54 Mr Charles Stewart's Account of the 



gether as they had been shattered from above in the quakings 

 of the mountain, and jutting oif to the bottom in a frightful 

 mass of ruin. Here we had been informed, the descent into the 

 depth of tlie crater could be most easily made ; but without a 

 guide, we were at a loss what course to take, till we unexpectedly 

 descried the gentlemen who had preceded us, reascending. They 

 dissuaded us most strenuously from proceeding further, but 

 their lively representations of the difficulty and dangers of the 

 way, only strengthened the resolution of Lord Byron to go down ; 

 and knowing that the crater had been crossed at this end, we 

 hastened on, notwithstanding the refusal of the guide to return 

 with us. The descent was as perilous as it had been represent- 

 ed to be, but by proceeding with great caution, testing well the 

 safety of every step before committing our weight to it, and of- 

 ten stopping to select the course which seemed least hazardous, 

 in the space of twenty minutes we reached the bottom by a zig- 

 zag way, without any accident of greater amount than a few 

 scratches on the hands, from the sharpness of the fragments of 

 lava by which we were occasionally obliged to support ourselves. 

 When about half way down, we were encouraged to persevere, 

 by meeting an islander, who had descended on the opposite side 

 and made his way over. It was only, however, from the re- 

 newed assurance it gave of the practicability of our attempt, 

 for, besides being greatly fatigued, he was much cut and bruised 

 from a fall, — said the bottom was " ino, ino roa^kawahi o De- 

 belo,'** — " very, very bad, the place of the Devil.'' He could 

 be prevailed on to return with us only by the promise of an 

 ample reward. 



It is difficult to say whether sensations of admiration or of 

 terror predominated, on reaching the depth of this tremendous 

 spot. As I looked up at the gigantic wall, which on every side 

 rose to the very sky around me, I felt oppressed, for a moment, 

 by a sense of confinement to a most unpleasant degree. Either 

 from the influence of imagination, or from the actual effisct of 

 the intense power of a vertical sun, added to the heated and sul- 

 phurous atmosphere of the volcano itself, I experienced an agi- 

 tation of spirits, and a difficulty of respiration, that made me 

 cast a look of wishful anxiety to our hut, which, at an elevation 

 of 1500 feet, seemed only like a bird's nest on the opposite cliff. 



