ic grandeur before us, the summit crowned by wreaths of
flame, which rose and fell as if impelled by some secret power within.
After admiring it for some time, we returned to our bandit-looking abode
for the night.

The next morning, leaving our horses, we set out on foot towards the
crater. A mass of smoke alone rested on the summit of the mountain.
The road was very rough, vegetation in many places destroyed, and in
general we found ourselves passing over masses of lava, with deep
crevices in some places and huge masses in others, while here and there
the crust was so thin that it gave way beneath our feet. The heat was
very great; but we found a red berry growing on a low bush, which was
very refreshing. At length, after some hours of toil, we found
ourselves standing on the summit of a cliff, while below us appeared a
vast plain full of conical hills, and in the centre of it a mass of
liquid lava like a wide lake of fire. It was what we had come to see--
the crater of Kilauea. Below the cliff, inside the basin, was a ledge
of considerable width of solid lava. We looked about for a path by
which we could reach the plain. At last we found a steep bank where the
cliff had given way. By this we now descended with the help of sticks,
with which we had been provided. The descent was difficult and
dangerous in the extreme, as the lava gave way before us, and huge
masses went rolling and tumbling away, some in front and some behind us,
as we slid down the steep bank. The appearance of the ground was such
that we, with reason, hesitated on trusting ourselves to it. Old
Surley, too, smelled at it, and examined it narrowly, as if very
doubtful about running over it. Still, our guides assured us that other
Englishmen had been there; and where others had been we knew that we
could go. At last we reached the bottom, and walked on, with our staffs
in hand feeling the way. More than once I felt the ground cracking
under my feet. It was not hot, but it struck me--suppose it is only a
crust, and one of us were to slip through into the boiling caldron
beneath! I own that I more than once wished myself back again on cool
and solid ground. To go through the ice is disagreeable enough, but to
slip down under this black cake would be horrible indeed. Not five
minutes after this idea had crossed my mind, I heard a cry. It was
Jerry's voice. I looked round--his head and shoulders only were
appearing above the ground, and