352 MR. BIDWILL'S ASCENT [PART n. 



side, I found myself in a stream of lava, perfectly 

 undecomposed, but still old enough to have a few 

 plants growing among the fissures. As I progressed 

 towards the cone, which now seemed quite close, I 

 arrived at another stream of lava, so fresh that there 

 was not the slightest appearance of even a lichen 

 on it, and it looked as if it had been ejected but 

 yesterday. It was black, and very hard and com- 

 pact, just like all the lava I have seen in this coun- 

 try; but the two streams were very insignificant, 

 not longer at the utmost than three-quarters of a 

 mile each. I had no idea of the meaning of a ' sea 

 of rocks ' until I crossed them ; the edges of the 

 stony billows were so sharp, that it was very diffi- 

 cult to pass among them without cutting one's 

 clothes into shreds. I at last arrived at the cone : 

 it was, I suppose, of the ordinary steepness of such 

 heaps of volcanic cinders, but much higher. I es- 

 timate it at 1500 feet from the hollow from which 

 it appears to have sprung. It looks as if a vast 

 amphitheatre had been hollowed out of the sur- 

 rounding mountains in order to place it in. The 

 sides of all the mountains around are quite perpen- 

 dicular, and present a most magnificent scene. 

 Thermometer at the base of the cone, fine sunshine, 

 65 in sun ; no shade to be had : barometer 25i4. 



" The cone is entirely composed of loose cinders, 

 and I was heartily tired of the exertion before I 

 reached the top. Had it not been for the idea of 

 standing where no man ever stood before, I should 



