52 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA. 



A WILD CAT. TREE-FERNS. MOUNTAIN PALMS. A RARE 

 HUMMING-BIRD. THE VALLEY OF DESOLATION. MISLED BY 

 A BOTTLE. BOILING SPRINGS. HOT STREAMS. SULPHUR 

 BATHS. THE SOLFATARA. BUILDING THE AJOUPA. COOK- 

 ING BREAKFAST IN A BOILING SPRING. 



Dominica's fire-cleft summits 

 Rise from bluest of blue oceans ; 

 Dominica's palms and plantains 

 Feel the trade-wind's mighty motions, 

 Swaying with impetuous stress 

 The West Indian wilderness. 



Dominica's crater-caldron 

 Seethes against its lava-beaches ; 

 Boils in misty desolation ; 

 Seldom foot its border reaches ; 

 Seldom any traveler's eye 

 Penetrates its barriers high. 



Lucy Larcom. 



THE record of the weather for a month : showery, 

 cool and delightful. On the coast it was ten 

 degrees hotter ; but in this elevated valley, two thou- 

 sand feet above the sea, the eastern peaks caught the 

 flying clouds from the " trades " and precipitated their 

 burden of moisture. 



