312 Voyage of the Novara. 



in a word, to what is known as the Chimborazo formation. 

 A section of the east-side, taken in profile, lays bare its entire 

 geological history, and forms one of the most instructive means 

 of coming to direct conclusions as to its geological structure. 



The birth of this island from the bosom of the deep, 

 combined with eruptions of lava and scoriae, was the last efibrt 

 of the subterranean forces. Since that period it has been 

 subject wholly and solely to the various terrestrial influences, 

 although the lapse of centuries has not been able to extirpate 

 the last traces of the volcanic fire which once poured forth 

 its currents of molten lava. A large proportion of the 

 level ground is hot, and at the lower edge of the rim of 

 the crater appear several hot springs, the temperature of 

 \\^hich, as already remarked, is so high that fish, eggs, potatoes, 

 &c., can be cooked on them in a few minutes. The highest 

 point of St. Paul rises 87O feet above the basin of the crater. 

 Its walls rise abruptly at an angle of about 85°, while the upper 

 surface of the island (with the single exception of a small 

 plateau of about 400 feet on the north side) stretches, at 

 first level from the periphery of the upper margin of the 

 crater, gradually falling away towards the sea-coast, at an 

 angle of about 13°. On its North-west coast, where it is 

 from 100 to 200 feet in perpendicular height, the island 

 presents several small pyramids of pumice, like parasitic warts 

 on the principal mass. 



Like the geologist, the botanist also found in this wild spot 

 an unusual opportunity of acquiring accurate information as to 



