View of the active Crater. 175 
crater, and to this we proceeded, walking along the rough sur- 
face of the hardened scoria. 
Here our native guides saw fit to leave us, not caring to have 
a closer acquaintance with the volcano. So Mr. Neilson and I 
approached it alone, and reaching the edge, gazed down into 
its open mouth. 
In shape, this crater is much like the extinct one which we 
had just passed ; but though no eruption took place for a few 
minutes after our arrival, there were abundant traces of activity 
visible. At the bottom of the large basin, there are three or 
four deep chasms, down which we could not see. From these 
there issued jets of steam, and gasping gurgling sighs and 
stifled snorts, as if legions of demons were fighting and choking 
one another in the mysterious depths below. Up the sides of 
the crater numerous white jets of sulphurous steam kept rising, 
while the ground on which we stood was almost too hot to be 
touched with the hand. 
About five minutes after we arrived at the edge, an eruption 
took place. It was the grandest and most appalling sight I ever 
witnessed. 
First, from one of the chasms there came a preliminary 
growl; and then, with a roar as if the very earth ‘were being 
rent in twain, there burst into the air a stream of molten lava, 
large red hot stones, and smoke that looked quite solid in its 
blackness. Hundreds of feet above our heads the fearful 
deluge flew, while I stood trembling in my insignificance, 
watching with eager eye the course of the fiery zrolites. I never 
felt so small in all my life before, and never so relieved as 
when, with many a patter and many a bang, the stones and lava 
reached the earth again. Mostly the burning stuff fell back 
‘into the crater again, and all of it was inclined by the wind 
away from us, as of course we were on the windward side 
of the crater. 
