288 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 



The flat country extends inland for about four miles, to the 

 base of the mountain. Above this the slope is very gradual to 

 an elevation of 500 ft. So far as could be obsei-^-ed, this side of 

 the mountain is covered with volcanic cinder, which has become 

 slightly disintegrated and mixed with vegetable mold, forming a 

 scant soil. The slope is less gradual above 500 ft. and continues 

 so to an elevation of 2,400 ft. This part of the mountain side is 

 rather rolling and slightly terraced in places. There is suffi- 

 cient soil over the upper part of the mountain to completely 

 cover the lava except on ridges and other exposed places. The 

 slope of the mountain side is quite abrupt above 2,4(X) ft. to the 

 rim of the crater, which has an elevation of 3,150 ft. 



As near as could be estimated the crater is about seven miles 

 long and four miles broad, the greatest diameter being approxi- 

 mately east and west. The floor of the crater is flat at its east- 

 ern end and is filled with numerous crevices through some of 

 which vapors issue periodically. There is a prominent ridge 

 near the center of the crater which rises gradually in height un- 

 til at its west end it is nearly as high as the rim. A small active 

 sulpluir volcano is situated on the south side of this ridge, and 

 still another larger one at its west end around both of which 

 there are deposits of sulphur. It is from this place that the in- 

 habitants obtain the sulphur which they export to Ecuador. 



Small swamps of Rhizophora Mangle occur in places around 

 Villamil Bay, and trees of Avicennia officinalis, and bushes and 

 trees of Laguncularia racemosa are to be found in several places 

 near the coast. Quite a grove of these occurs near the settle- 

 ment. Along the sand beaches west of the bay, there are many 

 small halophytic and semihalophytic plants such as: Cryptocar- 

 pus pyriformis, Heliotropium curassavicum, Ipomoea Pes-caprae, 

 and Scaevola Plumieri. The sand flat, back of the beach, is cov- 

 ered with a dense growth of Sporobolus virginicus in which there 

 are small groves of Hippomane Mancinella trees, and bushes of 

 Cryptocarpus pyriformis. In places around the edges of the 

 sand-flat there are thickets of Conocarpus erectus, some of which 

 form trees twenty-five or more feet high. 



Tliere is a low area of limited extent about a mile west of Villa- 

 mil in which the soil is kept moist by the water which comes 

 down through the lava from the interior. There are quite a 

 number of mesophytic plants here. Vines of Argyreia tiliae- 

 folia and Cissampelos Pareira cover the rocks in places and there 



