"Acknowledging the threatening conditions, I urged: 'If not too dangerous, I do wish that we might go on until we find the tree.'
"Said he: 'If you promise not to strike any of these rocks with your hammer, we will venture a little farther.'
"You may be assured that I not only promised, but obeyed.
"At this juncture, I must confess, a peculiar sensation came over me when I thought of the possibility of being buried alive or crushed to death in this subterranean cavern, yet pride kept me from showing the white feather.
"The guide, going ahead and examining the walls and roof, called back to me in a low voice, saying, 'We are now safer.'
"Having traversed the main tunnel for a distance of upward of eight hundred feet, and carefully avoiding its branches, we finally came to the object of our search. This tree, four feet in diameter, of opalized wood, stands upright on the left side of the tunnel. The lava had burned off the bark and partly carbonized the outside part, and then the whole had subsequently taken the form of opal silica. There is a space of about four inches between the tree and the surrounding lava.
"By raising the candles above our heads we could look up the body of the tree some thirty feet. When we had broken off some choice specimens from the body of the tree with the hammer we left this subterranean world. On emerging from the tunnel the guide said: 'Thank God, we again see the sunlight.'
"To which I replied: 'Amen.'"