"The crater is one of the largest, perhaps the largest, of the island. It has, in general, the shape of a funnel; but its sides are very irregular. The brim, or margin, which bounds it at the top, has also different degrees of elevation, rising and descending along the whole course of its circumference. The perpendicular depth at the side, where I descended (in the south), is at least two hundred and fifty feet: in the west the margin rises considerably higher. The regular circumference of the crater I estimate one English mile and nearly an half. The south side of the interior crater, near the top, is very steep. I found it impossible to descend, without the assistance of ropes tied to the shrubs at the margin. It consists here of small fragments of lava. About one-third of its depth it becomes more oblique or inclining, and the lower part consists of large piles of rocks, through which the descending streams of water have excavated a winding channel. The east side descends gradually about one-half of the depth, where it is terminated abruptly by a perpendicular pile of large rocks, which continues to the bottom. The north side is more gradually shelving than the others, and is partly covered with vegetation. The west side is one perpendicular pile of rocks. The nucleus of the mountain consists of large masses of basaltes, in which the volcanic opening is situated; and the sides exhibit piles and strata of this stone in every possible variety of configuration. In some places the rocks have the appearance of a regular wall, which is suddenly diversified by large fragments suspended apparently by a small base, and threatening to fall down every instant. Sometimes they rise in an oblique manner, and appear to have been disposed by art. But I shall not attempt a minute description of the disposition of the rocks and the strata which form the internal walls of the crater, which, without an accurate drawing, would be tedious and scarcely intelligible. The surface of the rocks which line the interior of the crater is completely calcined, generally of a white colour, sometimes inclining to grey or yellow. In many places small fragments of lava adhere to and cover the rocks of basalt: these are of different sizes, and of great variety of form and colour; but the most are calcined or burnt, or the surface like the rocks themselves. The different sides of the internal crater are excavated in many places, by furrows made by the descending water, which penetrate to a considerable depth, and expose more completely the interior basaltic composition. The bottom of the crater has a diameter of three hundred yards, but is not completely regular; its form depends on the gradual meeting of the sides below. Its surface is much diversified: it is strewed, like the sides, with immense blocks of basalt, the interstices between