90 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



an occasional iguana blinked at us from the 

 black scoriae with which the whole coast was 

 surrounded. All the islands of this group 

 bear unmistakeable marks of fire, and many 

 extinct craters are visible, but only on Albe- 

 marle Island is there a volcano in active 

 operation. 



Landing abreast of a deserted hut on the 

 beach we started for the interior, the colonel lead- 

 ing the way. The path, gradually ascending, led 

 through the same desolate sort of waste we had 

 traversed the day before, with cinders under 

 foot and thorny jungle around. After an 

 hour's sharp walk we reached a hut, where we 

 rested for a few minutes ; from this place the 

 country improved in appearance, trees showed 

 signs of life, and wild flowers grew here and 

 there, and the fresh trade wind made our walk 

 more pleasant. We presently reached a plateau 

 of about 1000 feet high, where the whole style 

 of the country changed, and we emerged from 

 a wilderness into a beautiful park-like country, 

 surrounded by hills and valleys, with trees 



