CRATER OF VULCANO 77 



not linger long. A loud hurrah signalled to the others 

 that all was well, and they soon joined us on the edge 

 of the crater, where we stood waiting for an eruption, 

 in open order, so that in the event of a catastrophe 

 as few of us as possible might be killed. Then we 

 produced the bottle of wine which we had carried 

 wrapped in a coat up the mountain. We sprinkled the 



FIG. 12. Crater of Vulcano, just before an Eruption, 

 Sept. 21, 1889. (From a photograph.) 



ground, three times invoked the god, grim old Vulcan, 

 and then took a refreshing drink ourselves. The heat, 

 and especially the fine penetrating dust, had parched 

 us till we felt our tongues rattling against our teeth like 

 dice in a box. Seldom was wine more needed ; never did 

 it taste so delicious. It was a good quarter of an hour 

 before an eruption took place, and it was a comparatively 

 mild one when it did. With a rushing sound like the 



