Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/65

Oct.] extended over all the ret of the mountains, which eemed to form o many gradations, that mut firt be urmounted before we can arrive at this commanding eminence.

At the place called La Ramblette, ituated on the north-eat ide of the peak, our curioity was excited by ome clefts made in the rock, a few of which were three inches wide; the ret were merely cracks, from which iued an aqueous vapour that had no mell, although the ides of the chinks were covered with crytals of ulphur, hooting out from a very white earth, which appeared to be of an argillaceous nature.

A mercurial thermometer being introduced into one of the clefts, the quickilver roe, in the pace of a minute, to 43° above 0 of Reaumur's cale. In everal of the others it did not rie higher than 30°.

We were now engaged in the mot toilome part of our journey, the acclivity of the peak being exceedingly teep. When we had urmounted about a third part of the acent, I made a hole about three inches deep into the earth, from whence an aqueous inodorous vapour iued, and though the heat of the urface of the earth was not greater than it uually is at an equal elevation, upon plunging a thermometer into it the mercury roe to 51° above 0. The