CHAP. I.] BERMUDAS TO MADEIRA. 41 



striking. You find that you are on the top of the ridge bound- 

 ing an old crater of great extent. The valley of the Furnas, 

 richly cultivated and wooded, lies directly below ; with a scat- 

 tered town, with public gardens, baths, and lodging-houses, 

 as an object of central interest. The valley, at a first glance, 

 looks strangely familiar, from its resemblance to many of the 

 valleys in Switzerland. It is not until the eye has wandered 

 over the lava ridges and rested upon the dense columns of va- 

 por rising from the boiling springs, that one realizes the critical 

 condition of things — the fact that he is descending into the 

 crater of a volcano, which still gives unmistakable signs of ac- 

 tivity. 



The road into the valley is very steep, zigzagging through 

 deep cuttings down the face of the mountain. It was about 

 five o'clock when our now somewhat weary cavalcade drew up 

 before the door of the hotel in the village. 



We had been told by the British consul at Ponta Delgada 

 that about four miles beyond the village, following a bridle- 

 path across a ridge and along the border of a lake, we should 

 find a comfortable, commodious hotel, kept by an Englishman, 

 where, if we gave due notice, we could get all accommodation. 

 Unfortunately there was no time to give notice, so we deter- 

 mined to go on chance. 



One or two of us started off on foot, while the gear was be- 

 ing transferred from the carriages to a train of donkeys, to give 

 Mr. and Mrs. Brown what preparation we might, and to organ- 

 ize some dinner. We had a lovely walk — up a winding path 

 among the rocks to the top of a saddle, where a beautiful blue 

 lake about a couple of miles in length, bordered with richly 

 wooded cliffs, lay below us. On the opposite side, about a 

 couple of hundred feet above the lake, we could see Gren'a, 

 Mr. Brown's house ; and nearer us, on the shore of the lake, a 

 group of natural caldrons, wliere the water was bubbling and 

 steaming, and spreading widely through the air a slight and not 



