214 LIFE IN JAVA.
the view from our sight. The mountain we were on was called the Prau, behind which were various mountains known as Talerep, Sumbing, and Sin- doro, &c., rising to different heights.
Our route was a very wild and desolate one, the rough path sometimes winding immediately above a steep precipice, at others between rocks and mountains, the bases of which were encrusted with sulphur, and full of holes and crevices, from many of which, as from the vent of a boiler, smoke or steam was puffing out, filling the air with strong sulphuric smells ; while, in accordance with the character of the place, a kind of distant rumbling noise was constantly heard, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing, but never subsiding until we had nearly reached our journey's end.
When w^e were at the summit of the Prau mountain, the guide directed our attention to an opening, whether natural or artificial I cannot say, in the shoulder of the mountain, from which we
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