e, hope to
bring them home uninjured.

"_Monday, December 25th (Christmas Day)_--Turning in last night was
the work of a very few minutes, and this morning I awoke perfectly
refreshed and ready to appreciate anew the wonders of the prospect
that met my eyes. The pillar of fire was still distinctly visible,
when I looked out from my window, though it was not so bright as when
I had last seen it, but even as I looked it began to fade and
gradually disappeared. At the same moment a river of glowing lava
issued from the side of the bank we had climbed with so much
difficulty yesterday, and slowly but surely overflowed the ground we
had walked over. You may imagine the feelings with which we gazed upon
this startling phenomenon, which had it occurred a few hours earlier,
might have caused the destruction of the whole party.

* * * * *

"It would, I think, be difficult to imagine a more interesting and
exciting mode of spending Christmas Eve than yesterday has taught us,
or a stranger situation in which to exchange our Christmas greetings
than beneath the grass roof of an inn on the edge of a volcano in the
remote Sandwich Islands.

* * * * *

"The ride down to Hilo was as dull and monotonous as our upward
journey had been. At last we reached the pier, where we found the
usual little crowd waiting to see us off. The girls who had followed
us when we first landed came forward shyly when they thought they were
unobserved, and again encircled me with _leis_ of gay and fragrant
flowers. The custom of decorating themselves with wreaths on every
possible occasion is in my eyes a charming one, and I like the
inhabitants of Polynesia for their love of flowers.

"The whole town was _en fete_ to-day. Natives were riding about in
pairs, in the cleanest of bright cotton dresses and the freshest of
_leis_ and garlands. Our own men from the yacht contributed not a
little to the gaiety of the scene. They were all on shore, and the
greater part of them were galloping about on horseback, tumbling off,
scrambling on again, laughing, flirting, joking, and enjoying
themselves generally after a fashion peculiar to English sailors. As
far as we know the only evil result of all this merriment was that the
doctor received a good many applications for diachylon plaster in the
course of the evening, to repair various 'abrasions of the cuticle,'
as he expressed it.

"I think at least half the population of Hilo