1912] ints ACTIVE CRATER 243 
hands at once and we got breakfast, deciding to take time by the 
forelock and not risk a change of weather. 
The only drawback to the morning was a low temperature, 
—15° F. to —18° F., and a cold southerly wind which gave us 
a good deal of trouble, as the high altitude very much decreased 
our chances of resisting frostbite. From the scenic point of view 
the valcano could not have been better, for it was very active, 
and the steam cloud was being carried steadily northward by the 
breeze. As we approached the active crater we secured photo- 
graph after photograph, and I also took several looking back at 
our camp and the old crater in the background, and at Mount 
Terror and Mount Bird. A good description of these two upper 
craters has already been given by Professor David, and repeti- 
tion would be unnecessary and useless. The principal impression 
they have left on our minds is that of absolute bareness and 
desolation. 
As our altitude increased we were more and more troubled 
with shortness of breath and fatigue, and were obliged to rest 
every hundred yards or so; but we reached the summit of the 
active cone within two or three hours of leaving the camp, and 
while Gran made a cairn for the record I had prepared, I en- ° 
deavoured with the help of Abbott and Hooper to light the hyp- 
someter; but the breeze was too stiff and enfiladed the crater 
rim so that no adequate shelter could be obtained, and after wast- 
ing half a box of matches and getting several frostbitten fingers 
we were obliged to desist. Gran and I then took a series of 
photographs on the rim of the crater, but we were unable to see 
more than a few feet down because of the steam and sulphur 
vapour, which caused us considerable inconvenience even during 
the short time we spent on the rim, for every slight variation 
of direction of the wind resulted in our complete envelopment 
by the vapour, which was not too good to breathe in. 
After a short while on top Hooper reported that his feet 
were frostbitten, and I at once ordered him back to camp, telling 
off Abbott to accompany him and to collect a rucksack full of 
pumice on his way down. 
Gran and I continued slowly down the cone, collecting fel- 
spars as we went, and I had descended about 500 feet when I 
discovered to my annoyance that instead of the record we had 
left a tin of exposed films at the summit. Gran immediately vol- 
