Page:The crater; or, Vulcan's peak.djvu/239

OR, VULCAN S PEAK. 233 Heaton was a man of singular tastes, which led him to as remarkable acquirements. Among other accomplish ments, he was a very good general mechanician, having an idea of the manner in which most of the ordinary ma chinery ought to be, not only used, but fabricated. At the point where the rivulet descended the cliff into the sea, he discovered as noble a mill-seat as the heart of man could desire to possess. To have such a mill-seat at com mand, and not to use it, would, of itself, have made him unhappy, and he could not be easy until he and Peters, who had also a great taste and some skill in that sort of thing, were hard at work building a saw-mill. The saw had been brought from America, as a thing very likely to be wanted, and three months after these two ingenious men had commenced their work, the saw was going, cut ting teak, as well as a species of excellent yellow pine that was found in considerable quantities, and of very respect able size, along the cliffs in the immediate vicinity of the mill. The great difficulty to be overcome in that under taking, was the transportation of the timber. By cutting the trees most favourably situated first, logs were got into the pond without much labour; but after they were in planks, or boards, or joists, they were quite seven miles from the head of the Stairs, in the vicinity of which it was, on several accounts, the most desirable to dwell. Had the Abraham been kept on the stocks, until the ne cessary timber was brought from the mill, across the plain of Eden, she would have been well seasoned before launch ing; but, fortunately, that was not necessary materials sufficient for her were got on board the ship, as mentioned, with some small additions of inch boards that were cut to finish her joiners work. Months passed, as a matter of course, while the schooner and the mill were in the course of construction. The work on the first was frequently intermitted, by little voy ages in the other craft, and by labour necessary to be done in preparing dwellings on the Peak, to meet the rainy sea son, which was now again near at hand. Past experience had told Mark that the winter months in his islands, if winter a season could be termed, during which most of the trees, all the grasses, and many of the fruits continued to 20*