d lie on our oars."

The boats' heads were turned round, but the men had not pulled many
strokes when the lava again rushed out from the crater, rising far above
it in a fountain of fire; then down it came, covering over the whole
side of the mountain with a vast sheet of liquid flame, sending its
glare far over the ocean, and rendering the night as bright as the day.

"Grand!" exclaimed Billy Blueblazes; "magnificent! superior to anything
I ever saw at Vauxhall!"

"I should rather call it awful," said Tom; "how those huge black cliffs
stand out! Why, they positively look as if they were about to topple
down over us; it will give us an idea of what the world will be like
when it is on fire."

The men gazed at the burning mountain, their countenances expressing
their feelings, though none of them spoke. The hardy seamen could
scarcely believe that they should escape destruction; the water hissed
and bubbled as the hot lava reached it, and sent wave after wave towards
the boats; which, as they rushed on board, were found to be perceptibly
warmed. Green, who had been watching the summit of the mountain, began
to doubt whether it was prudent to remain in the neighbourhood; at any
moment it might send up not only lava, but ashes and stones, and huge
rocks, which might in an instant overwhelm the boats. Now came a
fearful rumbling noise, louder than a thousand Woolwich infants roaring
together. Tom declared that the whole mountain seemed to shake, while
the summit appeared covered with a crown of ruddy flame.

"This will never do," cried Green; "better be swamped at sea than be
buried under a shower of rocks. Pull round and give way, my lads; stand
by to hoist the sail the instant we feel the wind."

The men dashed their oars into the water, and pulled away as fast as
they could stretch their arms, eager to get to a distance from the
fearful scene; but though they were really going at a rapid rate, it
seemed as if the mountain was still as near as ever. Even the most dull
and ignorant must have been conscious of their utter helplessness; at
any moment the fiery shower might descend on their heads; indeed, the
farther they got off, the more clearly they saw the fearful work going
forward on the summit of the mountain; the flames seemed to spout higher
and higher and higher, and amid them every now and then appeared huge
fragments of solid rock, which, cast up to a great height, again fell
down into the crater; whi