THE AMI-.RIC.W X A IT R A 1 .1 ST. WW 1 1 1. 



nel 12 to 15 meters tleep. At thi> time the \ eiU^ were almost 

 free from vapor — somethin-- hitherti) unknown sinee the <la\- of 

 the eruption. Therefore it was possible t<. examine them 

 thoroughly. The left hand vent opens in the ri,i;ht slope of the 

 spur which divides the upper part of the \alle\ ; it is of irregu- 

 lar, circular form and three or four meters in diameter. From 

 this opening the thick vapors are discharged with the greatest 

 force ; these appear brilliantly white in the sunlight. si)reading 

 to leeward in a billowy plume, but the\ are denser and blacker 

 in the immediate vicinity of the orifice; the emission of vapor 

 is not preceded by any subterranean noises. The detonating 

 sounds heard take place at the instant the \'apor escapes from 

 the hole, and this leads us to the belief that this noise is the 

 result of the expansion of steam in air, a phenomenon entirely 

 comparable to the detonation of a cannon. 



This opening is reached by a sort of open gallery about a 

 meter and a half wide excavated in a reddish pumiceous rock 

 covered with dark gray mud, which was unstable and so hot that 

 it was impossible to hold it in the hands more than a few seconds, 

 especially that on the immediate rim of the crater. Here the 

 attempt was made to sound the depths of the cavern by means 

 of a zinc pail attached to a cord. But when the cord was with- 

 drawn the pail had disappeared without evidence as to whether 

 the loss was due to insecure knots or the melting of solder. 

 The cord was impregnated with a strong smell of sulphuretted 

 hydrogen. Stones dropped into the hole were heard to fall 

 quickly with a noise as of striking a liquid. An alcohol ther- 

 mometer buried in the soil rose almost to its highest limit. 

 The barometer gave an elevation of 883 meters, indicating that 

 these rents were 83 meters below the summit of the spur, where 

 the rest of us had remained. 



This crater had already been visited by Mr. de Mavnard but 

 that was in the f^rst davs of its formation when steam action was 

 so violent that details c.nild not be seen. 



Across the gulch, but separated as we have said by twenty- 

 l"^^'*;' '"^^t^'i'^. is the other higher orifice, and this is also 



u -leatest vent. it is harder to reach than the first, Iving at 



