Page:The crater; or, Vulcan's peak.djvu/258

 IS THE CRATER; CHAPTER II. &quot; Ho ! strike the flag-staff deep, Sir Knight, Ho ! scatter flowers, fair maids, Ho ! gunners fire a loud salute Ho ! gallants, draw your blades ; &quot; MACATJLAT. So much time had passed in the execution of the plan of Unus, that the canoes were close under the cliffs, when the governor and his party reached the wood that fringed their summits, directly over the northern end of their line. Even this extremity of their formation was a mile or two to leeward of the cove, and all the craft, catamarans in cluded, were drifting still further south, under the influence of the current. So long as this state of things continued, there was nothing for the colonists to apprehend, since they knew landing at any other spot than the cove was out of the question. The strictest orders had been given for every one to keep concealed, a task that was by no means difficult, the whole plain being environed with woods, and its elevation more than a thousand feet above the sea. In short, nothing but a wanton exposure of the person, could render it possible for one on the water to get a glimpse of another on the heights above him. The fleet of Waally presented an imposing sight. Not only were his canoes large, and well filled with men, but they were garnished with the usual embellishments of savage magnificence. Feathers and flags, and symbols of war and power, were waving and floating over the prows of most of them, while the warriors they contained were gay in their trappings. It was apparent, however, to the members of the council, who watched every movement of the fleet with the utmost vigilance, that their foes were oppressed with doubts concerning the character of the place they had ventured so far to visit. The smoke of the Volcano was visible to them, beyond a doubt, and here