aces where Mark was
certain water in abundance had existed a few hours before. The sea-wall,
directly ahead of the ship, and which never showed itself above the
surface more than two or three inches, in any part of it, and that only
at exceedingly neap tides, was now not only bare for a long distance,
but parts rose ten and fifteen feet above the surrounding sea. This
proved, at once, that the earthquake had thrust upward a vast surface
of the reef, completely altering the whole appearance of the shoal! In a
word, nature had made another effort, and islands had been created, as
it might be in the twinkling of an eye.

Mark was no sooner assured of this stupendous fact, than he hurried on
to the poop, in order to ascertain what changes had occurred in and
about the crater. It had been pushed upward, in common with all the
rocks for miles on every side of it, though without disturbing its
surface! By the computation of our young man, the Reef, which previously
lay about six feet above the level of the ocean, was now fully twenty,
so many cubits having been, by one single but mighty effort of nature,
added to its stature. The planks which led from the stern of the vessel
to the shore, and which had formed a descent, were now nearly level, so
much water having left the basin as to produce this change. Still the
ship floated, enough remaining to keep her keel clear of the bottom.

Impatient to learn all, Mark ran ashore, for by this time it was broad
daylight, and hastened into the crater, with an intention to ascend at
once to the Summit. As he passed along, he could detect no change
whatever on the surface of the Reef; everything lying just as it had
been left, and the pigs and poultry were at their usual business of
providing for their own wants. Ashes, however, were strewn over the
rocks to a depth that left his footprints as distinct as they could have
been made in a light snow. Within the crater the same appearances were
observed, fully an inch of ashes covering its verdant pastures and the
whole garden. This gave Mark very little concern, for he knew that the
first rain would wash this drab-looking mantle into the earth, where it
would answer all the purposes of a rich dressing of manure.

On reaching the Summit, our young man was enabled to form a better
opinion of the vast changes which had been wrought around him, by this
sudden elevation of the earth's crust. Everywhere sea seemed to be
converted into land, or,