[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

220 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

his performance. The clouds of steam thickened,
detonations followed, and at each one a brownish-
grey cloud rose out of the mountain, whirled slowly
upwards, and joined the grey clouds in the sky. The
mountain-top glowed red, and red lumps of lava.
came flying out of the smoke and dropped behind a
hill. Then all became quiet again, the mountain re-
lapsed into lifelessness, the clouds dissolved to a
thick mist, and only the steam curled upward like
a white plume.

I had taken care to observe how far the lava flew,
so as to know how near it would be safe to approach.
The path towards the craters was the continuation
of the one we had followed, and led to the north
shore of the island, passing between the craters. It
is remarkable that the natives should dare to use
this road, and indeed it is not much travelled; but
it speaks for the courage of the first man who had
the courage to cross the plain and pass between the
craters. The sharp points of the lava caused great
suffering to the bare-footed natives, and here I had the
advantage of them for once, thanks to my nailed boots.

The clouds had disappeared, the sky shone deeply
blue, everything reminded me of former trips in other
deserts. The same dry air cooled the heat that radi-
ated from the ground, the same silence and solemnity
brooded over the earth, there was the same colouring
and the same breadth of view. After the painful
march through the forest, where every step had to be
measured and watched, it was a joy to step out freely
and take great breaths of clear, sweet air.