THE DOGS SUFFER 
liane like a huge boa-constrictor winding its way in a 
spiral up the tallest trees. I saw some of those liane three 
inches in diameter, with a smooth, whitish bark. 
The soil at the bottom of the valley (1,500 feet above 
sea level) was mostly composed of cinders, but up the 
slopes white sand was predominant, mixed with ashes. 
We travelled over a lava flow which formed the bed of the 
river Macucu, flowing eastward. Guided by the noise, 
we found a most beautiful waterfall, 100 feet high, over 
an extinct, circular crater with vertical walls. We kept 
on rising over a gentle incline, and having reached an 
elevation of 1,750 feet, we found ourselves suddenly on 
the upper edge of a great, crescent-shaped depression 
extending in a semicircle from northeast to southwest. Its 
walls were one-tiered to the west, with a flat tableland on 
their summit, but were divided into two terraces in the 
northern part, where ranges of hills rose on the plateau. 
We had a rapid, steep descent among great, rect¬ 
angular blocks of conglomerate (white marble pebbles 
embedded in iron rock), great sheets of lava, and sedi¬ 
ments of red earth, solidified in places into half-formed 
rock. I noticed extensive lava flows which had run 
towards the west; then we came upon extraordinary 
quantities of loose, white marble pebbles and chips. We 
made our way down upon a kind of spur of red lava, 
frightfully slippery for my animals. The poor beasts 
were quite worn out with fatigue. 
From the round dome of the headland we perceived 
to the south a second great circle of flat-topped heights. 
The immense flow of red lava on which we were radiated 
terrific heat, which it had absorbed from the sun’s rays. 
My dogs, being nearer the ground than we were, had 
great difficulty in breathing. Their heads and tails hung 
low, and their tongues dangled fully out of their mouths. 
They stumbled along, panting pitifully. Even we, on 
our mounts, felt nearly suffocated by the stifling heat from 
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