ASCENT OF THE PEAK. 



43 



severely from the cold. About three in the morn- 

 ing they began to climb the Sugar-loaf, or small 

 terminal cone, by the dull light of fir-torches, and ex- 

 amined a small subterranean glacier or cave, whence 

 the towns below are supplied with ice throughout 

 the summer. 



In the twilight they observed a phenomenon not 

 unusual on high mountains, — a stratum of white 

 clouds spread out beneath, concealing the face of the 

 ocean, and presenting the appearance of a vast plain 

 covered with snow. Soon afterward another very 

 curious sight occurred, namely, the semblance of 

 small rockets thrown into the air, and which they 

 at first imagined to be a certain indication of some 

 new eruption of the great volcano of Lancerota. 

 But the illusion soon ceased, and they found that the 

 luminous points were only the images of stars mag- 

 nified and refracted by the vapours. They remained 

 motionless at intervals, then rose perpendicularly, 

 descended sidewise, and returned to their original 

 position. After three hours' march over an ex- 

 tremely rugged tract, the travellers reached a small 

 plain, called La Rambleta, from the centre of which 

 rises the Piton or Sugar-loaf. The slope of this 

 cone, covered with volcanic ashes and pumice, is so 

 steep that it would have been almost impossible to 

 reach the summit, had they not ascended by an old 

 current of lava, which had in some measure resisted 

 the action of the atmosphere. 



On attaining the top of this steep they found the 

 crater surrounded by a wall of compact lava, in 

 which, however, there was a breach affording a pas- 

 sage to the bottom of the funnel or caldera, the 

 greatest diameter of which at the mouth seemed to 

 be 320 feet. There were no large openings in the 

 crater ; but aqueous vapours were emitted by some 

 of the crevices, in which heat was perceptible. In 

 fact, the volcano has not been active at the summit 

 for thousands of years, its eruptions having been 



