The getting out and raising of the frame of the ‘Friend Abraham White’ took six weeks.  Great importance was attached to success in this matter, and everybody assisted in the work with right good will.  At one time it was doubted if stuff enough could be found in the ship to plank her up with, and it was thought it might become necessary to break up the Rancocus, in order to complete the job.  To Bridgets great joy, however, the good old Rancocus—­so they called her, though she was even then only eight years old—­the good old Rancocus’ time had not yet come, and she was able to live in her cabin for some months longer.  Enough planks were found by using those of the ’twixt decks, a part of which were not bolted down at all to accomplish all that was wanted.

Heaton was a man of singular tastes, which led him to as remarkable acquirements.  Among other accomplishments, he was a very good general mechanician, having an idea of the manner in which most of the ordinary machinery ought to be, not only used, but fabricated.  At the point where the rivulet descended the cliff into the sea, he discovered as noble a mill-seat as the heart of man could desire to possess.  To have such a mill-seat at command, and not to use it, would, of itself, have made him unhappy, and he could not be easy until he and Peters, who had also a great taste and some skill in that sort of thing, were hard at work building a saw-mill.  The saw had been brought from America, as a thing very likely to be wanted, and three months after these, two ingenious men had commenced their work, the saw was going, cutting teak, as well as a species of excellent yellow pine that was found in considerable quantities, and of very respectable size, along the cliffs in the immediate vicinity of the mill.  The great difficulty to be overcome in that undertaking, was the transportation of the timber.  By cutting the trees most favourably situated first, logs were got into the pond without much labour; but after they were in planks, or boards, or joists, they were quite seven miles horn the head of the Stairs, in the vicinity of which it was, on several accounts, the most desirable to dwell.  Had the Abraham been kept on the stocks, until the necessary timber was brought from the mill, across the plain of Eden, she would have been well seasoned before launching; but, fortunately, that was not necessary—­materials sufficient for her were got on board the ship, as mentioned, with some small additions of inch boards that were cut to finish her joiners’ work.

Months passed, as a matter of course, while the schooner and the mill were in the course of construction.  The work on the first was frequently intermitted, by little voyages in the other craft, and by labour necessary to be done in preparing dwellings on the Peak, to meet the rainy season, which was now again near at hand.  Past experience had told Mark that the winter months in his islands, if winter a season could be termed, during which most of the trees, all