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village of Odzu, where we took up quarters for the night. 
Early next morning we started out upon frozen roads to climb 
the hills which were before us. The ascent was gentle. Eight 
and left were broad stretches of uncultivated grassy ground. 
Away upon our left we could see a high mountain called 
Kuratake, which, from its general shape, and a rugged-looking 
hollow which had been breached upon the side towards which 
we were looking, seemed to represent the remains of an old 
volcano. Looking back, we could see the plain across which 
we had come on the previous afternoon; at the edge of it 
where it reached down to the sea, we could just make out the 
position of Kumamoto ; whilst beyond that, at the other side of 
the bay on which Kumamoto is situated, there rises a rugged 
mass of mountains, the highest peak of which was the volcano 
TJnsen. This volcano is the one which, amongst all Japanese 
volcanoes, has probably been the most destructive. 
1. Dobindake. . 2. Asosan (smoking). 3. Nekodake. 4. The Ring Wall. 
5. Yudake. 6. The Crater Plain, with villages, clumps of trees, and rice-fields. 
In 1793, during an eruption which extended over many 
days, a large portion of it literally blew up. The earthquakes 
that accompanied this outburst — the rushing in of the sea, and 
the falling boulders and fiery rain of red-hot cinders — laid 
waste the surrounding country, and took away the lives of fifty 
thousand of its inhabitants. The scenes which occurred during 
this eruption were too horrible for description, and, as a 
Japanese historian remarks, the terror and the ruin were un- 
paralleled. 
Turning round, and continuing the ascent, after a little 
more climbing we reached the top of the ridge called Eutaiyai- 
no-toge ; and here, before us, was a sight which was as striking 
as it was unexpected (fig. 1), because the ascent from the sea up 
to this point had been so gentle, being indeed only about 1750 
feet. We had naturally expected that on reaching the 
