i. to settle again; The silver in my pod 

 "f my camera were soon disco!) 

 blue-black hue. Several streams run out and down, uniting 

 in a Common torrent ; streams hot, impregnated with .sul- 

 phur; streams cold, clear and spaikling, only a yard apart; 

 to blue and green to vellow and milk- 

 white, 



i ol :i West Indian noon was made ten- fold op- 

 pressive by the hot, moisture-laden atmosphere. Mj 

 slipped, as we groped our way through the clouds of vapor, 

 and got slightly scalded by breaking through the thin crust 

 that covered the boiling caldron beneath. We descended 

 between huge white rocks and bleached and dying trees to a 

 stream of marvelous beauty, inching our way among vol- 

 canic boulders. At once the scene changed; we entered a 

 ravine through which flowed the streams from above, now 

 mingled in one tepid torrent, along whose banks grew, rank 

 and luxuriant, plants ol such tropic loveliness as made me 

 hold my breath in delight and suipxise. Everywhere.plaabed 

 and tinkled musical waterfalls and cascades, from all sides 

 tittle streams came pouring in their tribute ; here a cold and 

 sparkling stream, there another boiling hot, its track be- 

 tokened by a wreath of steam. There were tree ferns, wild 

 plantains, palms, orchids and wild pints, tropical vines, 

 lianas, strange flowers, gay epiphytes, Up and down and 

 across stretched the lianas, forming a net-work which my 

 guides were obliged to sever repeatedly with their great cut- 

 lasses. Along the bank ol this stream and through the water 

 we walked in delight— at least 1 did— for it seemed a very 

 tropical Eden. And yet on all sides of us was barrenness 

 and desolation ; these beautiful forms were all created by 

 i. action of hot water upon the scanty soil. Climbing-, 

 slipping, scrambling, we at. I a ;-. I reached" a steep bill-side, 

 where trees o! different kinds were growing ; and here we 

 rested, for here was the spot selected for our camp. But 

 there yet remained the Lake, to which all these strange 

 sights were, but preparatory scenes. It was hot a twenty 

 minute's walk, or climb, to the basin. We cruld I 

 roaring behind the hill. Leaving superfluous luggage and 



ie 11 to make camp, I started" on again with 

 gun and photographic apparatus. We reached another 

 river, which was tumbling noisily over blanched tree trunks 

 and sulphur encrusted rocks, and came out of a large mound 

 of scoriae and pumice, white as snow. Its water was milk- 

 white from the quantity of magnesia held in solution, and 

 steaming hot. Into it poured minor streams of every shade, 

 from white to ochreous, and one black as ink. 



tip over large rocks, covered with soft sphagnum, green 

 and white in color: up, over and through rapids and around 

 falls, passing feeding streamlets of hoi, cold, mineral and pure 

 water by turns, into a basin (at the immediate base of a high 

 mountain), filled with heaps of sulphur-stones scattered over 

 a smooth floor of bitumen, with a jet of steam eecapfrj 

 and there from a hole or fissure in' its quaking crust ; up the 

 banks of a little stream of sulphur water, "subterranean at 

 times, leaving the rivers behind us, and having a steep bank 

 before us, which we quickly scaled, and revealed to our gaze 

 lay the Lake. 



My first feeling was that of disappointment, for the surface 

 of the lake, usually so turbulent, was placid, save in the 

 centre, a slight movement— more from the escape of gas than 

 from ebullition— disturbed it, and sent ever-expanding nave- 

 lets to the snore. It is sunk in a huge basin, which it has 

 hollowed out for itself. Undoubtedly, it was once 8 



set, which, by the volume and violence of its flow, in. 

 creased and deepened the aperture through which it escaped, 

 until of its present dimensions. 



The present height of the sui rounding walls I estimate at 

 from eighty to one hundred feet, and its diameter at from three 

 hundred to four hundred. As there have been no accurate 

 measurements— indeed the total number of white men who 

 have looked upon it is not a score — its area will longbea mat- 

 ter of speculation only. 



The banks are of lerruginous earth, with stones and rocks 

 I'd, as nearly perpendicular as their consistency will 

 instantly caving and falling in. 



Two streams of cold water fall into the lake on the north, 

 above which rise high bills. Down the bed of one of these 

 we round a place to leap. My apparatus was passed down, 

 ■ndlat fincepioceeded I o secure B picture of the lake. It 

 was then four o'clock, and the sun had dropped very near' the 

 margin of the western hills, and just lingered sufficiently to 

 allow me to secure lhe first photograph ever made in these 

 mountains. Well for me that the lake was in a state of qui- 

 escence. Well for the success of my picture that the water 

 was not in a wild fury of ebullition, and that its basin was 

 not filled with steam, as it had ever been found before. 



Directly opposite lhe stream in which I stood was the rent 

 in the wall through which flowed the overflow from the lake, 

 when it was at its work, through which at such times poured 

 a stream of sulphur water that formed at times a torrent and 

 descended to the coast below. Through this gap I could 

 look away SGUth, across and over green mountains to the Shores 

 of Martinique-gleaming through the mist in the waning sunlight 

 twenty miles away, yet seemingly within an hour's row of 

 yonder ridge— the same eastern shores of Martinique that 1 

 looked upon three months previously when 1 first saw these 

 islands of the Caribbean Sea. 



This tent is from thirty to forty feet in width at the top, 

 .baps fifty in depth. 



1 descended to the lake margin. The rim of recent subsid- 

 ence was clearly defined : a belt of black, yellow and gray de- 

 posit, some three, feet wide, ft, was narrower on the second 

 day, and the ebullition had much increased, showing that, 

 though I was the first, to discover it in repose, itmust be in- 

 termittent in character, and was then preparing to boil forth 

 again. For this effect I wailed long, much desiring to fee it 

 in that state, but was not gratified, though the disturbance 

 and noises continued to increase and the water to rise. The 

 temperature of the water, as far out as I could reach my ther- 

 momeu i l. - . of lhe air at the same time, 07 fle- 



luanis falling into the lake, 05 degrees, Fahr. 

 Borne months previously, my friend, Dr. Kicholls, one of the 

 ■ ■ ; :l cxplor ng parly who discovered this lake, found it at 

 a ten i i6 degrees Fahr ; and Mr. Prestoe, of the 



ii Gardens of Trinidad, recorded from 180 to 190 de- 

 gre Fahr. They also found it fiercely boiling, the whole 

 crater filled stearin, and could obtain only occasionally a 

 e water and surrounding walls. They found no 

 Bottom with a Ike 185 feet long, ten feet from the water's 

 edge. 



With Mr. Prestoe, f conclude that this solfatara, by 

 widening and deepening its outlet, will eventually lose its 

 lake character and become, merely a geyser. 



From the high bank above the lake, near the gap through 



which the waters find egress, is a fine view of the whole 



m wall, with the streams falling down from the back- 



ground of mountain, the hollows and miniature , 

 peaks beyond. The iiver-bed below is dry and v 

 huge rocks, tons in weight, that the waters have moved from 

 their beds, attest the force of the current, when the lake Is at 

 its height. From the north, coming down into another 

 desolate valley, are small streams— yellow, white, green, 

 blue. A spring boils up through a hole three feet across, 

 Lug the surface eight, "inches or more. The main 

 volume of hot water comes from higher up the mountains, 

 and there is, 1 think, another source as large as this, which 

 at present is unknown. The mountains around are green 

 with low shrubs, and from the bank above the lake I secured 

 a giant lycopodium, which is not found elsewhere in any 

 abundance. 



We retraced our steps about an hour before sunset, and 

 found on the hillside a comfortable camp, constructed 

 by Francois and Joseph during our absence. Th 

 oi camp, constructed in baste, isa peculiarity of the 

 Regarding the etymology of the woid, I am in doubt. Hum- 

 boldt speaks of the ajoupas, or kings' houses, among the 

 Caribs of South America, which were used as bouses of en- 

 tertainment for travelers. 'Whatever the origin of the term, 

 il is now fixed in lhe patois of the mountaineers to designate 

 a hut thrown up hastily for temporary occupation— what 

 we, in America, would call a " camp." My men first con- 

 structed a framework of light poles, tied together with roots 

 and vines, and covered it with the broad lea , es 61 thi bdHst r, 

 or wild plantain (Heliconia bclria). This plant, which gnaw s 

 everywhere in shade and moisture, is one of the attractive 

 features of the vegetation here. Its leaf is like an elongated 

 banana leaf, hut not so wide, and with greater strength and 

 toughness. It grows in great groups and masses, which are 

 further made conspicuous by the long spikes of (lowers, like 

 yellow and crimson cups, boat-shaped. Like the 

 plant serves a great varielyof uses. Its root isboiled and fed 

 to hogs, I believe; the mid-rib of the leaf is stripped and split 

 and woven into baskets; the leaves are used for the thatch- 

 ing of huts, as substitutes for table cloths and plates, in the 

 i avelopes in which to wrap anything of soft na- 

 ture, as butter or honey,— in fact, as wrapping for every- 

 thing portable, the tissue is so fine and flexible. The young 

 leaves arc our substitute for drinking-cups, and it is more con- 

 venient to twist off an overhanging leaf, and throw it away 

 when done, than to bear about with you a clumsy ciiji. It's 

 utility then is second only to that of the cocoa pa'lm. 



They bad brought up huge bundles of lhe leaves from the 

 river below. Slicing lhe under side of the mid-rib half-way 

 through with a diagonal cut, leaving a barb by winch to at- 

 tach it to the cross-pole, Francois would hand the leaves to 

 Joseph, who rapidly placed them in position, attached to 

 the pole and kept in place by the projecting point, one row 

 overlapping the other. In a short time they hac made 

 thick roof, completely impervious to water, which was good 

 for a week, so long as the leaves remained green and were 

 not split and shrunken by the sun. 



A raised platform of poles, all cut with the cutlass, was 

 covered with a good layer of leaves, and upon this I spread 

 my blanket and reposed quietly all night, my faithful boys 

 sleeping upon the ground, lulled to sleep by the rushing of 

 Lhe. waterfalls. 



" La Belle," the firefly, illumined our C8mp in the even- 

 ing, and an odorous fire of the gum of the flambeaux tree 

 gave both light and fragrant incense. 



Over this, Joseph, in his broken French patois and Eng- 

 lish, told the story of the discovery of the lake by Mr. Watt, 

 the one who first surmised its "existence, in 1875, This 

 gentleman, a magistrate in the colony, was prone to wander 

 in lhe mountains in search of adventure. One day he had 

 penetrated farther than usual, by following a valley that led 

 up into the interior, and noticed in the air distinct and 

 powerful sulphur fumes. At a late period he set out to as- 

 certain the cause, taking with him two negroes as guides; 

 but, through the pusillanimity of his men, who abandoned 

 him, was lost in the forest for several days. Let Joseph tell 

 the story : 



" Monsieur Watt he walk, walk, walk pour tree day ; he 

 lose hees do's, bees pant out off, he make cozing pour 

 manger but root; no knife, no nozing; bees guide was nee- 

 gah" (the mountaineers, though negroes themselves, have 

 great contempt for town negroes); "zey was town neegab, 

 and leab him and lost him. He come to black man's house 

 in ze wood, and ze black man stink he jmnbie, and he run; 

 when he come back wiz some mo' men, for look for jombie, 

 Monsieur Watt he make coople of sign (he have to lost hees 

 voice and was not speak i, and zey deescover heem." 



At daybreak we were stirring. I descended the bank and 

 waded up the stream to take my morning bath. There were 

 two streams, one hot, one cold, which ran in near channels, 

 meeting below. Following the warm one, stepping from 

 pool to pool, I reached a waterfall, coming from a course at 

 right angles to the main stream, falling over the bank with 

 much iorce. It was about twelve feet in height, and sur- 

 rounded by a wealth of tropical plants, from the depths of 

 which it suddenly appeared. And it was hot— or just as 

 hot us skin could bear— as I sidled under if, first a hand, 

 then an arm, then a shoulder, unlil the whole volume of 

 warm water fell squarely upon my head. Ah! it was the 

 perfection of luxurious sensations. I essayed to shout aloud 

 in my delight, but the falling water drowned my voice; and 

 I paddled in the pool in silent ecstasy, drawing 

 breaths, and allowing the rushing of the water, the delicious 

 warmth of the bath, the flying spray, to lull me to repose. 

 I think I should have fallen asleep had I net been warned, 

 by slipping from the rock on Which I sat, that I was becom- 

 ing unconscious. It was too blissful to leave, too soothing, 

 and I stepped from tinder the warm douche only to return 

 again and again. Reaching out my hand, I placed it in a 

 stream of cold water, while I sat in "this tepid bath; it was 

 sulphur water at that — Veau mini 



What benefits might be derived by those unfortunates af- 

 flicted with rheumatism and kindred complaints from a dip 

 in these healing waters! They would need a balloon, though, 

 as means of conveyance, for only travel-toughened backs 

 and Sturdy limbs can accomplish this journey at present. 



My guitlcs boiled coffee, and that imbibed, we shouldered 

 our traps and marched back on the homeward trail. 



We reached the first Souff riore— the valley of desolation — 

 and halted, to allow me to take a few photographs, and to 

 cook our breakfast. The sulphur fumes were si i 

 to form a coating of sulphide of silver on my negatives; but 

 not to an extent to injure them. 



The largest boiling spring is five feet across. As some 

 of these seemingly-boiling springs are not in complete 

 ebullition, but have their waters agitated from escape of 

 gases, I took care to plunge my thermometer into all. 

 BeVeraJ registered 308 degrees— the lake is above 3,000 feet 

 above sea-level— and many 140 and ltJQ degrees. 



rtunate experimenter, later in the season, plunged 

 a " store " thermometer into one of these springs, and burst 

 it, as its capacity was. not < igh temperature. 



Perforating the broad fields of calcined stone 

 holes, whence issue steam and hot air j very few are inac- 

 tivc. Some, on the hillside, arc large as tin open grate, and 

 have that shape. Into these you can look deep down into 

 black holes, sulphur crystals in beautiful golden needles lin- 

 ing throat and flue. It seemed as though 'I could look down 

 into the arcana of Nature, into her laboratory. 



It required great care not to break through the crust in 

 many places; my guide was constantly warning me : "Have 

 attention where you make your fei i 



While I was preparing chemicals and collecting minerals, 

 my boys were busily cooking our breakfast ; anil they pre- 

 pared it without fire, too, and bo expeditiously as to cause me 

 wonder. In the forest they had found some wild yams 

 (" Yam nousage"); Francois had shot a few "grives," or 

 giant thrushes ; there were a few eggs remaining of what we 

 had brought with us. 



Curious, I watched them at their work, lying the yams in 

 a bit of cloth, and tying that to the end of a stick. Joseph 

 thrust them into the large boiling spring. A few minutes 

 later— I do not know jusf how many— he drew them out com- 

 pletely boiled. The eggs were treated in like mauner, and 

 lastly the birds. Then, we withdrew to the shade of a near 

 clump of balisiers, on the bank of a clear spring, plucked a 

 few leaves for plates, for cups, for napkins, for protection 

 from the damp earth as we sat down ; sprinkled our curiously 

 cooked food with pepper and salt, and feasted merrily, though 

 half strangled by the sulphur fumes. In watctiiDg ibis cook- 

 ing process, I could not out think of our own wonderful 

 geysers in the Yellowstone, where explorers caught trout in 

 a stream and cooked them in a boiling spring, without re- 

 moving the fish from the hook or changing their own posi- 

 tions. 



Then we turned our backs upon this valley of wonders— 

 this collection of craters within a crater long ago inactive ; 

 my guides placed their loads upon their heads, and we 

 climbed the bills, keeping time to the rythmic pulsations of a 

 steam-vent, which ejected its vapor with regular puffs, the 

 din of which rang through the forest, f cannot but feel how 

 poor and meagre is this description of mine of that wonder- 

 ful Boiling Lake, hid in the bosom of those solitary moun- 

 tains in that tropical island. The time may come— and better 

 for Americans if it were speedily to come— when the great 

 attractions of these islands will be better known, and I may 

 not be. able to say— as I say now with truth— I am the only 

 American who has seen Dominica's Boiling Lake. We 

 reached the Riviere Dejefiner just at dark. I was ahead. 

 And here let me explain how I acquired & reputation as a pe- 

 destrian, and why, if you speak of the writer to one of these 

 mountaineers, he will shrug lug shoulders and exclaim: 

 "Ah! Monsieur Fred, he walk like ze debbilt" Here is a 

 statement of the reason, and I leave it to any sane person if 

 he would not have done the same under the sai 

 stances : Each member of our party had a . . 

 men and myself. In going up and down those 

 guns carried by my guides were sine to point at me, no mat- 

 ter how I would try to dodge them. If I lagged behind I 

 was confronted by a black muzzle ; if I went ahead, two or 

 more pointed at my exposed rear. 



I lave carried a gun ever since 1 could well use one, 

 and for the last two years have had one constantly by my side; 

 but I never allow one to be pointed at me if I am aware of it. 

 Going homeward, I stretched my legs to their utn 



untiled over rooks and tree trunks, svvUDg 

 myself down steep banks by the roots of trees. My 

 were torn into shreds, and I walked through those dark and 

 silent woods with legs gleaming white and ghost-like. The 

 perspiration started, legs shook and arms trembled, but 1 was 

 determined to keep out of range of those dreaded guns ; and I 

 did, arriving at my cabin fullbalf an hour ahead of my guides, 

 who had supposed me lost and had detailed two of their 

 number to look me up. 



Jean Baptiste, my host and forager for food, stood in the 

 doorway with a candle, and inside there stood a welcome 

 table with a good supper — yams and eegB and tend) 

 tain cabbage. Speaking of my hot bath to Jean Baptiste, 

 that jewel "instantly exclaimed that he had forgotten to show 

 me tire best in the'island, situated only a gunshot from my 

 hut. Next day we visited it. Beneath tall gommier trees 

 stretching down lianas forty feet long, shaded by broad-leaved 

 plantains, was a pool twenty feet across, made by damming a 

 little brooklet with volcanic rock. Its bottom waf 

 gravel. A tree's trunk had fallen across the stream, on which 

 I threw my clothes. The runlet was tepid, the pool a little 

 warmer. Suddenly my foot grew hot as though slung by a 

 scorpion, and I became aware that the pool was hea 

 below by small jets of hot water forced up through crevices 

 in the rocky crust. How thick was that crusty Down the 

 hillside, into the bath, trickled warm water. A grotto had 

 been hollowed out by the action of these streams, and from 

 this water was spouted in hot spray and jets, heating the bath 

 for a square jard around. This grotto was lined with crys- 

 tals of sulphur, lime and magnesia, and in places was green 

 like chalcedony— a most beautiful miniature of some cave I 

 have seen, where stalagmites of every shape were colored by 

 salts of iron. 



Floating in this healing pool, in an element delightfully 

 warm, I resigned myself to the unalloyed delight that the 

 dripping water, tropical plants and trees and balmy atmos- 

 phere all contribute to induce. Floating thus in do 

 suousness, I wondered vaguely why this free Kft 

 forest, untrammeled by eate or desire of gain, could not al- 

 ways exist for me. It was too irksome to even think an an- 

 swer—impossible to give it utterance -*n«i it " mains un- 

 answered to this day. Fhed Beykklt. 



ctrcum- 



n— my four 



Cliffs, the 



DOWN THE BIG RIVER.— 2d Paper. 



(Continued from April 10. ) 



WE had not been out more than four days when I began 

 to realize that I had made a sad mistake in the 

 of a companion. There is no place where uncongenial com- 

 panionship is more galling than on an expedition like this, 

 nor are there any conditions under which disagi ; 

 centricities of character will be more prominently displayed. 

 I had not then read Col. Butler's " Wild North Land," and 

 hence could not quote his words that "a good dog makes a 

 better companion than an indifferent man," but before out 

 journey had lasted a week. I was h.-^mly echoing a similar 

 sentiment, 



