MOUNTAINS. 
fercnce or20 J- feet. INLuiy of the oaks also are of a pro- 
digious size . Mr. Swinburne measured one which had 
circumference of 28 feet. I’lie last, or desert region, com. 
mence.s more tlian a mile above tlie level of the sea 
The lower part is covered with snow in w'inter only ; but 
on the upper h;df of this sterile district the snows coit 
stantly lie. 
Sometimes tlie pencil, in cool airy lialls, 
Hade the gay bloom of vernal landscapes ri.se, 
Or Aiitiimii'.s varied .sliades imbrown the walls : 
Now tbe black tempest .strikes th’ astonished eyes. 
Now dovMi tlie steep llic flashing tonent flies ; 
Tlic trembling sun now plays o’er ocean bine. 
And now rude inoniitains frown amid the skies ; 
M’hate’er Lorraine light- tonclied with soft'ning hue. 
Or savage Rosa dashed, or learned Poussin drew. 
Thomson 
The ujipcr part, which may properly be called the 
cone of Kina, is, in a right line, about a mile, or somewhat 
more, in ascent. It is described by Sir William Hamilton 
as a little mountain, about a rpiarter of a mile perpendi- 
cular, and very steep, situated in the middle of a gently- 
inclined plane, about nine mile.s in circumference. The 
cavity was, according to his perception, shaped like a funnel, 
diminishing until it ternfinated in a point, and having an 
outer circumference of two miles and a half round. Great 
changes have since taken place. Spallanzani also reached 
the edge of the crater, and found it to be an oval of about 
a mile and a half in drcult, having its edges in many places 
indented by projecting lavas or scori.x. The bottom was 
neiu’ly a horizontal plane, about two-thirds of a mile in cir • 
cu ni fercnce ; hence issued a constant column of smoke , 
and hence, as well as from the sides, arose .several streams 
of smoke, resembling thin clouds. Within the aperture a 
liquid ignited matter was clearly seen, constantly undu- 
lating, boiling, rising and falling, witlrout spreading ovci 
the bottom. This was, no doubt, the melted lava which 
had issued from the bottom of the gulf. Neither of the 
above travellers, nor Brydone, dared to venture down the 
crater, which they found too hot ; but M. D’Orville, more 
adventurous, by tlie means of ropes, which two or three 
men held at a distance, descended aa fnt a.s possible. His 
