A CAMP IN A CRATER. 193 
eastern wall of the cave. By my direction, he cut 
four small trees having crotches at the tops, and planted 
them in the ground with their crotched parts meeting, 
where | lashed them together, one pair at either side 
of the cave. Across these I laid a pole the length of 
the cave, and secured it firmly with lines, thus forming 
a secure framework, to which I swung my hammock. 
Over the pole, sheltering the hammock, was stretched 
a square of canvas eight feet across, with each corner 
fastened to pegs in the ground. Thus was I provided 
with bed and shelter within half an hour from the 
time we reached the cave. A pair of army blankets 
to cover me, and a coat for a pillow, made a bed so. 
soft and tempting that I could scarcely wait for the 
water to boil for the coffee; and after a lunch of 
sardines and crackers we turned into our respective 
quarters. 
Toby, my only companion, deserves especial notice, 
for, though he did not conduct himself throughout our 
stay on the mountain-top with that courage and 
equanimity so desirable in an explorer, or the com- 
panion of one, still he was the only human being 
who accompanied me through it all. To begin with, 
he was black: if a bottle of ink had been emptied 
over him he could not have been blacker, it would 
have been only a waste of ink. And his eyes were 
white — that is, the whites of them; and whether 
the contrast between them and his skin was owing 
to the whiteness of one and the blackness of the 
other, or to the sootiness of the other and the chalki- 
ness of the one, I could not determine. His nose was 
broad; to say that it was as broad as it was long 
would be confusion to one’s ideas of length and 
13 
