Glasgow Courier. — 1859-04-23 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

VISIT TO A JAVA VOLCANO.  We here found ourselves on the rim of a circular bowl, of six or seven miles in circumference, and of profound depth, its sides being mostly perpendicu• lar, in the very centre of which was a huge black hole, emitting constantly smoke and sulphuric vapour, with a large sulphur pond a little on one side of it. The whole coup had much more the appearance of a vast panorama than nature itself, so clear and distinct that every object appeared, all round and below, the distance but revealing itself by their diminution huge blocks of cindery rock appearing like little knobs, that you might hop from one to the other on; altogether, it seemed hardly credible that the eye could grasp at one glance so vast, and yet minutely perfect a view. The descent into this monster cavity has, I believe, been once or twice effected, by the assistance of ropes; but it must, under any circumstances, be a very hazardous undertaking. The beautifully clear distinctness of every Object in the crater, as seen through the azure-hke atmosphere by which it was surrounded, reminded me of appearances I witnessed once at a very carious little lake in Java, called "the blue waters." It was, perhaps, hardly half a mile in circumference, situated in a dense forest, and surrounded by trees of a giant growth, whose shade it was, most probably, that imparted to its waters a tint almost deeper than that of the sky, and at the depth of six or seven fathoms, or even more, every object to the smallest particle of weed was seen as distinctly as though held in the hand. It had another peculiarity that probably did not apply to the atmosphere of the crater, that the rays of light struck it in such a way as to give a false position to everything below the surface, and fishes, that you thought quite close and immediately under you, would remain not only unharmed, but even undismayed, by a dart of your lance, and though you might keep on repeating at each attempt, " 111 have you this time though!" a cool " Don't you wish ?" on the calm n countenances of the attacked, after each futile endeavour to carry out the threat, was the invariable response. When a bather was immersed in this lake, you saw nothing of him but his head and feet, reminding you of the figures of Chinese criminals as displayed on cups and saucers, when you are law:tired with a front view of the unhappy wretches, resting on their hams, with their chins on their knees. The forest in which this lake was situated swarmed with monkeys, and, on one occasion, I had a rather sharp encounter, while (what in Ireland would be styled) "considerably undressed," with a pack of them, I headed by an old villain, standing three or four feet I high, with a long white beard, who disputed, most I manfully, my right to detain one of his tribe that a Malay ihad caught for me. Fortunately, I was I armed with a stout stick, or it was very evident that my throat and his teeth would shortly havetheen disagreeably connected. The oddest part of it was, that my prisoner, who was a very young one, had made several most determined attempts at suicide, jumping into the water and allowing itself to sink without any effort; and had I not pulled it out by a string that was round its waist, a case of felo de se, to all appearance, must h .ve ensued. While I was doing battle it again plunged in, and, by the time the foe had been beaten off, I found it under water in a perfectly quiescent state, and all but dead, from which, however,we managed to revive it, and rewarded its trials and sufferings by emancipation to its leafy home.—Hong Kong to Manilla and the Lakes of Luzon in the Phillipines. By Henry T. Ellie, R.N.