Two old craters lie on its double top,
one of which has fallen in, forming a short rocky valley, but the
other retains its original regular shape. In the circular funnel,
whose walls consist of masses of lava stone, rests a quiet, black
lake, that looks very mysterious to the wanderer. Only low juniper
bushes grow near the crater, bearing witness to the barrenness of the
land. From the foot of this mountain an immense stream of lava, as
wide and deep as a glacier, broke forth and flowed into the valley,
where the end of the stream is still to be seen in a high, steep wall
of rock.
[Illustration: THE "CHEESE GROTTO" AT BERTRICH BATHS.]
Similar sights are met all through this western volcanic region, and
we can consider the mineral and acid springs, which are very numerous,
as the last traces of the former disturbances, the products of the
decomposition of the volcanic stones buried in the earth. At Bertrich
Baths there are hot springs which were known to the Romans, for
numerous antiquities dating from their time have been excavated here.
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