We
Were Kindly Treated By These Mountaineers On Our First Ascent; Before
Our Second They Were Nearly All Swept Away By Mariano.
Dr. Kirk
found upwards of thirty species of ferns on this and other mountains,
and even good-sized tree-ferns; though scarcely a single kind is to
be met with on the plains.
Lemon and orange trees grew wild, and
pineapples had been planted by the people. Many large hornbills,
hawks, monkeys, antelopes, and rhinoceroses found a home and food
among the great trees round its base. A hot fountain boils up on the
plain near the north end. It bubbles out of the earth, clear as
crystal, at two points, or eyes, a few yards apart from each other,
and sends off a fine flowing stream of hot water. The temperature
was found to be 174 degrees Fahr., and it boiled an egg in about the
usual time. Our guide threw in a small branch to show us how
speedily the Madse-awira (boiling water) could kill the leaves.
Unlucky lizards and insects did not seem to understand the nature of
a hot-spring, as many of their remains were lying at the bottom. A
large beetle had alighted on the water, and been killed before it had
time to fold its wings. An incrustation, smelling of sulphur, has
been deposited by the water on the stones. About a hundred feet from
the eye of the fountain the mud is as hot as can be borne by the
body.
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