As for the crater itself, it was now quite a gem in the way of vegetation.  Its cocoa-nut trees bore profusely; and its figs, oranges, limes, shaddocks, &c. &c., were not only abundant, but rich and large.  The Summit was in spots covered with delicious groves, and the openings were of as dark a verdure, the year round, as if the place lay twenty degrees farther from the equator than was actually the case.  Here Kitty, followed by a flock of descendants, was permitted still to rove at large, the governor deeming her rights in the place equal to his own.  The plain of the crater was mostly under tillage, being used as a common garden for all who dwelt in the town.  Each person was taxed so many days, in work, or in money, agreeably to a village ordinance, and by such means was the spot tilled; in return, each person, according, to a scale that was regulated by the amount of the contribution, was allowed to come or send daily, and dig and carry away a stated quantity of fruits and vegetables.  All this was strictly regulated by a town law, and the gardener had charge of the execution of the ordinance; but the governor had privately intimated to him that there was no necessity for his being very particular, so long as the people were so few, and the products so abundant.  The entire population of the Reef proper amounted, at this visitation, to just three hundred and twenty-six persons, of whom near a hundred were under twelve years of age.  This, however, was exclusively of Kannakas, but included the absent seamen, whose families dwelt there permanently.

The settlement at Dunks’ Cove has been mentioned, and nothing need be said of it, beyond the fact that its agriculture had improved and been extended, its trees had grown, and its population increased.  There was another similar settlement at East Cove—­or Bay would be the better name—­which was at the place where Mark Woolston had found his way out to sea, by passing through a narrow and half-concealed inlet.  This entrance to the group was now much used by the whalers, who fell in with a great many fish in the offing, and who found it very convenient to tow them into this large basin, and cut them up.  Thence the blubber was sent down in lighters to Whaling Bight, to be tryed out.  This arrangement saved a tow of some five-and-twenty miles, and often prevented a loss of the fish, as sometimes occurred in the outside passage, by having it blown on an iron-bound coast.  In consequence of these uses of the place, a settlement had grown up near it, and it already began to look like a spot to be civilized.  As yet, however, it was the least advanced of all the settlements in the group.

At the West Bay, there was a sort of naval station and look-out port, to watch the people of the neighbouring islands.  The improvements did not amount to much, however, being limited to one farm, a small battery that commanded the roads, and a fortified house, which was also a tavern.