The Crater

Chapter 28

"It scares the sea-birds from their nests;

They dart and wheel with deafening screams;

Now dark--and now their wings and breasts

Flash back amid disastrous gleams.

O, sin! what hast thou done on this fair earth?

The world, O man! is wailing o'er thy birth."

Dana.

It was the policy of the colonists to lead their pursuers directly up to

the Western Roads. On the small island, under which vessels were

accustomed to anchor, was a dwelling or two, and a battery of two

guns--nine-pounders. These guns were to command the anchorage. The

island lay directly in front of the mouth of the passage, making a very

beautiful harbour within it; though the water was so smooth in the

roads, and the last were so much the most convenient for getting

under-way in, that this more sheltered haven wa