ALAJUELA AND THE VOLCANO POAS 355 



sides. Here the ash was thicker and coarser and on the op- 

 posite side of this small potrero, where we reentered woods, 

 we began to find stones varying from one-quarter of an inch 

 to an inch, irregularly shaped and some with sharp edges. 

 As we went on up we found larger ones up to a foot or more, 

 half buried in the soft ash. 



We left our horses at the edge of this potrero and after 

 crossing the swampy meadow walked three-quarters of a 

 mile through forest, the trail leading up a ravine so that 

 the ascent was there more gradual. Then came a slight drop 

 into an old crater, larger than the present active one but 

 shallower, its level floor ashy and yielding to the foot a little. 

 Both floor and walls were covered with vegetation which 

 was now whitened with ash. There were many large stones 

 here and it is probable that the larger (one to three feet) 

 may have been due to a previous eruption, as they were 

 harder, whereas those undoubtedly deposited by the last 

 eruption were compacted ash only, readily crumbling into 

 powder. On the far side of the old crater the trail for the 

 third time ran through deep woods and was here exceedingly 

 steep, leading up by steps of varying heights over fallen 

 logs and trees. The ash was now thick on leaves and stems 

 and made it difficult to recognize plants. Some ferns seemed 

 to be yellowed by the ash, but the leathery leaves, such as 

 those of ericads and myrtles, did not show much spotting 

 when the ash was rubbed off. It was too damp to be knocked 

 off completely, although our progress through the branches 

 was attended by a series of ashy showers. The vegetation 

 extends almost to the edge of the active crater, and on the 

 upper level around the crater rim consists almost entirely 

 of Myrtles and Vaccinium consanguineum about as high 

 as one's head. All these bushes were so covered with 

 ash that the whole mountain top looked uniformly gray 

 and dead. Even at the edge of the crater the plants were 



