertions, and of every exposure, for her
sake. It will not be strange to suppose, that the
arbitrary distinctions and modes of thinking in
society may have given place, for a time, to kinder
and more natural emotions towards him, than she
had yet avowed to him, or to herself.

All that need be added to the history of their successive
voyages to the wreck is, that the uniform land
and sea breeze favoured the morning and the return
trip; that they continued to repeat them, until every
thing of the wreck was brought to the landing of the
grotto, that the remotest prospective views of their
future wants could indicate, as necessary for any
of his projected purposes. Most of the plank, and
articles of value or use, that were within his power
to remove, had been brought safely to the landing,
when, as they were making their customary entrance
to the harbour, a sudden storm arose, which

[figure description] Page 159.[end figure description]

immediately separated the raft, merged its contents
in the deep, and compelled them to detach themselves
from it, and to reach the shore, as they might,
in their skiff. The succeeding night they heard
the storm pour, and the torrents roll from the mountains,
and the thunders burst, and the winds howl,
and the seas dash upon the shore, while their cheerful
fire gleamed within, and their coffee issued its grateful
fragrance; and they contrasted the security and shelter
of their mountain with their own chances, had
that storm arrested them by day; and their sympathy
was excited, as they thought of the poor desponding
mariners struggling with the brute and terrific force
of that devouring and uncontrolled element.

When the morning sun again shone upon the
ocean, the trees, and the sky, the storm had past,
and nothing remained of it but the balmy freshness
of the air, and the countless pearls that glittered on
the foliage and the grass. They travelled together to
the region of the wreck, and, as they had supposed,
it was all swept away. He could only congratulate
himself, that he had made the most diligent use of
his time, and had saved from it all that present appearances
indicated could ever come in use.

Henceforward he determined to allot his time,
and to bend his efforts to three distinct purposes.
First, to build a boat of sufficient size to authorize
an attempt to navigate the distance between this
island and New Holland, and thus enter upon his
pledged purpose, to convey her, if possible, to the
British settlements in those regions; and in the

[figure description] Page 160.[end figure description]

second place, to prepare his residence for the utmost
degree of defence and resistance, in case they should
be assailed by savages, either inhabitants of the
island, or such as might casually land there; to
domesticate animals and birds, at once for use and
convenience, and to add the cheerfulness of domesticated
life around their habitation; and lastly, to
explore the island by crossing the mountains, as he
would have preferred, but aiding her to scale them,
if she would not consent to his making the expedition
without her company.

The first, as the most important, occupied the
first place in their plans. A canopy was prepared
under a tent, pitched beneath a spacious palm, near
the proposed ship yard. Her writing desk, and
table, and chair were placed there. And she occupied
herself, as she might, in reading, in writing,
in walking under the palms, in dreaming upon the
past, or possibly in thinking about new ornaments
of dress; for she seemed to be as studious upon those
points, and as particular in that respect as she had
been in the days of her triumph in London. Occasionally
she observed her companion in solitude,
busily employed, from hour to hour, and from day
to day, in his wearying and protracted employment.
More than once, when she remarked him perplexed
and embarrassed, or weary, and covered with perspiration,
would she repair to him, wipe away the
sweat from his brow, and request him to desist from
his toil, assuring him that she was content and
happy as she was, and was not at all sure that she

[figure description] Page 161.[end figure description]

should ever consent to allow the voyage to be undertaken,
even should he succeed in the vexatious
business. When she saw no other way of detaching
him from a labour that evidently wore upon
him, she would take him away, by insisting that
he should join her in a walk in the shade.

For variety and amusement, they sometimes angled
in the beautiful little lake, or took short excursions
on the water in their skiff, and drew up the
different species of fish from the sea. The varieties
that were found to be of the highest flavour only
were selected, and the rest returned to their native
element. With the advantage of traps and cordage,
and with pit-falls, and in other methods, they
soon had, as prisoners on the terrace, pairs of all
the animals and birds, that either for beauty, or
utility, or singularity of form, or habit, they desired
to domesticate. It was a study, equally pleasant
to both, to observe their various instincts and
habits, to hear their different songs and cries, to
remark the effects of kindness and gentle treatment
upon each, according to its nature. It was an instructive
spectacle, to mark the effect of training
and example, and the tendency, which so many
birds and animals together felt, to wear off the
strong points of their characters, and to assimilate
to each other. Every animal and bird manifested
something of the propensities of the mocking bird,
to lay some part of its own habits aside, and assume
something of what appertained to the rest. It was
equally amusing and interesting to mark, that pride

[figure description] Page 162.[end figure description]

and vanity has a place in the irrational creation, as
well as in man. Another important axiom was
drawn from this interesting study, and that was,
that there is nothing that has life and sensation, so
wild and brutal, as not to be susceptible of the influence
of kindly treatment. It was a menagerie
and an aviary, that for variety of form, and splendour
of plumage, and wildness of note, and amusing
singularity of habit and action, could hardly
find a parallel in the collections of wealth and
power.

The fair Augusta was almoner to these prisoners,
and the spectacle was equally amusing and ludicrous,
to see how soon they recognised her power,
and felt her kindness, and manifested a visible and
marked partiality for her over him. As soon as
she came forth, they croaked, or flapped their
wings, or nodded, or bounded, or in some way
uttered their peculiar demonstrations of affection
and joy. She, too, began to designate her favourites,
among which were a pair of kangaroos,
remarkable for their docility, a pair of scarlet
pigeons, and a hare distinguished for its brilliant
mottled spots. One inconvenience attended this
collection of animals. Their various notes and
cries, commencing after midnight, were at first exceedingly
annoying to the parties, and often disturbed
their morning slumbers.

These various pursuits, most of them of a cheerful
character, completely occupied their time, and
left them not to the endurance of ennui and a

[figure description] Page 163.[end figure description]

burdensome existence. The hours flew in their appropriate
duties, and the day seemed only too short
for their labours.

In the meantime, Augusta Wellman had not only
recovered completely from the effects of her sickness,
but pure air, healthful and nutritive food,
constant exercise, and the continual view of nature
in her repose and beauty, had given her a health,
and elasticity, and freshness, that she had never felt
before. No midnight vigils, and jealousies, and
revelries, and heart-burnings at the ball, or masquerade,
or opera, among the proud, and the opulent,
and the licentious, planted feelings in the heart,
that soon, or late, notwithstanding all that art, and
dress, and decoration can cover, or prevent, mark
the brow with ill temper, wrinkles, and care. The
re-action of returning health, a tranquillity and repose
of heart, corresponding to that of nature, imparted
to her a buoyancy and cheerfulness that she
had never known before. In such, the heart every
where speaks one language. The same inspiration
of nature, which makes the lamb skip among the
first flowers of spring, and the wild fawn bound on
the green slopes of its sylvan domains, filled her
young heart not only with joy, but unhappily with
those vague desires after more, with those remembrances
of the past, with those incompatible and
illimitable expectations and desires, that, manifested
in a thousand ways, began to be a never ending
source of vexation to the better regulated mind of
her companion. Calm, laborious, disciplined in his

[figure description] Page 164.[end figure description]

thoughts and tempers, and satisfied with a little,
their abundance, and range, and opulence, and repose
were to him all that he wished or desired. To
him this residence was not only peace and repose,
but it was happiness. He had thoughts and trials,
indeed, peculiarly his own, and which he hardly
dared to pass in review before his own mind. But
he was too generous, too much above the selfish
meanness of personal gratification, to wish enjoyments
purchased at the expense of the happiness of
another. He was not only aware that the companion
of his solitude was formed to grace, adorn,
and enjoy society, but that she belonged to it. He
felt, too, the strong teachings of reason and conscience,
that life was given to him for other purposes,
than to dream away existence in those charming
solitudes, though they were shared of necessity
by a woman, every way so fascinating and attractive.
Hence his invariable language to himself,
whenever his imagination tempted his thoughts and
purposes astray, was, Thou owest escape from this
island to her, to thyself, to duty, and to God. Thou
must persevere in thy purpose, or lose the applause
of conscience.

To have looked upon this singular pair, as an invisible
spectator, one would have thought, that
nothing could have been wanting to the happiness
of either. There was shelter, and comfort, and
beauty, and all that the imagination or the heart
could ask, save the single gratification of calling
other and foreign eyes to contemplate their

[figure description] Page 165.[end figure description]

enjoyments with them. Yet that eternal ingredient of
bitterness, that in the same way mingles in every
human cup, was there.

Months had elapsed in this tranquil order of
things. Every day added to their stock of comforts
or conveniences. The climate was generally mild,
and delightfully refreshed with the alternations of
the land and sea breeze. When the terrors of a
tropical storm came, the awful change in the sky,
and in the elements, only gave them a deeper and
more home-felt sense of the security of their shelter
under the strength and unchangeable munition of
the superincumbent hills over their heads, whence
they contemplated the fury of the passing storm.
A volcanic eruption only added sublimity to the
monotonous amenity and repose of the ordinary
state of things. Added to this, he was making
rapid progress in completing a decked boat, which
promised to be able to be managed by one person,
and yet to be capable of sustaining the ordinary
chances of the sea. To finish this great work was
his first and most earnest purpose, and he laboured
incessantly towards that point. He had motives to
stimulate him to exertion, which he disclosed only
to his conscience.

His companion, meanwhile, to his astonishment,
instead of manifesting the pleasure so naturally to
have been expected in her case, at the prospect of
a speedy chance of escape from the island, appeared
rather to view the progress of the work with an eye
of dissatisfaction and chagrin. When he was most

[figure description] Page 166.[end figure description]

intent upon the adjustment and completion of some
difficult constituent part, she would come to him
with a command, sometimes sportive, sometimes
apparently in chagrin, to call him away to walk
with her, to visit some favourite grove, to angle in
the lake, or to share in some of their customary
amusements. She seemed to have a system of
studied arrangements, to prevent the progress of
the work. When they spake of the proposed voyage,
she magnified the dangers, and diminished the
chances of escape in the estimation. Sometimes
she denied consent that the voyage should be
undertaken, and that she would accompany him.
Sometimes she sportively talked of remaining
behind, as a hermitess, to live and die alone. Always
she treated the project as rash and chimerical,
and founded upon too little knowledge of their
position, and the course they ought to take for the
chances of reaching New Holland.

Sometimes she manifested wishes to be alone,
and an inclination to avoid his society. He often
discovered her to have been shedding tears. Her
spirits fluctuated from the extreme of vivacity to
that of silence, dejection and gloom. Sometimes
her deportment towards him was of manifest and
delicate kindness. At other times, had he been
sufficiently acquainted with the modes of acting in
her walk of life, he would have phrased her conduct
coquetry; but more generally, it seemed a
disposition to rally and ridicule him; the simplicity
and rustic manners of his country; and his

[figure description] Page 167.[end figure description]

misfortune in wanting the tastes and habits, only
to be learned in the walks of distinction and fashion.
All this opened upon him a series of petty trials,
of daily and hourly vexations, the more harassing
from his inexperience in the modes, fashions, and
aspects of female manners. He had heard one of
the Latin saws in the school of his native village,
semper varium et mutabile, and bitterly he reflected
upon the meaning and truth of the adage. He
reasoned, and he sighed within himself. The more
he attempted to penetrate the mystery, and the
secret motives of this conduct, the more perplexing
and inexplicable it seemed. At one moment he
felt sure, that he had seized upon the thread of the
clue. A new aspect of the deportment of his beautiful
companion, scattered his profound theory to the
winds. There were even times, when his patience
was exhausted; and he had come to the internal
resolution, to break with her, and to give her clearly
to understand, that he would be the victim of her
caprices and changeable temper no longer. When
this purpose had ripened, and honour and manhood
had been invoked to hold him to firmness in his
purpose, she would come upon him in all the splendour
of studied dress, her fair hair bound with
wreaths of flowers, and her lovely face adorned
with smiles; her scarlet favourites fluttering upon
one arm, and holding him the other, while she invited
him to a walk in the groves. It was impossible,
that his angry purposes should not melt away
at the sight. What was most inexplicable of all

[figure description] Page 168.[end figure description]

was, that she seemed intuitively to comprehend
these mental storms, to know the secret of their
origin, and to understand exactly the hour, in which
to arrest their progress and developement. She
had lectured in the midst of her domesticated family
more than once, when she perceived these
thoughts burning within him. She manifested
peculiar pleasure and exultation in showing her
complete ascendency over the instincts of her animals
and birds. She called, and they came. She
commanded, and they showed a docile obedience.
“See,” she said, “I can tame and civilize a kangaroo.
I can learn docility and graces to a water
fowl of the south seas. Man is a monster, that
nothing can tame, and Americans most monstrous
of all. Indeed, you are of all my subjects most
hopeless.” The final result of his cogitations upon
the motive and origin of this fluctuation of temper
and caprice of deportment in his fair companion,
was resolved by him into her disappointment and
chagrin in the loss of society, and all operated only
to redouble his exertions to finish his boat, and his
deep purpose to succeed or perish in the attempt to
convey her from the prison of the island.

An incident occurred at this time, which, while
it served to vary the monotony of his thoughts,
added largely to his anxieties and apprehensions.
It was one of her days of gloom and seeming dissatisfaction
and purpose to be alone. She kept her
apartment, apparently occupied intently in reading.
He was pursuing his customary labours upon his

[figure description] Page 169.[end figure description]

boat. His horror may be imagined, when he saw
two large proas or periogues full of the most ugly
and inhuman looking savages, rowing past the cove.
He dropped behind the shelving covert of the rocks,
rejoicing that he was at the same time undiscovered,
and could mark all their movements. A chill perspiration
started upon him, at the apprehension that
they purposed to land in the cove. They seemed
stout, athletic people, and apparently warriors, as
they were armed with spears and slings. A few
women on board appeared to manage the sails and
oars. They were woolly headed, with broad faces,
high cheek bones, and seemingly of the most disgusting
and ferocious character. They paused
upon their oars in the midway distance between the
points of the cove, as it seemed, to remark upon the
novel aspect of the hulk of his boat. More than
once, they seemed disposed to turn their proas in,
and to land. A consultation was evidently held;
at the close of which they flourished their spears
over their heads, gave a terrible shout, as if in defiance
of their enemies, and turned their boats in
the direction to pass the cove. A few strokes of
their oars carried them behind the cliffs, and he
once more breathed at ease. When he deemed
them at such a distance, as not to discover him,
he mounted the cliff, and had the satisfaction of
seeing their boats gliding away in the distance.

It may readily be supposed, that this discovery,
and all the thoughts and reasonings consequent
upon it, were carefully concealed from his

[figure description] Page 170.[end figure description]

companion. He instantly perceived the necessity of
putting the grotto in the best possible state of defence.
Some of the requisite precautions could not
be taken, without exciting her curiosity and questioning.
Her sagacity and penetration easily apprehended,
as she saw him working a swivel by
tackles and ropes, from tree to tree, to the foot of
the cliff, and thence raising it with infinite labour
to the terrace, that this new kind of precaution was
not without some new cause of apprehension. She
discovered, that his magazines of gunpowder were
carefully dried, that cartridge boxes, with well prepared
cartridges, were distributed, and suspended,
as if for use, in his apartment; that many muskets
were carefully cleaned, and loaded, as if for action.
It was in vain that he assured her, that these were
precautions which common prudence dictated. The
question incessantly recurred—why not before?
The very secrecy and concealment, dictated by the
most benevolent regard to her happiness, became,
in consequence, a renewed cause for chagrin, dissatisfaction,
and complaint. She regarded this as
the unkindest cut of all, as she declared; and to
show her marked sense of the injustice of this apparent
want of confidence, she affected loneliness
more than ever. She not only declined her customary
occupancy of her tent near the boat, where
she used to stay while he was occupied in his labours,
but she strolled away at a distance in the
groves, and was sometimes absent the greater portion
of the day. The more he remonstrated, the

[figure description] Page 171.[end figure description]

more frequently she took these long absences. He
trembled with the apprehension, that the savages
might come upon her, seize her and carry her
away, or perhaps sacrifice her to their horrible appetites.

This dreadful supposition fixed his purpose, to
inform ner what he had seen. “Augusta,” said he,
“I am sorry to see, that you regard me with aversion
and distrust. I was reluctant to mar the little
tranquillity and comfort you might find in this dull
prison, by filling your mind with apprehensions.
I have seen savages, horrible savages, in great
numbers, and cannibals, I doubt not. Why will
you stray away so far from the protection of your
only friend, who, it is no profession, nor idle compliment
to say, would sacrifice a thousand lives in
succession, if he could possess them, to serve you?
This is the secret, and the sole one, for fortifying
the grotto. You may now conjecture, why I did
not divulge it before. But I had rather terrify, and
afflict you, than have you fall into the hands of
these horrible savages, by straying so far away
from my protection.”

He expected to see her become pale with apprehension
at this intelligence. But he was not prepared
for the great agitation, which it appeared to
produce in her. Her countenance rapidly fluctuated
between a feverish flush, and the paleness of death.
But kindness and good feeling towards him, seemed
to preponderate. She held out her hand to him.
“I confess my faults,” she said; “I have been

[figure description] Page 172.[end figure description]

perverse and froward. You need not remind me of
what you have done, by proffering what you are
ready to do. I know, and understand it all. I feel
all the kindness of your motives. I will follow you
as closely as your shadow; and, if the savages
come, I have the spirit of noble ancestors in me. I
will aid you to repel them. But, my dear brother,”
she continued, looking him steadily in the
face, “this is genuine gallantry. This proffering a
thousand lives, is the language of Hyde Park. I
shall train you, too, my dear brother, in time, to be
as docile as a kangaroo.”

Her manner and countenance on this occasion,
presented her in a new light. This voice and tone,
thought he, is more inexplicable than all I have yet
seen. I shall be able, it may be, in the end, to
sound these depths of female nature. He found the
renewed witchery of her smiles, and the returning
countenance of unrestrained benignity, and unbounded
confidence bringing a still severer trial,
than any he had yet experienced. To withhold admiration
from her, who, in all the loveliness of her
beauty, was the constant companion of his solitude,
was impossible. He felt, too, what sages, and men
who were no sages, have felt, that such a form and
such a countenance as hers, informed by such a
mind, was a dangerous object of contemplation
any where; and much more in the strange position,
in which he was constantly placed with her. If he
was obliged, against himself, to see her lovely in
her caprices, in her unreasonable sullenness and

[figure description] Page 173.[end figure description]

ill-humour, he much more strongly felt, that she would
be irresistible in her confidence and her kind feelings.
Then he communed with honour, with conscience,
and a high sense of duty. “She may
escape,” said he, to himself. “I would not win her
kind thoughts, even if I might. The only remedy
is for us both to fly.”

The remainder of the day in which this conversation
occurred, was passed in preparing a barricade,
in front of the entrance to the grotto, and
other defences, to be guarded by the swivel. He
felt assured, on a review of the whole ground, that
there could be no danger in a place, rendered
almost impregnable by nature against a host of
unarmed savages; and after an evening passed in
unwonted mutual tenderness of manner, it was
agreed, that the next day should be devoted to a
journey over the mountains, to satisfy themselves, if
they might, whether the island was inhabited or not.
She insisted so earnestly to accompany him, that
he felt it would be cruel to think of leaving her
behind. She had, indeed, made him more than
once aware, that in point of agility, and power to
travel and sustain fatigue, she had by practice and
perfect health, become no mean competitor with
him.

Accordingly, having provided every requisite
refreshment for passing the night from home, if
necessary, he clad with a soldier's knapsack, and
stored with wine, and a musket slung over his
shoulder, and she, dressed like Diana in the

[figure description] Page 174.[end figure description]

engravings, started together at the early dawn. An
ample supply of food was left for her numerous
domesticated animals, most of which no longer required
confinement to retain them at the grotto.
Before the sun began to burnish the boundless
wastes of sea, and the dark sides of the mountains,
they commenced their attempt to scale them. The
song of a thousand birds, and the balmy freshness of
morning, cheered their first efforts of ascent. His
fair companion seemed to have imbibed the general
hilarity of nature; and she bounded gaily from
cliff to cliff, with an alacrity which bade fair to out-strip
his efforts, burdened as he was with a considerable
weight. She mounted the table-rocks
before him, saying, “this is the way the ladies
climb in England,” and held down her hand, to
help her wearied brother, as she called him, advance
to her level. The glow of this exercise, the
inspiring scenery, every moment beautifying and
broadening in their eye, the mountain air, and all
the united circumstances of the excursion, kindled
in her cheek a radiance of beauty, which he had
never seen before. Her spirits were exuberant, and
her delight in gazing at the grand scene below,
above, and around them, unsated. They still clambered
on, mounting hill above hill, and still contemplating
the black and frowning precipices, towering
still higher above them, until they seemed to
prop the sky. When they had reached half the
elevation of the mountain, they came upon a small
table-plain, where was a shade and a spring, and

[figure description] Page 175.[end figure description]

where he had rested on his first ascent. They there
stopped for shade and repose; and he, with a look
which possibly said more than he intended, and
more than the strictness of his mental determinations
allowed, reminded her, how differently he had
felt on a former ascent, when he had supposed himself
the only human being on the island. He was
repaid by unalloyed kindness.

It was nearly mid-day, before they sat down on
a seat of stone on the most elevated pinnacle of the
ridge. It is difficult to imagine, and still more difficult
to describe, the feeblest outline of that view,
which opened in its immensity under their eye. In
front, and all around, was the boundless sea. At
the foot, the forest showed only as slight inequalities
on a ground of verdure. Just below them, on
the other side, was the smoking and bottomless
crater of the volcano. They could look down its
dark and pitchy depths, as though it were down the
funnel of some immense chimney. Beyond the
base of the volcano was the beautiful vale, which
had the appearance of an enchanted garden under
their feet. Little meadows dotted with wood, cascades,
whose falling sheets seemed white ribbands
suspended from the rocks, and all the varieties of
light and shade, as clouds flitted over the sun were
interspersed on its surface. The chasm through
the elliptical lines of mountains, by which the vale
discharged its waters to the sea, was distinctly visible.
The atmosphere was still more transparent
than when he had contemplated the scene before,

[figure description] Page 176.[end figure description]

and the blue outline of ocean beyond the island was
still more clearly perceptible.

It was natural for them to reflect, in this strange
spot, upon the cast of fortune which had there seated
a young man from the shores of lake Champlaine,
and a lady from the highest circles of London,
on the pinnacle of volcanic mountains, in a
lonely and undescribed isle, in the depths of the
south seas. They were, probably, the first mortals
that had contemplated this grand and impressive
scenery, since its creation. His inward respect for
his fair companion was not diminished by discovering,
that their position, and what they saw, produced
sensations and thoughts in her, corresponding
to his own. He saw, that she entered with her
whole heart into the sublime of the scene. He
noted her entranced look, as her eye kindled. It
was not expressed in the voluble phrase and the
hackneyed technics of the tourist, nor in the common
exclamations of an ordinary mind; but in
silence, and an expression of thrilling awe and rapt
admiration. Her eye occasionally turned towards
the soft and delicious blue of the sky, canopied
here and there, with fleecy clouds, which seemed
almost floating within touch of their heads. After
a long and expressive silence, she inquired, if he
had ever read Gessner's Deucalion and Pyrrha?
Are we not,” she asked, “Deucalion and Pyrrha?”

To break off the dangerous train of feeling,
inspired by this singular question, he proposed
leaving her there, while he descended to a lower

[figure description] Page 177.[end figure description]

point of another eminence, not far distant, where
he judged a more perfect view of the vale might be
had. But she declared herself not at all fatigued,
and insisted on sharing all the fatigues and dangers,
as well as honours and pleasures of the journey
of discovery. When they reached that point, as
he had apprehended, a panorama of the vale was
spread before them; and the great point of investigation,
for which the journey had been chiefly undertaken,
was settled in a moment. The island was
inhabited! An exclamation, arising from a variety
of feelings, burst from each at the same moment.
We are not alone! Smokes arose from human
habitations in various points. The vale seemed
even populous. “God be thanked,” said he!
“This opens surer prospects of escape for us. I
have now a double chance. We will first take a
voyage of discovery, cruising the island, and still
keeping in view the chances of return to it. If
such a voyage open no prospect of escape, I will
fortify our castle, and leave you there, and sojourn
among these islanders, and conciliate them, and
learn the position of adjacent islands, or procure
them to transport us to New Holland in their
proas.” “My brother,” she replied, “you never
thaw from your wanted stoicism, and say a thing
that seems like the language of others, but you
immediately spoil all, by propositions like these.
Who seems so constantly anxious to escape from
this island? Is it I? Do I complain of solitude?
It is true, we have not the attractions of a London

[figure description] Page 178.[end figure description]

circle. But we have many good things even here;
a charming residence, an abundance of all that our
wants require; beautiful birds, a fine country and
climate, docile kangaroos, and who knows to what
accomplishments my brother may yet be trained,
under my forming hands?”

Having discovered, that the island was actually
inhabited, and having laid a sure foundation for
all the reasonings and calculations, that could be
based upon that discovery, they commenced their
return. The descent was accomplished without
incident, and they reached the grotto, just as the
sun left the sky. Every thing was, as when they
departed in the morning. No savages, as they
feared, had visited it. Their animals and birds
crowded about them, and received them with so
many demonstrations of joy and welcome, that they
might almost imagine themselves returning to the
bosom of a family.

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