living light! Had I not seen this I should never have known that
such a colour was possible.

The crust perpetually wrinkled, folded over, and cracked, and great
pieces were drawn downwards to be again thrown up on the crests of
waves. The eleven fountains of gory fire played the greater part of
the time, dancing round the lake with a strength of joyousness which
was absolute beauty. Indeed after the first half hour of terror had
gone by, the beauty of these jets made a profound impression upon
me, and the sight of them must always remain one of the most
fascinating recollections of my life. During three hours, the bank
of lava which almost divided the lakes rose considerably, owing to
the cooling of the spray as it dashed over it, and a cavern of
considerable size was formed within it, the roof of which was hung
with fiery stalactites, more than a foot long. Nearly the whole
time the surges of the further lake taking a southerly direction,
broke with a tremendous noise on the bold craggy cliffs which are
its southern boundary, throwing their gory spray to a height of
fully forty feet. At times an overhanging crag fell in, creating a
vast splash of fire and increased commotion.

Almost close below us there was an intermittent jet of lava, which
kept cooling round what was possibly a blowhole forming a cone with
an open top, which when we first saw it was about six feet high on
its highest side, and about as many in diameter. Up this cone or
chimney heavy jets of lava were thrown every second or two, and
cooling as they fell over its edge, raised it rapidly before our
eyes. Its fiery interior, and the singular sound with which the
lava was vomited up, were very awful. There was no smoke rising
from the lake, only a faint blue vapour which the wind carried in