ed islands.

In this comparison, Mark saw that many things made greatly against him,
on the one hand; while, on the other, there were many others for which
he had every reason to be profoundly grateful. In the first place, this
island was, as yet, totally without vegetation of every kind. It had
neither plant, shrub, nor tree. In this he suffered a great privation,
and it even remained to be proved by actual experiment, whether he was
master of what might be considered the elements of soil. It occurred to
him that something like vegetation must have shown itself, in or about
the crater, did its _debris_ contain the fertilizing principle, Mark not
being sufficiently versed in the new science of chemical agriculture, to
understand that the admixtures of certain elements might bring to life
forces that then were dormant. Then the Reef had no water. This was a
very, very great privation, the most serious of all, and might prove to
be a terrible calamity. It is true that, just at that moment, there was
a shower every day, and sometimes two or three of them; but it was then
spring, and there could be little reason to doubt that droughts would
come in the hot and dry season. As a last objection, the Reef had no
great extent, and no variety, the eye taking it all in at a glance,
while the crater was its sole relief against the dullest monotony. Nor
was there a bit of wood, or fuel of any sort to cook with, after the
supply now in the ship should be exhausted. Such were the leading
disadvantages of the situation in which our mariners were placed, as
compared with those into which most other shipwrecked seamen had been
thrown.

The advantages, on the other hand, Mark, in humble gratitude to God,
admitted to be very great. In the first place, the ship and all she
contained was preserved, giving them a dwelling, clothes, food and
water, as well as fuel, for a long time to come; possibly, aided by what
might be gleaned on even that naked reef, sufficient to meet all their
wants for the duration of a human life. The cargo of the Rancocus was
of no great extent, and of little value in a civilized country; but Mark
knew that it included many articles that would be of vast service where
he was. The beads and coarse trinkets with which it had been intended to
trade with the savages, were of no use whatever, it is true; but the
ship's owners were pains-taking and thoughtful Quakers, as has been
already intimated, who blended with great s