the grass, when he was not watching them. By the time these
dispositions were made, it was necessary to begin again to put in the
seeds.

On this occasion Mark determined to have a succession of crops, and not
to bring on everything at once, as he had done the first year of his
tillage. Accordingly, he would manure and break up a bed, and plant or
sow it, waiting a few days before he began another. Experience had told
him that there was never an end to vegetation in that climate, and he
saw no use in pushing his labours faster than he might require their
fruits. It was true, certain plants did better if permitted to come to
maturity in particular periods, but the season was so long as very well
to allow of the arrangement just mentioned. As this distribution of his
time gave the young man a good deal of leisure, he employed it in the
ship-yard. Thus the boat and the garden were made to advance together,
and when the last was sown and planted, the first was planked. When the
last bed was got in, moreover, those first set in order were already
giving forth their increase. Mark had abundance of delicious salad,
young onions, radishes that seemed to grow like mushrooms, young peas,
beans, &c., in quantities that enabled him to turn the hogs out on the
Reef, and keep them well on the refuse of his garden, assisted a little
by what was always to be picked up on the rocks.

By this time Mark had settled on a system which he thought to pursue.
There was no use in his raising more pigs than he could use. Taking care
to preserve the breed, therefore, he killed off the pigs, of which he
had fresh litters, from time to time; and when he found the old hogs
getting to be troublesome, as swine will become with years, he just shot
them, and buried their bodies in his compost heap, or in his garden,
where one common-sized hog would render highly fertile several yards
square of earth, or ashes. This practice he continued ever after,
extending it to his fowls and ducks, the latter of which produced a
great many eggs. By rigidly observing this rule, Mark avoided an evil
which is very common even in inhabited countries, that of keeping more
stock than is good for their owner. Six or eight hens laid more eggs
than he could consume, and there was always a sufficient supply of
chickens for his wants. In short, our hermit had everything he actually
required, and most things that could contribute to his living in great
abundance. The necessity