ISOLATED PEAKS 
From the high point on which we were (1,920 feet) 
we obtained a strange view to the west. Above the 
straight line of the plateau before us rose in the distance 
a pyramidal, steep-sided, sharply-pointed peak, standing 
in solitary grandeur upon that elevated plain. Why did 
it stand there alone ? was the question one asked oneself; 
a question one had to ask oneself frequently as we pro¬ 
ceeded farther and farther on our journey. We often 
came upon mountains standing alone, either on the top 
of tablelands or in the middle of extensive plains. Their 
presence seemed at first unaccountable. 
Again, as we journey onward, the mules’ hoofs were 
injured by treading over large expanses of lava pellets 
and sharp-edged, cutting, baked fragments of black rock, 
myriads of which also lay embedded in reddish, half- 
formed rock or buried in layers of yellowish-red earth. 
To the north was a majestic panorama of the most 
delicate tones of blue and green, with almost over¬ 
powering, sweeping lines hardly interrupted by a slight 
indentation or a prominence rising above the sky-line. 
Only to the northwest, in the middle distance, was there 
the gentle, undulating line of magnificent campos — most 
regular in its curves, which spread in a crescent toward 
the west. The line was interrupted somewhat abruptly 
by a higher and irregular, three-terraced mass, but soon 
resumed its sweeping and regularly curved undulations 
beyond. This great crescent almost described a semicircle 
around the smaller undulations, over which we were 
travelling. 
We descended to 1,750 feet. On facing west we had 
curious scenery on our left (south). A huge basin had 
sunk in, evidently by a sudden subsidence which had left 
on its northern side high vertical cliffs supporting the 
hill-range that remained standing. The undulating centre 
and sides of the immense depression formed beautiful 
campos, with an occasional bosquet of forest on the top 
239 
