140 



PACIFIC OCEAN. 



a broad and gently inclined base of a mile and a 

 half. The mountain is studded on every side 

 with craters, or mouths, from whence, at different 

 periods, streams of lava have issued ; and running 

 far into the sea, have formed projecting points, 

 such as that on which we fixed our station. The 

 western face of the island presents a cliff nearly 

 perpendicular, and not less than a thousand feet 

 high ; it exhibits the rude stratification of lava, 

 tuffa, and ashes, which characterizes the fracture 

 of ancient volcanic mountains. 



Abingdon Island is ten or twelve miles in length, 

 the north end being a series of long, low, and very 

 rugged streams of lava ; the peak standing about 

 one-third of the whole length from the southern 

 extreme. The rock at different places not far 

 from the station was found to be full of caverns, 

 into which the tide flowed and ebbed through 

 subterranean channels; the outer crust of the 

 stream having, as frequently happens, served as a 

 pipe to conduct the lava off. It is therefore pro- 

 bable that our foundation may not have been the 

 solid rock; a circumstance which, taken along with 

 the general hollow nature of volcanic districts, and 



