his duty to look after and help ladies visiting the volcano, and added that he had intended going down as far as the ‘Half-way House’ in search of us.  It was a great relief to know that we were in the right track, and I quite enjoyed the gallop through the dark forest, though there was barely sufficient light to enable me to discern the horse immediately in front of me.  When we emerged from the wood, we found ourselves at the very edge of the old crater, the bed of which, three or four hundred feet beneath us, was surrounded by steep and in many places overhanging sides.  It looked like an enormous cauldron, four or five miles in width, full of a mass of cooled pitch.  In the centre was the still glowing stream of dark red lava, flowing slowly towards us, and in every direction were red-hot patches, and flames and smoke issuing from the ground.  A bit of the ‘black country’ at night, with all the coal-heaps on fire, would give you some idea of the scene.  Yet the first sensation is rather one of disappointment, as one expects greater activity on the part of the volcano; but the new crater was still to be seen, containing the lake of fire, with steep walls rising up in the midst of the sea of lava.

Twenty minutes’ hard riding brought us to the door of the ’Volcano House,’ from which issued the comforting light of a large wood fire, reaching halfway up the chimney.  Native garments replaced Mabelle’s and my dripping habits, and we sat before the fire in luxury until the rest of the party arrived.  After some delay supper was served, cooked by our host, and accompanied by excellent Bass’s beer, no wine or spirits being procurable on the premises.  Mr. Kane made many apologies for shortcomings, explaining that his cook had run away that morning, and that his wife was not able to do much to assist him, as her first baby was only a week old.

Everything at this inn is most comfortable, though the style is rough and ready.  The interior is just now decorated for Christmas, with wreaths, and evergreens, and ferns, and bunches of white plumes, not unlike reva-reva, made from the pith of the silver-grass.  The beds and bedrooms are clean, but limited in number, there being only three of the latter altogether.  The rooms are separated only by partitions of grass, seven feet high, so that there is plenty of ventilation, and the heat of the fire permeates the whole building.  But you must not talk secrets in these dormitories or be too restless.  I was amused to find, in the morning, that I had unconsciously poked my hand through the wall of our room during the night.

The grandeur of the view in the direction of the volcano increased as the evening wore on.  The fiery cloud above the present crater augmented in size and depth of colour; the extinct crater glowed red in thirty or forty different places; and clouds of white vapour issued from every crack and crevice in the ground, adding to the sulphurous smell with which the atmosphere was laden.  Our room faced the volcano:  there were no blinds, and I drew back the curtains and lay watching the splendid scene until I fell asleep.