i 9 ] THE 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 - 1 8 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- 



