y effected, but where the mills, the
brick-yards, and indeed the principal cluster of houses, were all
plainly to be seen from the offing. No sooner was it certain, therefore,
that the strangers had stood away to the southward and eastward, than
another boat was sent across to let the millers, brickmakers,
stone-quarriers, and lumbermen know that they might receive guests who
would require much discretion in their reception.

The great policy of secrecy was obviously in serious danger of being
defeated. How the existence of the colony was to be concealed, should
the vessels remain any time in the group, it was not easy to see; and
that advantage the governor and Heaton, both of whom attached the
highest importance to it, were now nearly ready to abandon in despair.
Still, neither thought of yielding even this policy until the last
moment, and circumstances rendered it indispensable; for so much
reflection had been bestowed on that, as well as on every other
interest of the colony, that it was not easy to unsettle any part of
their plans--in the opinion of its rulers, at least.

A sharp look-out for the squadron was kept, not only from the Peak, but
from the southern end of the cliffs, all that day. The vessels were seen
until they were quite near to the volcano, when their sudden
disappearance was ascribed to the circumstance of their shortening sail.
Perhaps they anchored. This could only be conjecture, however, as no
boat could be trusted out to watch them, near by. Although there was no
anchorage near the Peak, it was possible for a vessel to anchor anywhere
in the vicinity of the volcano. The island of Vulcan's Peak appears to
have been projected upwards, out of the depths of the ocean, in one
solid, perpendicular wall, leaving no shallow water near it; but, as
respects the other islands, the coast shoaled gradually in most places;
though the eastern edge of the group was an exception to the rule.
Still, vessels could anchor in any or all the coves and roadsteads of
the group; and _there_ the holding ground was unusually good, being
commonly mud and sand, and these without rocks.

The remainder of the day, and the whole of the succeeding night, were
passed with much anxiety, by the governor and his friends. Time was
given to receive an answer to the messages sent across to the Reef, but
nothing was seen of the strangers, when day returned. The boat that came
in from the Reef, reported that the coast was clear to t