During the last hour of our ascent the sun had grown dim. Clouds of
mist blown from the neighbouring glaciers enshrouded the hill-tops,
and soon enveloped us so closely that we could scarcely see ten
paces before us. At last they dissolved, fortunately not in rain
but in snow, which profusely covered the black uneven lava. The
snow remained on the ground, and the thermometer stood at one degree
of cold.
In a little while the clear blue sky once more was visible, and the
sun again shone over us. I remained on the top till the clouds had
separated beneath us, and afforded me a better distant view over the
country.
My pen is unfortunately too feeble to bring vividly before my
readers the picture such as I beheld it here, and to describe to
them the desolation, the extent and height of these lava-masses. I
seemed to stand in a crater, and the whole country appeared only a
burnt-out fire. Here lava was piled up in steep inaccessible
mountains; there stony rivers, whose length and breadth seemed
immeasurable, filled the once-verdant fields. Every thing was
jumbled together, and yet the course of the last eruption could be
distinctly traced.
I stood there, in the centre of horrible precipices, caves, streams,
valleys, and mountains, and scarcely comprehended how it was
possible to penetrate so far, and was overcome with terror at the
thought which involuntarily obtruded itself - the possibility of
never finding my way again out of these terrible labyrinths.
