104 



opened some years since, and emits nothing but smoke. 

 Here are abundance of large and deep chinks, which 

 doubtless burned in former times. In the middle oi 

 this plain is a very ^ ep abyss. It is said there was 

 once a great earthquake in the island, and that the 

 Brimstone Hill (so they call it) then took rlre. It was 

 probably then this abyss was opened. It is between two 

 crags that rise above the mountain, and on the north side 

 answers to the great cleft, which goes down above a 

 thousand feet perpendicular, is more than twenty feet 

 broad, and penetrates above a hundred paces in the flat. 

 So that in this place the mountain is fairly split, from the 

 top down to the basis of the cone. 



On this plain you may see the clouds gather below, 

 and hear the thunder rumble under your feet. The 

 great cavern is under the cleft, and was doubtless formed 

 by the same earthquake that split the mountain into two 

 parts nearly equal. The parting goes north and south. 

 To the north is the cleft and cavern, in the middle the 

 abyss, and to the south the burning gulph. The cavern 

 is above twenty-five feet wide, ad much in height, and 

 about sixty paces deep. Within this is a second ca?ve, 

 about sixty feet in length, as much in breadth, and forty 

 in height. Here the heat is moderate: but there is a third 

 cave within this, where it is so hot, that a torch will 

 give no light therein, and a man can scarce fetch breath. 

 Yet on the left is a great hollow, which is sufficiently 

 cool. And the space of one fathom makes the differ- 

 ence. It seems strange, that in the same cave, three 

 hundred feet under ground, it should be so hot on one 

 side, and so cool on the other. Perhaps the cool side 

 has some vent into the great cleft, and receives fresh air 

 thereby. 



] 3. Another surprising eminence, which may be ranked 

 among burning mountains, is the Pike of Tenerirle. 

 On the summit of it is a hollow, twelve or fourteen feet 

 deep : the sides, sloping down to the bottom, form a ca- 

 vity like a truncated cone, with its base uppermost. 

 This cavity is nearly circular* about forty fathoms across, 



