Chapter 8

"Now from the full-grown day a beamy shower
Gleams on the lake, and gilds each glossy flower,
Gay insects sparkle in the genial blaze,
Various as light, and countless as its rays--
Now, from yon range of rocks, strong rays rebound,
Doubling the day on flowery plains around."

Savage.

After the tent on the Summit was erected, Mark passed much of his
leisure time there. Thither he conveyed many of his books, of which he
had a very respectable collection, his flute, and a portion of his
writing materials. There he could sit and watch the growth of the
different vegetables he was cultivating. As for Bob, he fished a good
deal, both in the way of supplies and for his amusement. The pigs and
poultry fared well, and everything seemed to thrive but poor Kitty. She
loved to follow Mark, and cast many a longing look up at the Summit,
whenever she saw him strolling about among his plants.

The vegetables on the Summit, or those first put into the ground,
flourished surprisingly. Loam had been added repeatedly, and they wanted
for nothing that could bring forward vegetation. The melons soon began
to run, as did the cucumbers, squashes, and pumpkins; and by the end of
the next month, there were a dozen large patches on the mount that were
covered by a dense verdure. Nor was this all; Mark making a discovery
about this time, that afforded him almost as, much happiness as when he
first saw his melons in leaf. He was seated one day, with the walls of
his tent brailed up, in order to allow the wind to blow through, when
something dark on the rock caught his eye. This spot was some little
distance from him, and going to it, he found that large quantities of
his grass-seed had actually taken! Now he might hope to convert that
barren-looking, and often glaring rock, into a beautiful grassy hill,
and render that which was sometimes painful to the eyes, a pleasure to
look upon. The young man understood the laws of vegetation well enough
to be certain that could the roots of grasses once insinuate themselves
into the almost invisible crevices of the crust that coveted the place,
they would of themselves let in light, air and water enough for their
own wants, and thus increase the very fertility on which they subsisted.
He did not fail, however, to aid nature, by scattering a fresh supply of
guano all over the hill.

While Mark was thus employed at home, Bob rowed out to the reef,
bringing in his fish in such quantities that it occurred to Mark to
convert them also into manure. A fresh half-acre was accordingly broken
up, within the crater, the cool of the mornings and of the evenings
being taken for the toil; and, as soon as a bed was picked over,
quantities of fish were buried in it, and left