en it could be produced at all, work
was pressed into his service as an amusement. Of the last, there was
certainly very little, in the common acceptation of the word; but our
hermit was not without it altogether. He studied the habits of the
sea-birds that congregated in thousands around so many of the rocks of
the Reef, though so few scarce ever ventured on the crater island. He
made voyages to and fro, usually connecting business with pleasure.
Taking favourable times for such purposes, he floated several cargoes of
loam to the Reef, as well as two enormous rafts of sea-weed. Mark was
quite a month in getting these materials into his compost heap, which he
intended should lie in a pile during the winter, in order that it might
be ready for spading in the spring. We use these terms by way of
distinguishing the seasons, though of winter, strictly speaking, there
was none. Of the two, the grass grew better at mid-winter than at
mid-summer, the absence of the burning heat of the last being favourable
to its growth. As the season advanced, Mark saw his grass very sensibly
increase, not only in surface, but in thickness. There were now spots of
some size, where a turf was forming, nature performing all her tasks in
that genial climate, in about a fourth of the time it would take to
effect the same object in the temperate zone. On examining these places,
Mark came to the conclusion that the roots of his grasses acted as
cultivators, by working their way into the almost insensible crevices of
the crust, letting in air and water to places whence they had hitherto
been excluded. This seemed, in particular, to be the case with the grass
that grew within the crater, which had increased so much in the course
of what may be termed the winter, that it was really fast converting a
plain of a light drab colour, that was often painful to the eyes, into a
plot of as lovely verdure as ever adorned the meadows of a Swiss
cottage. It became desirable to keep this grass down, and Kitty being
unable to crop a meadow of so many acres, Mark was compelled to admit
his pigs and poultry again. This he did at stated times only, however;
or when he was at work himself in the garden, and could prevent their
depredations on his beds. The rooting gave him the most trouble; but
this he contrived in a great measure to prevent, by admitting his hogs
only when they were eager for grass, and turning them out as soon as
they began to generalize, like an epic