176 Letter XII. 
After several displays of this kind,I became sufficiently com- 
posed to seat myself beside my companion, who had been tak- 
ing it all very coolly, having often visited the place before— 
and attempted a sketch. The drawing, though it may give 
some idea as to the shape and appearance of the crater, gives 
but a very poor impression of an eruption. These outbursts 
cannot be depicted, nor indeed can they be properly described— 
at least by a pen so inexperienced as mine. 
The fearful noise—one of the most striking characteristics 
in connection with these eruptions—how can it be described on 
paper, so as to make you hear it? From a picture or a descrip- 
tion you might, by an effort of the imagination, be able to 
realise to some extent the appearance of the volcano and the 
nature of its action; but neither of these methods would have 
any effect in making you realise the quantity of noise which it 
emits. But inasmuch as I can’t draw a noise, and can’t describe 
a noise, I must be content with stating the fact that we stood 
within sixty yards or so of a roar that is distinctly heard on 
Aneityum, forty miles away, and then leave you to make the 
best of it for yourselves. 
These eruptions give the onlooker a very vivid idea of what 
force is, when exerted in a violent way, and, if he be in a con- 
templative mood, will lead him to think what is the cause of 
them. 
One theory is, that the interior of this earth is a liquid mass 
of molten matter, and that the volcanoes are outlets for the 
gases generated by this heat. It is a very uncomfortable theory 
indeed, and one which should not be encouraged. It is highly 
unpleasant to be told that we are living merely upon a thin and 
shaky crust, beneath which rages a vast sea of fiery fluid, which 
here and there breaks out in the volcanic eruption, or sways 
the trembling crust in the earthquake. What guarantee have 
we that our part of the crust won’t get melted and cave in 
