Chapter 16 - Page 2

he
could not think of letting him go alone on an expedition of so much
peril. After deliberating on the matter, he determined to visit Rancocus
Island himself--not having been in that direction, now, for months--and
to go in the Neshamony, in order to take a couple of hogs over; it
having long been decided to commence breeding that valuable animal, in
the wild state, on the hills of that uninhabited land.

The intelligence that a voyage was to be made to Rancocus Island seemed
to infuse new life into the men of the colony, every one of whom wished
to be of the party. The governor had no objection to indulging as many
as it might be prudent to permit to go; but he saw the necessity of
putting some restraint on the movement. After canvassing the matter in
the council, it was determined that, in addition to Mark and Peters, who
went of course, the party should consist of Bob, Bigelow, and Socrates.
The carpenter was taken to look for trees that might serve to make the
ways of the schooner, which was yet to be launched; and the latter was
thought necessary in his capacity of a cook. As for Betts, he went along
as the governor's counsellor and companion.

Bridget's little girl was born in the cabin of the ship; and the week
preceding that set for the voyage, she and the child were taken across
to the Peak, that the former might spend the period of her husband's
absence with Anne, in the Garden of Eden. These absences and occasional
visits gave a zest to lives that might otherwise have become too
monotonous, and were rather encouraged than avoided. It was, perhaps, a
little strange that Bridget rather preferred the Reef than the Peak for
a permanent residence; but there was her much-beloved ship, and there
she ever had her still more beloved husband for a companion.

On the appointed day, the Neshamony set sail, having on board a family
of three of the swine. The plan for the excursion included a trip to the
volcano, which had not yet been actually visited by any of the
colonists. Mark had been within a league of it, and Bob had passed quite
near to it in his voyage to the Peak; but no one had ever positively
landed, or made any of those close examinations of the place, which,
besides being of interest in a general way, was doubly so to those who
were such near neighbours to a place of the kind. This visit Mark now
decided to make on his way to leeward, taking the volcano in his course
to Rancocus Island. The _détour_ would lead the Neshamony some fifteen
or eighteen leagues on one side; but there was abundance of time, and
the volcano ought to be no longer neglected.

The wind did not blow as fresh as in common, and the Neshamony did not
draw near to the volcano until late in the afternoon of