XX INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



' it agrees almost entirely with lava in elementary principles, in 

 " its grain, and in all the diversities of its textnre." And it seems 

 also to afford a demonstration, that after St. Helena was formed, 

 fires must have rushed through chasms and openings, and scori- 

 fied the clays, and the vertical rocks of basaltes, in their primi- 

 tive state. 



Of the honeycomb stone at Ladder Hill, and near the Planta- 

 tion-house, the Chinese, who are expert stone-cutters, have 

 manufactured troughs, bowls, urns, pestles and mortars, and 

 hand-mills. These last answer the purpose extremely well, 

 leaving no grit in the flour. Wherefore, it may be presumed, 

 that mill-stones in abundance, and of the largest dimensions, 

 might be furnished from this island. 



Honeycomb stone is likewise found in various other parts. At 

 Halley's Mount, and in its vicinity, are two quarries of an imper- 

 fect kind. The one is on the eastern face of the mount, and the 

 other on the ridge which forms the south-west edge of the Devil's 

 Punch-bowl. The stones, particularly in the latter, have not 

 attained the solidity of the more perfect sorts. At Halley's mount, 

 amongst the cracks and fissures, are sometimes discovered bits 

 of spar, and thin, hard, flaky substances, having small protu- 

 berances on their surfaces, exhibiting a variety of colours. It is 

 remarkable, that on the western face of Halley's mount the rocks 

 are of the sa^e raw, shattered, and brittle sort, as those on the 

 central ridge. Some indeed are of a consistence between clay 

 and stone : and as there are no appearances of their having been 

 touched with fire, it may be inferred that the Punch-bowl itself 

 has been a crater, and that the flames issuing from it have 

 scorched the eastern face of Halley's mount and formed the 

 honeycomb stone, whilst the western face was in a manner hid 

 from the flames ; and thereby the stone and clay have been pre- 

 served in their primitive state. It is also deserving notice, that to 



