tching blue and foam-flecked below them and right out to the
horizon; and as Leslie judged from this glimpse that they must have
accomplished considerably more than half their climb, the pair lingered
for some time over their meal, resting their tired limbs and enjoying
the loveliness of their surroundings. Then, after an interval of about
an hour and a half, they again proceeded on their way, making better
progress now than they did at first, as the undergrowth and trees became
from this point steadily thinner as they progressed, until at length
they were able to catch occasional glimpses of the summit for which they
were aiming. Finally they emerged from the bush altogether, to find
themselves breasting a steep slope, the soil of which was composed of
fine scoriae and ashes.

"Just as I anticipated," ejaculated Leslie, as he stooped to examine the
ground. "This island is volcanic; and yonder peak--the top of which,
you will notice, appears to have been broken off--is the crater. But do
not be alarmed," he continued, seeing a startled expression leap into
his companion's eyes, "the volcano is undoubtedly extinct, and has
probably been so for ages; for if you will but look around you at all
this vegetation you will notice that it bears no remotest sign or
indication of ever having been disturbed by volcanic action. I am not
botanist enough to be able to judge the ages of those trees that we see
below us; but thousands of them must be considerably more than half a
century old; and as it is evident that no eruption has taken place since
they started to grow, I think we may rest satisfied that no disturbance
is in the least likely to occur during our occupation of the place. But
let us push on; it is nearly one o'clock, and I am anxious to get up
there to have a good look round and make a complete survey of our
dominions."

They accordingly resumed their climb; and after a further three-quarters
of an hour of arduous labour--the steepness of the acclivity and the
looseness of the soil rendering progress exceedingly slow and
difficult--they finally reached their goal, to find themselves standing,
as it were, upon the rim of a huge basin about a third of a mile in
diameter and some three hundred feet deep, the inner sides sloping
almost perpendicularly, and the bottom forming a small lake. The
perfectly bare sides were much too steep and the soil altogether too
loose and treacherous to render an attempt at descent ad