300 



water was now feeri to boil and bubble as be- 

 fore, and, foon overflowing the pit, refumed 

 its courfe down the narrow channel of the 

 gully, and all was reftored to the ftate iri 

 which we had found it. 



You will, before this, have difcovered 

 that the water was cold, and that the boiling 

 and burning of this fiery deep was only the 

 effed of inflammable gas, which, efcaping 

 from the bowels of the earth, and rifing from 

 the bottom of the pit, fupported the flame 

 when it was empty, and, bubbling through 

 it, when it was filled with water, gave it the 

 appearance of a boiling fpring. During the 

 combuftion, the fmell of the inflammable air 

 was very powerful. 



In the ftones and foil, in the very rocks 

 and roads, we traced the origin of this phseno- 

 menon of nature. Afphaltic produ^ions 

 abounded on every quarter: and, upon inquiry, 

 we found that we were in the very part of 

 the country which produces the celebrated 

 Barbadoes tar ; the fmell of which faluted us 

 as we rode along ; and we even faw it diftil- 



