Page:The crater; or, Vulcan's peak.djvu/376

 136 THE CRATER; instead of sailing to the westward, as she had previously done taking with her a crew composed partly of colonists and partly of Kannakas. Six boys, however, went in the ship, the children of reputable settlers; all of whom the governor intended should be officers, hereafter, on board of colony vessels. To prevent difficulties on the score of national character, on leaving America the last time, Saunders had cleared for the islands of the Pacific and a market ; meaning to cover his vessel, let her go where she might, by the latter reservation. This question of nation ality offered a good deal of embarrassment in the long run, and the council foresaw future embarrassments as con nected with the subject; but, every one of the colonists being of American birth, and America being then neutral, and all the American-built vessels having American papers, it was thought most prudent to let things take their natural course, under the existing arrangement, until something occurred to render a more decided policy advisable. As soon as the Rancocus got off, the Henlopen went out again, to cruise about two hundred leagues to wind ward ; while the inshore fishery was carried on by Betts, in the Martha, with great spirit and most extraordinary success. So alive did the people get to be to the profit and sport of this sort of business, that boats were con structed, and crews formed all over the colony, there being often as many as a dozen different parties out, taking whales near the coasts. The furor existed on the Peak, as well as in the low lands, and Bridget and Anne could not but marvel that men would quit the delicious coolness, the beautiful groves, and all the fruits and bountiful pro ducts of that most delightful plain, to go out on the ocean, in narrow quarters, and under a hot sun, to risk their lives in chase of the whale ! This did the colonists, neverthe less, until the governor himself began to feel the necessity of striking a whale, if he would maintain his proper place in the public opinion. As respects the governor, and the other high functiona ries of the colony, some indulgence was entertained ; it being the popular notion that men who lived so much within doors, and whose hands got to be so soft, were not exactly the sort of persons who would be most useful at