of Japanese manufacture, being arranged witb glasses like our own, inserted
in a tube of bamboo.
The geological features of the hill itself are of. considerable interest.
I t is composed of a variety of granite, the sienite, generally gray, though
occasionally of a reddish tint, in which crystals of tourmaline are more or
less abundantly diffused. On the southwestern side of the promontory, the
rock has been first torn apart by some subterranean force, leaving a crevice
about twenty feet in width, and subsequently another upheaving movement
has forced up, so as to fill the space partially, a rocky substance, similar to
the mountain in kind, but with no tourmaline, and a softer feldspar, having
the character of the porphyritic formation. At this point a mineral spring
issues from the crevices of the rock. I t is considerably impregnated with
sulphuretted hydrogen gas, as was very evident from its taste and odor, is
warm to the touch, and one of the surgeons reports it as “ sitting lightly on
the stomach.” Its gases and odor are lost, however, by being kept even for
a short time. The water contains chloride of sodium, and probably some
mineral sulphate or sulphuret. The intelligent medical officer Dr. Green,
to whose account we are indebted for our information, further reports it to
be medicinally somewhat diuretic and slighty aperient, and infers that it
would be probably beneficial in some cutaneous diseases and chronic complaints,
where the secretions are disordered or suppressed. The natives,
who accompanied the Americans to the spring, made signs that the water
was not good to drink, but excellent to bathe in; and the erection of a presiding
deity in its neighborhood, and the frequent use of it by the inhabitants
for washing .themselves, proved a high appreciation of its qualities.
A few hundred yards west of the sulphur spring, at the back of the
town, is a natural cave in the mountain. I t opens from the sea into a steep,
perpendicular cliff, and can be entered only by means of a boat. I t is about
thirty feet high, a dozen or so in width, and the water at the entrance has a
depth of nearly twenty feet. A party from the ships penetrated it until the
darkness of the interior became so great that objects could no longer be
distinguished; it was found, however, by groping along, that the cave
branched off to the right and left, with apparently the same depth of water
and the same height of roof as at the entrance. Within, a perfect calmness
reigned, the water being almost motionless, and the atmosphere close and undisturbed
by a breath of wind. When the light was sufficient, the bottom
could be seen glistening brightly with a deposit of white sand. When
storms prevail, there must be a great rushing of waters, and war of the
winds, through this cavernous channel. The entrance to the cave is arched,
and the rocky cliff in which it opens has a columnar formation, extending
from the curve of the arch, high up the rock. At first sight it was supposed
to be basalt, as it had a similar appearance to the columns of the
Giant’s Causeway in Ireland; but on further investigation, the geological