fall, and sometimes disappear, which seems to be a fact, algh no one has ever seen it in motion.

It is the fragments broken from the edge of the crater by an tion, and floated out to their present position.

An unpractised eye would see no marks of fire on the rough,
te-like masses.

Caves, cracks and ridges make the surface very uneven, and
walking two miles we came to several large cracks of great
, but not more than a yard wide, and then a wall enclosing an
itheatre, down which we climbed on the loose slabs of lava.
When we were near the Halemáumau, we came to a cone
ed of spattered lava and cemented scoriæ, some 25 feet high,.
a bright light at its apex; this was the first fire we had seen,
e passed by, eager to reach the great lake. This we accom-
ed after ascending a gradual incline.

t was about 800 feet in diameter, and the lava was 50 feet
the cliff on which we stood, covered with a dark crust, which
roken around the edges, and there the blood-red lava was
e, surging against its walls with a dull, sullen sound.
The

was blown away by the wind, so that we were able to stand e very verge of the pit, but the heat was so great that we obliged to hold our hands before our faces. The walls on we stood, and where we intended to sleep, were thickly d on the side towards the pit, with waving woolly Pélé's hair, we saw forming continually.

he drops of lava thrown up drew after them the glass thread,
netimes two drops spin out a thread a yard long between them,
mehair' thus formed either clings to the rough sides, or is
over the edge where it catches on any projecting point.
he drops are always black, or a very dark green on the surface,
ght green within, porous, and excessively brittle, and the
is transparent, and when first formed of a yellow or greenish

ccasionally a crack would open across the lake, and violent
ions commence at various points of its surface.
here were two small islands in the lake, which the lava
1 seeking to destroy.

he current would often set in towards the banks, and it ap-
as if the whole mass was about to be drawn in, as cake

ake broke off from the surface and disappeared but it would

soon cease, and then run towards another point of the wall, and I could not see that it was oftener on one side than another.

"As a cake of lava parted from the crust, the red lava rose above the crack, running on the surface, and as the crack grew wider, cooling rapidly, and being drawn out much like molasses or candy. "Whilst white hot, the lava was as liquid as water, but it rapidly assumed the viscid condition, and then the solid. I threw a stick of dry wood on the surface, which instantly became fixed, after a violent bubbling, and it was ten minutes before any smoke appeared, and it was only when a crack opened under it that it was consumed.

"The motion was always from the centre, except when the lava was thrown back in spray from the caverns which extended under much of the wall.

“We laid down in our blankets on the eastern edge, where the walls were highest (and the wind drove away the smoke), and here soon fell asleep.

"About nine o'clock I got up and moved to the very edge of the pit to view the molten mass to better advantage, and warm myself, as the wind was quite cold. The moon was up and almost full, but her orb was pale beside the fires of Pélé.

"Finding the place quite comfortable I lay down and went to sleep. At twelve I awoke with a start, and found myself in the midst of a shower of fiery drops, some of which were burning my blanket. I shook myself and jumped back, looking at my watch to note the time, for I thought a great eruption at hand, and then stood gazing at the strange scene for some time before I thought of calling my companions.

"The whole surface of the lake had risen several feet, and was boiling violently and dashing against the sides, throwing the redhot spray high over the banks, causing the Providential rain of fire which awoke me to see this grand display. There was no noise, except the dash and sullen roar. When I could think of anything else I called the others, who were asleep several rods from me, but I only succeeded in awakening the guides, and just then a drop came plump on to a greasy paper we had brought our supper in, and it blazed up so suddenly that one of the Kanakas thought it a new jet opening at our feet, and ran off to some distance.

"Failing to arouse my companions by calling, I threw a hand

full of small stones at them, but without effect and I had to climb

we compare the Islands of Santorin with those of Hawaii, we readily be able to perceive a striking resemblance between. wo groups. (Figs. 6 and 7.)

ham's Island is another illustration of a sub-marine volcano. sland made its appearance July 10th, 1831, off the South coast of Sicily. It was then 12 feet above water; on the

10th of August it had attained the height of 800 feet; but being composed of loose scoria and cinders, and having no lava to solidify its cone, it began to be rapidly destroyed and washed away by the sea, and has now entirely disappeared.

VOLCANIC PRODUCTS.

Volcanic products may be roughly divided into solid, liquid, and gaseous.

Of the solid matter thrown out from volcanic vents may be enumerated" Volcanic Bombs," "Scoria" (or cinders), "Lapilli" (or gravel), "Puzzolana" (or sand), " Pumice," and "Ceneri" (ashes).

Of the liquid matter poured out, either from the crater itself or from rents in its sides, we have the substance called "Lava," which, when solidified, may be either Basalt, Obsidian, or Vescicular Lava, depending upon the condition under which it cools, or the temperature at which it is ejected.

Basalt is lava solidified under pressure; it frequently presents the condition of "Columnar Basalt," as in the Auvergne, Staffa, Antrim (Fig. 8), New Zealand, &c.

Fig. 8.-Basaltic columns from the Giant's Causeway. In the apartments of the

The most classy and semi-translucent varieties of lava are known

tr

B

xico.

Large tracts in Mexico (called Malpais) are covered with "Oban," and of it—as from the chalk-flints in western Europe and tain-the worshippers of the sun manufactured their knives, &c., ch were still in use at the time of the Spanish conquest (1518). Of the gaseous emanations from volcanic vents may be enuated sulphuretted hydrogen, sulphurous acid gas, chlorine, ogen, and carbonic acid gas.

ut water, as steam, is certainly the most abundant substance ent, as it is also the most active agent in all volcanic outts, and may even be (as Mr. Scrope has supposed) the cause of flow of lava streams. We know that, in cooling, lava gives an immense volume of steam, and also that the vesicular ties in lava are caused by it.

n all volcanic eruptions water appears to be present also in a id state, and is frequently ejected during volcanic eruptions in quantities. This may arise from three different causes :-) It may be ejected from the earth's interior with other vole matter; or,

) From the melting of snows on the sides of the crater; or, =) By the discharge of rain-water accumulated in the crater ng a period of repose.

ne volcano of d'Agua in Guatemala is a perfectly circular cone, than 11,000 feet high. From it descended, in 1541, a torrent ater (the contents, no doubt, of a crater-lake on the summit), h destroyed the old town of Guatemala, since removed to a site.

ving fish and alligators were observed in a crater near the lake icaragua, by Dr. C. Carter Blake.

herever the tropical rainfall is large, or the height of the ntain condenses the snows upon its sides and crater, an erupis sure to be preceded by a "mud débacle;" miles of country hus devastated and destroyed.

lauea, Central America, South America, and Java will illusthis.

1755 Etna sent a sudden flood of water into the Val del the volume of which in one mile was estimated at 16,000,000 feet.