. Java and her neighbours; a traveller's notes in Java Celebes, the Moluccas and Sumatra . s and all within. The sounds below variedfrom a dull roar as of thunder to an occasionalsharp clatter as of breaking china. At times thenoise became louder and more threatening, andit seemed as if something was on the point ofbeing hurled from the cauldron within, and thatthe frail wall on which we stood would be rentasunder by the terrific convulsions which rackedits very foundations. After a time the wind veered, and, freed from thechoking smoke, we were able to see the irregularhole at the very bottom
. Java and her neighbours; a traveller's notes in Java Celebes, the Moluccas and Sumatra . s and all within. The sounds below variedfrom a dull roar as of thunder to an occasionalsharp clatter as of breaking china. At times thenoise became louder and more threatening, andit seemed as if something was on the point ofbeing hurled from the cauldron within, and thatthe frail wall on which we stood would be rentasunder by the terrific convulsions which rackedits very foundations. After a time the wind veered, and, freed from thechoking smoke, we were able to see the irregularhole at the very bottom of the pit, six hundredfeet below, a pit over half a mile in circumfer-ence at the rim. The opposite walls, too,became visible, steep faces of red-brown and grey,seamed with rain gullies, gaunt and grim, mereshells of volcanic rock heaved up by the internalconvulsions of bygone ages. To-day Bromo istame and well-behaved, a mere chimney or venthole for the escape of the hot gases and other by-products of the combustion in the furnace under-neath, but in its jagged cone, its surrounding. IN THE TENGGER MTS. 195 accumulations of ash, and the huge blocks ofhardened lava which lie strewn about in its vi-cinity we have convincing evidence that it wasonce actively, overwhelmingly destructive. It iseasy to understand the promptings that lead theTenggri mountaineers to flock to this spot eachyear (in May) to offer sacrifice, in the hope ofappeasing the evil spirits whose manifestationsare thus real and terrifying. On the way back to Tosari we noticed, wher-ever the mountain side had been dug out in theprocess of road construction, the lines of thesuccessive layers of deposits that must indicateto a geologist with great clearness the history ofthe gradual formation of this volcanic area. Acomparison of the Tengger and the Banda craterdistricts would probably show many points ofsimilarity and solve many moot questions. Ihave purposely said nothing of the forests throughwhich we passed on
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