230 THE CRATER; neighbourhood of man. There were many spots on the Reef, of acres in extent, that formed shallow basins, in which the surface might be two or three inches lower than the surrounding rocks, and, in these spots in particular, the accumulations of an incipient earthy matter were plainly visible. As these cavities collected and retained the moisture, usually from rain to rain, Mark had some of Friend Abraham White s grass-seed sown over them, in order to aid nature in working out her own benevolent de signs. In less than a month, patches of green began to appear on the dusky rocks, and there was good reason to hope that a few years would convert the whole Reef into a smiling, verdant plain. It was true, the soil could not soon obtain any useful depth, except in limited spots; but, in that climate, where warmth and moisture united to push vegetation to the utmost, it was an easy thing to obtain a bottom for grasses of almost all kinds. Nor did Mark s provident care limit itself to this one in stance of forethought. Socrates was sent in the dingui to the prairie, over which the hogs had now been rooting for fully two months, mixing together mud and sea-weed, somewhat loosely it is true, but very extensively ; and there he scattered Timothy-seed in tolerable profusion. Socrates was a long-headed, as well as a long- footed fellow, and he brought back from this expedition a report that was of material importance to the future husbandry of the colo nists. According to his statement, this large deposit of mud and sea-weed lay on a peninsula, that might be barri caded against the inroads of hogs, cattle, &/c., by a fence of some two or three rods in length. This was a very fa vourable circumstance, where wood was to be imported for many years to come, if not for ever; though the black had brought the seeds of certain timbers, from the Peak, and put them into the ground in a hundred places on the Reef, where the depth of deposit, and other circumstances, seemed favourable to their growth. As for the Prairie, could it b/3 made to grow grasses, it would be a treasure to the colony, inasmuch as its extent reached fully to a thousand acres. The examination of Socrates was flatter ing in other respects. The mud was already dry, and the deposit of salt did not seem to be very great, little water having been left there after the eruption, or lifting of the
