316 APPENDIX 11 



either in ttis mountain or Mouna Kuah. At four p.m. I returned to the 

 centre of the dome, where I found the three men whom I had left all 

 huddling together to keep themselves warm. After collecting a few 

 specimens of lava, no time was to be lost in quitting this dreary and 

 terrific scene. The descent was even more fatiguing, dangerous, and 

 distressing than the ascent had proved, and required great caution in 

 us to escape unhurt ; for the natives, benumbed with cold, could not 

 walk fast. Darkness came on all too quickly, and though the twilight 

 is of considerable duration, I was obliged to halt, as I feared, for the 

 night, in a small cave. Here, though sheltered from the N.W. breeze, 

 which set in more and more strongly as the sun sunk below the horizon, 

 the thermometer fell to 19°, and as I was yet far above the line of vegeta-. 

 tion, unable to obtain any materials for a fire, and destitute of clothing 

 except the thin garments soaked in perspiration in which I had travelled 

 all day, and which rendered the cold most intense to my feelings, I ven- 

 tured, between ten and eleven p.m. to make an effort to proceed to the 

 camp. Never shall I forget the joy I felt when the welcome moon, for 

 whose appearance I had long been watching, fijst showed herself above 

 the volcano. The singular form which this luminary presented, was most 

 striking. The darkened limb was uppermost, and as I was sitting in 

 darkness, eagerly looking for her appearance on the horizon, I descried 

 a narrow silvery belt, 4° to 5° high, emerging from the lurid fiery cloud 

 of the volcano. This 1 conceived to be a portion of the light from the 

 fire, but a few moments showed me the lovely moon shining in splendour 

 in a cloudless sky, and casting a guiding beam over my rugged path. 

 Her pale face actually threw a glow of warmth into my whole frame, and 

 I joyfully and thankfully rose to scramble over the rough way, in the 

 solitude of the night, rather than await the approach of day in this com- 

 fortless place. Not so thought my followers. The bird-catcher and his 

 two companions would not stir ; so with my trusty man Calipio, who 

 follows me like a shadow, I proceeded in the descent. Of necessity we 

 walked slowly, stepping cautiously from ledge to ledge, but still having 

 exercise enough to excite a genial heat. The splendid constellation of 

 Orion, which had so often attracted my admiring gaze in my own native 

 land, and which had shortly passed the meridian, was my guide. I con- 

 tinued in a South-East direction tm two o'clock, when aU at once I came 

 to a low place, full of stunted shrubs, of more robust habit, however, 

 than those at the camp. I instantly struck a light, and found by the 

 examination of my barometer that I was nearly five hundred feet below 

 the camp. No response was given to our repeated caUs— it was evident 

 that no human being was near, so by the help of the moon's light we 

 shortly coUected plenty of fuel, and kindled a fine fire. No sooner did its 

 warmth and light begin to diffuse themselves over my frame than I 

 found myself instantly seized with violent pain and inflammation in my 

 eyes, which had been rather painful on the mountain, from the effect 

 of the sun's rays shining on the snow ; a slight discharge of blood from 

 both eyes followed, which gave me some rehef, and which proved that 

 the attack was as much attributable to violent fatigue as anv other cause 



