120 



S. SEKIYA ANJD Y. KIKUOHI 



of stones projected into the nil* from the crater. This we take to be 

 the true explanation. Puzzled at first as to the origin of the holes, 

 hut determined to investigate it fully, we dug a number of them 

 open. Thereby our doubts were soon cleared up. AVe found im- 

 bedded in the ground brittle and freshly fractured stones that had 

 apparently been shot forth by the volcanic outburst. AVhere the soil 

 was rocky, fragments of similar stones were scattered all about. In 

 one case we obtained very decisive evidence. A stone was discovered 

 in the soft loamy soil form- 

 ed by the decomposition of 

 andesitic rocks, at a depth 

 of nearly 2'5 metres below 

 the surface. The stone was 

 angular in shape, measur- 

 ing nearly 05 metres each 

 way, and showed a freshly 

 broken surface. Leaves of 

 bamboo, dwarf pine, and 

 creeping surface niants had 

 been carried with it into 

 the soil. These were much packed and crushed, but were still fresh 

 and green when dug out. On closely examining the hole we found 

 that, although more or less funnel shaped near the surface, it had 

 been sharply cut through in a tubular form, by the passage of the 

 stone which lay at its bottom. The original tubular passage 

 was, however, filled up by loose detritus mixed up with ashes, and 

 here and there with shrubs and bamboo twigfs, while the surrounding: 

 soil was a compact native red loam. The main features of this hole 

 are shown in the accompanying diagram. 



It was stated before that the steam ascended perhaps 1,280 



