Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
before she and her family party left for the mountain, telling her
mother-in-law that it 'does not even smoke at present so we shall
get to the top - it is not very high and is said not to be a diicult
undertaking'.²¹ With her daughter Margaret riding on the shoul-
ders of a guide, Mary and her family climbed the mountain in
March 1818:
At first we went through deep ashes sliding back more
than half at each step then we got a stream of hard lava
like the steepest stair or rather ladder, however perseverance
overcame everything by going slow, and stopping after we
came to the lava which had flowed in the irruption which
took place three months ago. It was not smoking and in
many places red hot. We sat down and having roasted our
eggs in it we dined it was like sitting on a furnace - after
our meal we began the ascent to the crater. This was still
more perpendicular, and so hot that our feet were roasted
and sticking paper in the crevices it flam'd . . . Now the fumes
of sulphur became oppressive but we continued our ascent
when all at once we came to the great Crater. My feelings
were so strong of astonishment and still more of terror that
I stood motionless without uttering a word. The extent is
enormous, the depth unknown, the inside rough shaggy
horrible, smoking fiercely from every crevice, brilliant
with all colours, deep black bright red green yellow orange
which all formed by the vapour, the heat and the smoke was
distressing but we were determined to go round it which
took us about an hour, at one place we stuffed handkerchiefs
into our mouths and noses and ran as fast as we could over
a place that was so thick of vapour we could hardly see one
another the red flame issued from many places and the heat
so great that I several times thought my petticoats were on
fire all this while we were going round the verge of the
Crater, at one place there were large deep holes from which
steam rushed out violently . . . With joy we began the descent
at a place where there was no lava and we ran as hard as it
was possible literally up to the knees in ashes at every step.
