208 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



the most extraordinary and wonderful effects 

 of the convulsions of nature that had ever 

 come under my observation. The basaltic 

 formation of the Giant's Causeway, of Staffa, 

 or the more gigantic one of the Shant Isles, 

 falls far short of the wondrous appearance of 

 this valley. On our first entrance upon it, 

 the lava appeared to have cooled into almost a 

 quiescent state, its surface being only marked 

 by slight concentric circles ; but in a short 

 time these increased in size and rose in sharp 

 ridges to the height of several feet, and oc- 

 casionally swelled in the bubble-like forms 

 seen in the crater ; to these succeeded large 

 waves rising to a considerable height, their 

 tops rent into the most fantastic shapes; 

 in other places the lava exhibited the appear- 

 ance of huge boiling cauldrons, which had 

 burst, and emptied themselves in violent tor- 

 rents. On the left, near the edges, cataracts 

 of several hundred yards wide had swept 



