morning mists. We walked down to the Sulphur Banks, about a quarter of
a mile from the 'Volcano House,' and burnt our gloves and boots in our
endeavours to procure crystals, the beauty of which generally
disappeared after a very short exposure to the air. We succeeded,
however, in finding a few good specimens, and, by wrapping them at
once in paper and cotton-wool and putting them into a bottle, hope to
bring them home uninjured.

On our return we found a gentleman who had just arrived from Kau, and
who proposed to join us in our expedition to the crater, and at three
o'clock in the afternoon we set out, a party of eight, with two
guides, and three porters to carry our wraps and provisions, and to
bring back specimens. Before leaving the inn the landlord came to us
and begged us in an earnest and confidential manner to be very
careful, to do exactly what our guides told us, and especially to
follow in their footsteps exactly when returning in the dark. He
added, 'There never has been an accident happen to anybody from my
house, and I should feel real mean if one did: but there have been a
power of narrow escapes.'

First of all we descended the precipice, 300 feet in depth, forming
the wall of the old crater, but now thickly covered with vegetation.
It is so steep in many places that flights of zig-zag wooden steps
have been inserted in the face of the cliff in some places, in order
to render the descent practicable. At the bottom we stepped straight
on to the surface of cold boiled lava, which we had seen from above
last night. Even here, in every crevice where a few grains of soil had
collected, delicate little ferns might be seen struggling for life,
and thrusting out their green fronds towards the light. It was the
most extraordinary walk imaginable over that vast plain of lava,