The Argosy, Vol. XXIV, No. 1 — page 133: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

‘THE MUTINY ON THE FLYING CLOUD. 133 Another month saw the fort so far completed that Grant thought he might now safely take in hand the saw mill upon which he had set his mind, and he aud the skipper accordingly devoted themselves henceforward to that under- taking, finishing it within a few days of the date when Henderson reported that all was done at the fort which at that time was deemed necessary. The doctor and his party now took to the woods, armed with their axes, and began the important task of selecting and felling the timber for the pro- posed boat, the design for which Grant had been diligently working upon - whenever he could find a spare hour or two to devote to the purpose. As ultimately worked out this design was for a cutter, to be of twelve feet beam, forty feet long on the load water line, and of such a depth as would not only afford comfortable head room in the cabins, but also give the craft a good hold of the water and make her very staunch and seaworthy. ‘These dimensions, it was considered, were sufficient for perfect seaworthi- ness, whilst the various timbers would be light enough to permit of their being handled and placed in position with comparative ease with the limited power at their command. ‘The greatest care was exercised in the selection of the timber, it being necessary to choose not only that which was thoroughly sound, but also such as could without very much labor be conveyed to the saw mull. This latter necessity, or rather the actual labor of conveying the timber to the mill, caused their progress to be somewhat less rapid than they had an- ticipated, especially as Nicholls was now busily engaged at the smithy pre- paring the bolts, fastenings, and other ironwork for the little craft, but, not- withstanding all, the work advanced with fairly satisfactory rapidity. It had been decided that the whole of the timber should be cut, sawn and stacked in the ship yard before even the keel blocks were laid down, so that it might become at least partially seasoned before being worked into the hull, and this was accomplished in rather less than a couple of months. At length the day arrived when, everything being ready, the keel of the vessel was to be laid down—a task which, the keel piece being cut out of one log, it took the little band an entire day to accomplish satisfactorily. And it was on the evening of this particular day, or rather during the ensuing night, that the little colony sustained a loss which plunged its members into grief so deep that its shadow never entirely left them until long after the termination of their sojourn upon the island. It happened thus: During the numerous passages of the raft to and fro between the west bay and Grant Island, a small reef had been discovered some six miles north of the main island, upon which reef, it had been further dis- covered, a certain fish of peculiarly delicate and agreeable flavor was to be caught between the hours of sunset and sunrise. So very delicious had this particular species of fish been found that it had become quite a custom for one or more of the men to take the raft after the day’s work was over and go off to the reef for an hour or two’s fishing, thus combining business and pleasure in a most agreeable manner. Captain Blake, especially, always partook of the fish with exceptional relish ; and, it happening at this time that all hands had been too busily GEoOmicdooks 3