THE CRATER 217 



in some places overhang the water, and from their apparently 

 horizontal stratification are no doubt of gneiss rock. In coming 

 up the hill I noticed a few small lumps of gneiss among the 

 basaltic lava pebbles. The strongest feature of Tritriva is the 

 sharply defined vertical opening of the vent, looking as if the 

 rocks had been cut clean through with an enormous chisel, and 

 as if they must dip down as is the case to profound depths 

 below the dusky green waters. At the northern end of the lake 

 is a deep gorge or cleft, partly filled with bushes and other 

 vegetation. Southward of this, on the eastern side, the cliffs 

 are still lofty and overhang the water, but at about a third of 

 the lake's length they gradually decrease in height, and at the 

 southern point they dip down to the level of the lake, so that at 

 that part only can the water be approached. On the western 

 side the cliffs keep a pretty uniform height all along the whole 

 length. 



So steep is the inward slope of the crater walls that we all 

 experienced a somewhat " eerie " feeling in walking along the 

 footpath at its edge ; for at a very few feet from this a false step 

 would set one rolling downwards, with nothing to break the 

 descent to the edge of the cliffs, and then to the dark waters 

 below. Yet there was a strange fascination in the scene, and 

 the variety and contrast and depth of the colours would make 

 the Tritriva lake and slopes a striking subject for a painting 

 from many different points along its crater wall. When we 

 arrived, the sun, yet wanting an hour and a half of noon, was 

 still lighting up the grey-white stone of the western cliffs, but 

 the shadows were every minute growing more intense as the sun 

 became more nearly vertical. Far below us was the deep green 

 oval lake ; above it, the stratified gneiss cliffs with their black 

 streaks, diversified here and there by patches of bright green 

 bush. Then again from their edges sweep steeply upwards 

 the grey-green sides of the crater, culminating in the lofty 

 western ridge opposite to us. And over all was the blue sky 

 flecked with cirrus clouds ; altogether a scene such as I 

 have seen nowhere else in Madagascar, or indeed in any other 

 country. 



After fixing in our minds the view from the north-east, we 

 proceeded southwards along the crater edge to the higher part 

 at the south-east, where the view is equally striking, and the 



