I9O CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 



of a wavy outline, rising into pointed peaks, sinking 

 into hollows ; but from any point in this vast circum- 

 ference the wall descends rapidly, and almost perpen- 

 dicularly, to the water beneath. The sides are covered 

 with a stunted vegetation, forming a smooth, sloping 

 surface, which might deceive the spectator into the 

 belief that he could walk down to the bottom. On 

 the southern and south-western sides it assumes more 

 the amphitheatre shape, perpendicular ranges of rock 

 being piled one above another, circling around the 

 south-eastern side in columns that call to mind the 

 ruins of the Coliseum. 



The eastern wall divides the two craters — the 

 "old" and the "new"; the latter blown out in the 

 eruption of 181 2, where before was solid mountain. It 

 is a mere jagged escarpment, along which no one now 

 dares climb. Before the rain and force of the violent 

 winds had crumbled it so much, it was once scaled. 

 It is said that Prince Alfred attempted it in 1861, on 

 the occasion of his ascent of this volcano, but failed to 

 accomplish it. It is so narrow that one can stride it, 

 and so steep down either side that it makes the head 

 swim to measure it from above. The northern brim 

 is the lowest, and it is here that the lava poured out 

 towards the Caribbean Sea at Morne Ronde ; and be- 

 yond is the higher peak, against which was forced the 

 fiery flood, as seen by the wondering inhabitants of 

 the coast. On the southern side the trees and shrubs 

 seem blasted and blackened by sulphur fumes. The 

 southern wall rises high, and in its dome-shaped sum- 

 mit is excavated the cave, my home for nearly a 

 week ; its dark portal can be distinctly seen, though 

 a mile away. 



