AMONG TIIE VOLCANOS AND GLACIERS OF AUVERGNE. 
9 
nomena may be made along the Pont Gibaud road as far as the 
Creux Morel, to examine the volcanic hollow near the Puy des 
Goules, and thence to strike westward for the Puy de Come. This 
volcano rises more than 900 ft. above the plain. It has two 
craters, one 260 ft. in depth. The lavas which have flowed 
from it have spread over an area of 10 square miles, and its 
cinders cover the plain of the Creux Morel. The lava torrent 
may be traced from its source to the granitic peninsula east of 
Chambois, where it divides into two streams, one flowing over 
a vast platform towards Pont Gibaud, the other taking the 
direction of Mazayes. It is worth while to remain for a night 
at Pont Gibaud and examine the flow of the lava over sites 
where now are the village and castle ; the meeting of the lava 
streams from Le Puy de Louchadiere with that from the Puy 
de Come ; and the fine section of the valley of the Sioule river 
below Pont Gibaud. The Puy Rouge, near Chalucet, two 
miles from Pont Gibaud, has poured forth columnar basalt 
into the river, and there is a remarkable display of recent- 
looking scoriae and volcanic bombs round the volcano itself. 
Another excursion among the more recent volcanic rocks is to 
Volvic and the Puy de la Nugere. The rail takes us to Riom, and 
the walk from thence is full of interest. On the right are the 
picturesque ruins of the Castle of Turnuoel, and high above 
Volvic is a gigantic effigy of a Madonna, carved in Volvic lava, 
and 30 ft. high. The lava current of Volvic which flowed from 
the Puy de Nugere has been quarried since the days of the 
Romans, and is often studded with laminse of specular iron. 
Tracing it upwards through a wood and narrow pass, we enter 
upon a broad valley, and see the lava encircling a low hill of 
granite ; and following its course up to the volcano we find the 
Puy de Nugere, a cone with a deep oblong crater, and the lava 
pouring down the steep sides of the mountain. The geology of 
the Puy de la Banniere is quite different from that of Nugere. 
There is no crater ; but masses of scoriae and streams of lava have 
been erupted through a fissure in the granite plateau which 
stretches away for miles to the north, and overhangs the fresh- 
water beds of the lake of the Limagne, as it must have done 
when the waters rolled where now flourish the corn-field and 
the vineyard, and when the strange quadrupeds of miocene times 
frequented the granitic mountains and the shores of the great 
lake. On this hill, to the east of the figure of the Madonna, is 
a fissure, out of which has burst scorise, pozzuolana, and a thin 
lava stream, which seems to pass under the old Romanesque 
crypt of the church at Volvic. That rare British plant Scleran - 
thus perennis was very abundant at this spot in the month of 
July. 
One more expedition among the later volcanic hills and lava 
