350 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap. 
up the steep volcanic cone, covered with small lava blocks and 
lapilli. The way was staked out with small heaps of stones 
raised at a distance of about 100 metres apart. Near the crater 
we found at one of these cairns a little Shinto shrine, built of 
sticks. Its sides were only half a metre in length. Our guide 
performed his devotions here. One of them had already at a 
stone cairn situated farther down with great seriousness made 
some conjurations with reference to my promise to make an extra 
distribution of red wine, if we got good weather at the top. 
As on Vesuvius, we can also on Asamayama distinguish a 
large exterior crater, originating from some old eruption, but 
now almost completely filled up by a new volcanic cone, at 
whose top the present crater opens. This crater has a cir¬ 
cumference of about two kilometres; the old crater, or what 
the old geologists called the elevation-crater, has been much 
larger. The volcano is still active. For it constantly throws 
out “ smoke,” consisting of watery vapour, sulphurous acid, and 
probably also carbonic acid. Occasionally a perceptible smell 
of sulphuretted hydrogen is observed. It is possible without 
difficulty to crawl to the edge of the crater and glance down 
into its interior. It is very deep. The walls are perpendicular, 
and at the bottom of the abyss there are to be seen several 
clefts from which vapours arise. In the same way ‘‘ smoke ” 
forces its way at some places at the edge of the crater through 
small imperceptible cracks in the mountain. Both on the 
border of the crater, on its sides and its bottom there is to be 
seen a yellow efflorescence, which at the places which I got at 
to examine it consisted of sulphur. The edge of the crater is 
solid rock, a little-weathered augiteandesite differing very much in 
its nature at different places. The same or similar rocks also pro¬ 
ject at several places at the old border of the crater, but the 
whole surface of the volcanic cone besides consists of small loose 
pieces of lava, without any trace of vegetation. Only at one 
place the brim of the old crater is covered with an open pine 
