BY THE REV. J. E. TENISON-WOODS. 587 



for it was very cold, though clear. We soon again ascended 

 into a treeless region. The grass was thick and rank, for there 

 was no cultivation. It could easily be seen that we were approach- 

 ing the scene of more active disturbance. The short billow-like 

 hillock of ash grew more irregular and steep. Here, also, I saw 

 many species of plants and ferns which I obtained nowhere else. 

 A rather steeper climb than usual brought us to a miserable attap 

 shed, built on a terrace cut ovit of the rock, and fenced in. All 

 beyond and below that was then a white sea of mist, out of which 

 came a dull, hoarse roar from Bromo. 



We were on the edge of the large crater. Below us was the 

 mysterious sand sea, and in the middle of that Bromo. It was 

 .scarcely eight in the morning, and the clouds had not cleared away. 

 Above our heads the sky was shining brightly, but below all was 

 like white wool. To the southward was Semeru, also shrouded 

 in mist. While waiting for the morning to clear I took the 

 bearings and altitudes of those peaks which showed, with the aid 

 of a prismatic compass and pocket sextant. By the observations 

 made going and returning I found the rest-house to be 7,237 feet 

 above the sea. 



I was just finishing with my water-boiling when the mist began 

 to roll back. In ten minutes all had cleared away, and a scene 

 emerged so rigid and severe that it was hard to understand how 

 it had been concealed under those soft white fleecy clouds. But 

 what a wonderful — what a desolate scene it was ! An innnense 

 wide plain appeared 500 feet bwlow us — so immediately below us 

 that one would imagine it was easy to leap into it from the 

 terrace where we halted. It was, in truth, a sand sea of greyish- 

 brown, with rugged walls of slag and cinder all round. Some- 

 times these walls were blackened or reddened by fire, but more 

 often grey and scored by the rains as if they consisted of fresh 

 mortar. The sand sea seemed level and devoid of vegetation, 

 though there is grass upon it. The creeks of last year's rains liad 

 made wide channels of ripple marks across the plain. They looked 

 as if filled with running water, but they were perfectly dry, and so 



