We also took with us provisions, clothing, and a tent, for I was by no means sure that we should find either food or shelter on the oasis.
As we passed the volcano I looked into the crater.

Nearly level with the breach made by the water was a great mass of seething lava, which I regarded as a sure sign that another eruption might take place at any moment.

The valley lake had disappeared; banks, trees, soil, dwellings, all were gone, leaving only bare rocks and burning lava.

Of San Cristobal there was not a vestige; the oasis had been converted into a damp and steaming gully, void of vegetation and animal life.

But, as I had anticipated, the force of the flood was spent before it reached the coast.
Much of the water had overflowed into the desert and been absorbed by the sand, and the little that remained was now sinking into the earth and being evaporated by the sun.
For hours Angela and I rode on in silence; our distress was too deep for words.
"Quipai is gone," she murmured at length, shuddering and looking at me with tear-filled eyes.
"Yes, gone and forever.