te dwelling was only a story
and a half high, but large on the ground for that region, measuring
sixty feet square. The. government building was much larger, measuring
two hundred feet in length, by sixty feet in depth. This spacious
edifice, however, was not altogether intended for a dwelling for the
governor, but was so arranged as to contain great quantities of public
property in its basement, and to accommodate the courts, and all the
public offices on the first floor. It had an upper story, but that was
left unfinished and untenanted for years, though fitted with
arrangements for defence. Fortunately, cellars were little wanted in
that climate, for it was not easy to have one in the group. It is true,
that Pennock caused one to be blown out with gun-powder, under his
dwelling, though every one prophesied that it would soon be full of
water. It proved to be dry, notwithstanding; and a very good cellar it
was, being exceedingly useful against the heats, though of cold there
was none to guard against.

The Colony House stood directly opposite to the drawbridge, being placed
there for the purposes of defence, as well as to have access to the
spring. A want of water was rather an evil on the Reef; not that the
sands did not furnish an ample supply, and that of the most delicious
quality, but it had to be carried to inconvenient distances. In general,
water was found in sufficient quantities and in suitable places, among
the group; but, at the Reef, there was certainly this difficulty to
contend with. As the governor caused his brother, the surveyor-general,
to lay out a town on the Reef, it was early deemed necessary to make
some provision against this evil. A suitable place was selected, and a
cistern was blown out of the rock, into which all the water that fell on
the roof of Colony House was led. This reservoir, when full, contained
many thousand gallons; and when once full, it was found that the rains
were sufficient to prevent its being very easily emptied.

But the greatest improvement that was made on the Reef, after all, was
in the way of soil. As for the crater, that, by this time, was a mass of
verdure, among which a thousand trees were not only growing, but
flourishing. This was as true of its plain, as of its mounds; and of its
mounds, as of its plain. But the crater was composed of materials very
different from the base of the Reef. The former was of tufa, so far as
it was rock at all; while the latter was