A DEEP CANON 
The west side of the Paredao was decidedly the most 
interesting of all. Its great arches showed that it must 
have once formed the sides of a great cauldron* the top 
of which had subsequently collapsed or been blown off. 
This seemed quite apparent from the discoloration in the 
rocky cliff some fifty feet above the arches, which followed 
the exact line of what must have been the thickness of 
the vault. The rock in that discoloured section was per¬ 
fectly smooth, whereas above that it became much cracked 
vertically in layers, and gave the appearance of a masonry 
wall. 
Toward the southwestern corner there was a prismatic 
tower. Where the peculiar, isolated rocks near the tower 
formed a spur, a dip was noticeable in the flow of the once 
molten rock, following what must have been at that time 
the surface soil over the cauldron’s roof. 
A huge, triangular crater could be seen, from which 
started an enormous crack of great length in the lava-flow 
of the valley to the west. 
The southern face of that stupendous, rocky quad¬ 
rangle was not quite so vertical as the west and north sides, 
and was more in tiers or steps of lava —but very steep 
indeed. It had in its lower part a great spur extending 
southward. 
As I have said, Alcides and I arrived within thirty feet 
of the summit of the great Paredao, at an elevation of 
2,550 feet, the summit being 2,580 feet; but owing to the 
last thirty feet being absolutely vertical and the top 
rock of a crumbling nature, and as my object in wishing 
to obtain a full view of the country to the south had 
been attained, I did not think it worth while to 
court an accident for nothing. It was well after sunset 
when we were up there, and it would take a long 
time to return to camp. So we hastened on our return 
journey. 
The sunset that night, which we watched from that 
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