450 BAND A. [chai-. xix. 



Going on shore, I walked up a pretty path which leads 

 to the highest point of the island on which the town is 

 situated, where there is a telegraph station and a magni- 

 ficent view. Below lies the little town, with its neat red- 

 tiled white houses and the thatched cottages of the natives, 

 bounded on one side by the old Portuguese fort. Beyond, 

 about half a mile distant, lies the larger island in the 

 shape of a horseshoe, formed of a range of abrupt hills 

 covered with fine forest and nutmeg gardens ; while close 

 opposite the town is the volcano, forming a nearly perfect 

 cone, the lower part only covered with a light green bushy 

 vegetation. On its north side the outline is more uneven, 

 and there is a slight hollow or chasm about one-fifth of the 

 way down, from which constantly issue two columns of 

 smoke, as well as a good deal from the rugged surface 

 around and from some spots nearer the summit. A white 

 efflorescence, probably sulphur, is thickly spread over the 

 upper part of the mountain, marked by the narrow black 

 vertical lines of water gullies. The smoke unites as it 

 rises, and forms a dense cloud, which in calm damp weather 

 spreads out into a wide canopy hiding the top of the 

 mountain. At night and early morning it often rises up 

 straight and leaves the whole outline clear. 



It is only when actually gazing on an active volcano 

 that one can fully realize its awfulness and grandeur. 

 Whence comes that inexhaustible fire whose dense and 



