Note 3 — Chapter XIX · ASCENT OF SIPAN

Except for the marshes, there was not a trace of verdure in a landscape devoid of trees or even of bush. Far and wide, the surface of the plain was broken only by mounds or gullies—the mounds heaped up with blocks of black lava, the gullies doubly darkened by the same material. Indeed the whole depression has been covered with lava, probably to some considerable depth. Its elevation above sea-level is not much less than 7700 feet.3 These lavas, which must have been of a liquid nature, may have been, in part, emitted from the volcano during its infancy, but have largely issued from fissures in the plain. Flooding into the limestones, they compose such a lofty pedestal that the volcano somewhat loses height. The climber is not ungrateful for their help.