IN GREAT PERIL. 231 



neath. Tlie wliole certainly occurred in a less 

 space of time than it takes to read two lines on this 

 page. I found myself safe — drew a long breath of 

 relief — thanked God it was well with me — and, kick- 

 ing away the loose stones with my heels, turned 

 round and kept on climbing. Above this band of 

 loose stones the surface of the mountain was covered 

 with a crust formed chiefly of the sulphur washed 

 down by the rains, which have also formed many 

 small grooves. Here we made better progress, 

 thou2:h it seemed the next thino; to climbinsr the 

 side of a brick house ; and I thought I should 

 certainly be eligi]:)le to the "Alpine Club"— if I 

 ever got down alive. At this moment the natives 

 above us gave a loud shout, and I supposed of course 

 that some one had lost his footing and was going 

 do^\Ti to certain death. " Look out ! Looh out ! — 

 Great roclcs are coming ! " was the order they gave 

 us ; and the next instant several small blocks, and 

 one great flake of lava two feet in diameter, bounded 

 by us witJi the speed of lightning. '"'■Here is an- 

 other!'''' It is coming straight for us, and it will 

 take out one of our number to a certainty, I thought. 

 I had stood up in the front of battle when shot and 

 shell were flying, and men were falling ; but now to 

 see the danger coming, and to feel that I Avas per- 

 fectly helpless, I must confess, made me shudder, and 

 I crouclied down in the groove where I was, hoping 

 it might bound over me : and at that instant, a frag- 

 ment of lava, a foot square, leaped up from the moun- 

 tain and passed directly over the head of a coolie a 

 fe^v feet to my right, clearing him by not more than 



