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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wonders of Creation, by Anonymous
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Wonders of Creation
+
+Author: Anonymous
+
+Posting Date: September 22, 2012 [EBook #6131]
+Release Date: July, 2004
+First Posted: November 17, 2002
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WONDERS OF CREATION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Juliet Sutherland, Charles
+Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:  Mount Vesuvius]
+
+[Illustration:  Marvels of Creation]
+
+
+
+                      WONDERS OF CREATION:
+
+                    A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF
+
+                 VOLCANOES AND THEIR PHENOMENA.
+
+ "The mountains quake at Him and the hills melt and the earth is
+               burned at His presence"--NAHUM 1:5
+
+                               1872
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Being intended for the Young, this work treats of Volcanoes only in a
+popular way. Scientific details and philosophical speculations are
+accordingly avoided. Nevertheless, a perusal of the following pages may
+so stimulate the curiosity of youthful minds, that some, on attaining
+to riper years and more mature understanding, may be inspired with a
+longing to inquire more deeply into this interesting subject. They may
+be stimulated to investigate, in a philosophical spirit, all the
+marvellous facts and phenomena connected with volcanic agency, and to
+speculate on their causes and modes of operation. Some also, on
+reaching their manhood, may be induced to ascend one or more of the
+nearer active volcanoes, and examine their phenomena for themselves.
+The facilities of travel are now so great, that a visit to Vesuvius or
+Etna is no longer beyond the limits of a holiday trip. Even the more
+remote Hecla with the playful Geysers may be reached within a
+reasonable time. Perhaps a very few, who are now scientific travellers
+in embryo, may call to remembrance what they may have read in these
+pages, when, many years hence, they may be climbing the cone of
+Cotopaxi, or peering into the crater of Kilauea.
+
+Apart from these considerations, a perusal of this work may enable the
+young mind to form a more lively idea of the tremendous energy of the
+forces which are imprisoned in the bowels of the earth. Such a vivid
+conception will naturally lead to a higher appreciation of the wisdom
+and power of Him who guides the operation of those forces by his laws,
+and has set bounds to their activity which they cannot overpass.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Volcanoes in general--Origin of the Name--General
+Aspect--Crater--Cone--Subordinate Cones and Craters--Peak of
+Teneriffe--Lava-Streams--Cascades and Jets of Lava--Variations in its
+Consistency--Pumice--Different Sorts of
+Lava--Obsidian--Olivine--Sulphur--Dust, Ashes, &c.--Volcanic
+Silk--Volcanic Islands--Volcanic Fishes--Hot Water, Mud, Vapours,
+&c.--Volcanic Storm--Explosions--Number of Volcanoes--King of the
+Volcanoes--Artificial Volcano
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Volcanoes of Iceland--Mount Hecla--Earliest Eruption--Great Eruption in
+1845--Skaptar Yokul--Terrible Eruption in 1783--Rise and Disappearance
+of Nyoe--Katlugaia--The Geysers--A very hot Bath --Californian
+Geysers--Iceland-spar--Jan Mayen
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Mount Vesuvius--Origin of Name--Former Condition--Eruption of A.D.
+79--Death of Pliny--Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum--Appearance
+of the Mountain before and after Eruption--Formation of Monte
+Nuovo--Eruption of Boiling Water--Coloured Vapours--Cascade of
+Lava--Discovery of Remains of Herculaneum and Pompeii--The Buildings of
+Pompeii--Street of Tombs--Skeletons--Sundry Shops--Ascents of
+Vesuvius--Crater--Temple of Serapis
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+Mount Etna--Its Appearance and Height--Ancient Eruptions--Pindar's
+Allusion--Virgil's Description--Subordinate Cones and
+Craters--Caverns--Val de Bove--Formation of Monti Rossi--Eruption of
+1852--Whirlwinds--Lava Torrents--Cascades of Lava--Description of
+Crater --Empedocles--Enceladus--Craters of 1865--Cyclopean
+Isles--Homer's Legend--Volcanic Origin--Other Basaltic Groups
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Lipari Islands--Stromboli--Origin of Name--Position of
+Crater--Description of Crater--New Volcanic Island named
+Julia--Phenomena preceding its Elevation--Description of Island and
+Crater--Its Disappearance--Rise of Islands at Santorin
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Peak of Teneriffe--Its Crater--Eruption of Chahorra--Palma--Great
+Caldera--Lancerote--Great Eruption--Sudden Death--Fuego, Cape de Verde
+Islands--Cotopaxi--Its Appearance--Great Eruptive
+Force--Tunguragua--Great Eruption of Mud and Water--Fish thrown
+out--Quito--Its Overthrow--Pichinca--Humboldt's Ascent--Narrow
+Escape--Antisana--Sangay--Rancagua--Chillan--Masaya
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Jorullo--Great Monument--Jorullo's Estate--Interruption to his
+Quiet--His Estate Swells--Swallows Two Rivers--Throws up Ovens--Becomes
+a Burning Mountain--Popocatepetl--Spanish Ascents--Orizaba --Muller's
+Ascent--Morne Garou--Pelee--La Soufriere
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Hawaii, Sandwich Islands--Crater of Kilauea--Its awful Aspect--Fiery
+Lake and Islands--Jets of Lava--Depth of Crater and Surface of
+Lake--Bank of Sulphur--Curious Rainbow--Mouna Kaah and Mouna
+Loa--Eruption of the Latter in 1840--Recent Eruption--Great Jet and
+Torrent of Lava--Burning of the Forests--Great Whirlwinds--Underground
+Explosions--Other Volcanoes in the Pacific
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+Atolls, or Coral Islands--Their strange Appearance--Their Connexion
+with Volcanoes--Their Mode of Formation--Antarctic
+Volcanoes-Diatomaceous Deposits
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+Volcanoes of Java--Papandayang--Mountain Ingulfed--Great Destruction of
+Life and Property--Galoen gong--Destructive Eruption--Mount
+Merapia--Great Eruption, with Hurricane--Another, very
+destructive---Mud Volcano--Crater of Tankuban Prahu--Island of
+Sumbawa--Volcano of Tomboro--Terrific Eruption--Timor--A Volcano
+quenches itself--Cleaving of Mount Machian--Sangir--Destructive
+Eruption--Bourbon
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Mud and Air Volcanoes--Luss--Macaluba--Taman--Korabetoff New Island in
+the Sea of Azof--Jokmali--Fires of Baku--Mud Volcano in Flank of
+Etna--Air Volcanoes of Turbaco, Cartagena, and Galera Zamba
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+New Zealand--Boiling Fountains and Lakes
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Underground Sounds--Quito--Rio Apure--Guanaxuato--Melida--Nakous
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Extinct Volcanoes--Auvergne--Vienne--Agde--Eyfel--Italy--Lacus
+Cimini--Grotto del Cane--Guevo Upas--Talaga Bodas--The Dead Sea
+
+
+
+
+                       WONDERS OF CREATION:
+
+
+                  VOLCANOES AND THEIR PHENOMENA.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Volcanoes in general--Origin of the Name--General
+Aspect--Crater--Cone--Subordinate Cones and Craters--Peak of
+Teneriffe--Lava-Streams--Cascades and Jets of Lava--Variations in its
+Consistency--Pumice--Different Sorts of
+Lava--Obsidian--Olivine--Sulphur--Dust, Ashes, &c.--Volcanic
+Silk--Volcanic Islands--Volcanic Fishes--Hot Water, Mud, Vapours,
+&c--Volcanic storm--Explosions--Number of Volcanoes--King of the
+Volcanoes--Artificial Volcano.
+
+
+Among the many wonderful works of God, none exhibits so much of awful
+grandeur as an active volcano. This name for a burning mountain was
+first applied to that which exists in the island anciently called
+Hiera, one of the Lipari group. It is derived from the name of the
+heathen god Vulcan, which was originally spelt with an initial B, as
+appears from an ancient altar on which were inscribed the words BOLCANO
+SAC. ARA. This spelling indicates the true derivation of the name,
+which is simply a corruption of Tubal-cain, who was "an instructer of
+every artificer in brass and iron" (Gen. iv. 22). The ancient heathen,
+having deified this personage, imagined, on first seeing a burning
+mountain, that Tubal-cain, or Vulcan, must have established his forge
+in the heart of it, and so, not unnaturally, named it Volcano--an
+appellation which the Island of Hiera retains to the present day.
+
+The Cyclops--the supposed descendants of Vulcan, who were fabled to
+have been of gigantic stature, and to have had each only one eye in the
+centre of the forehead--were imagined to be the workmen who laboured in
+these underground forges. The noises, proceeding from the heart of the
+mountain, were attributed to their operations. It is to the Island of
+Hiera that Virgil alludes in the AEneid, lib. viii. 416. The passage is
+thus rendered by Dryden:--
+
+     "Sacred to Vulcan's name, an isle there lay,
+      Betwixt Sicilia's coasts and Lipare,
+      Raised high on smoking rocks, and deep below,
+      In hollow caves the fires of Etna glow.
+      The Cyclops here their heavy hammers deal;
+      Loud strokes and hissings of tormented steel
+      Are heard around; the boiling waters roar,
+      And smoky flames through fuming tunnels soar."
+
+A volcano generally presents itself to the imagination as a mountain
+sending forth from its summit great clouds of smoke with vast sheets of
+flame, and it is not unfrequently so described. The truth is, however,
+that a real volcano seldom emits either true smoke or true flame. What
+is mistaken for smoke consists merely of vast volumes of fine dust,
+mingled with much steam and other vapours--chiefly sulphurous. What
+appears like flames is simply the glare from the glowing materials
+which are thrown up towards the top of the mountain--this glare being
+reflected from the clouds of dust and steam.
+
+[Illustration:  Peak of Teneriffe.]
+
+The most essential part of a volcano is the crater, a hollow basin,
+generally of a circular form. It is often of large dimensions, and
+sometimes of vast depth. Some volcanoes consist of a crater alone, with
+scarcely any mountain at all; but in the majority of cases the crater
+is situated on the top of a mountain, which in some instances towers to
+an enormous height. The part of the mountain which terminates in the
+principal crater is usually of a conical form--much like a glass-house
+chimney, and is therefore named the cone. It is generally composed of
+loose ashes and cinders, with here and there masses of stone, which
+have been tossed into the air by the volcanic forces. In some mountains
+the cone rises out of a hollow at a considerable height from the base.
+A hollow of this kind is generally regarded as having been a former
+crater, which had become extinct before the existing cone was raised.
+There are sometimes formed lower down the mountain subordinate craters,
+smaller than that which occupies the summit of the cone. Within the
+crater itself there are frequently numerous little cones, from which
+vapours are continually issuing, with occasional volleys of ashes and
+stones.
+
+One of the largest and most perfect of the volcanic cones in the world
+is that of the Peak of Teneriffe, of which you have here a
+representation. It conveys a good idea of the general form of the cone,
+and has long been a conspicuous and useful landmark to mariners. It is
+upwards of twelve thousand feet in height, and is said to be visible in
+very clear weather at a distance of a hundred miles.
+
+The most interesting products of an active volcano are the streams of
+lava which it pours forth--sometimes from the principal crater on the
+summit--sometimes from the smaller craters lower down. This lava
+consists of melted stone. When it issues from the mountain its heat is
+intense and it glows like a furnace, so that, during the night
+especially, these fiery rivers present a grand yet awful spectacle. The
+streams spread themselves till they sometimes attain a breadth of
+several miles, with a depth of several hundred feet, and they flow
+onward till their length sometimes reaches fifty miles.
+
+Lava, not being so liquid as water, does not flow so rapidly:
+nevertheless, when it is careering down the sides of a mountain, or
+where the slope of the ground is considerable, it advances with great
+speed. Even when at its hottest, it is somewhat viscid, like treacle,
+and this viscidness increases as it cools. Hence on a level plain, and
+at some distance from its source, the lava-stream advances at a
+leisurely pace. In such circumstances the cooling proceeds so quickly
+that a crust of considerable thickness is soon formed on the top of the
+current, and persons who are bold enough may cross the stream by means
+of this natural bridge. Even where the current continues flowing
+rapidly, this crust may be formed on its surface; and a man, whose
+curiosity exceeds his prudence, may stand on the top of it, bore a hole
+through the crust, and see the lava flowing underneath his feet!
+
+Nothing can resist the progress of the lava-flood; trees, houses,
+everything yields to its massive assault, The trees take fire before
+its approach, and when it reaches them they emit a hissing noise almost
+amounting to a shriek, and then plunging into the molten flood are seen
+no more. Even the sea cannot withstand the lava-stream, but retires on
+its approach; so that promontories stretching to a considerable
+distance from the shore are formed in this manner, when the molten
+matter hardens into stone.
+
+The eruptions of lava are sometimes attended by peculiarities which
+impart to them much additional grandeur. Instances have occurred in
+which the fiery stream has plunged over a sheer precipice of immense
+height, so as to produce a glowing cascade exceeding in breadth and
+perpendicular descent the celebrated Falls of Niagara. In other cases,
+the lava, instead of at once flowing down the sides of the mountain,
+has been first thrown up into the air as a fiery fountain several
+hundred feet in height. This happens when the great crater at the
+summit of the cone is full of liquid lava but does not overflow. Then,
+on the formation of an opening in the side of the cone, a good way
+down, the lava issuing from it is projected upwards to nearly the same
+height that it occupies in the interior of the crater at the top of the
+cone. It is hardly possible for the fancy to picture to itself anything
+so magnificent as such a fountain of liquid fire must be. A simple jet
+of water of considerable volume, thrown into the air to the height of a
+hundred feet, is itself a beautiful spectacle. What then must be a huge
+jet of glowing white lava projected to the height of several hundred
+feet, and with what an awful thundering sound must it come tumbling to
+the ground, thence to rush as a roaring torrent down the mountain's
+side!
+
+Lava, when congealed, differs in its consistency according as it is
+near the top or near the bottom of the stream. When near the top it is
+porous, owing to its rapid cooling; when near the bottom it is dense,
+owing to its slow cooling and the great pressure to which it is
+subjected. When the lighter superficial lava is brought suddenly into
+contact with water, as when a lava-stream enters the sea, it becomes
+still lighter and more porous--forming the well-known substance called
+pumice, so much used for polishing. It may be regarded as the
+solidified froth of lava, and is so light that it floats on the surface
+of water.
+
+The lavas of different mountains, when cooled and hardened, differ much
+in their appearance and composition. Among those of Iceland is found
+the beautiful black volcanic glass named obsidian. It is a good deal
+used for ornamental purposes; for it possesses the peculiar property of
+presenting a different appearance according to the manner in which it
+is cut. When cut in one direction it is of a beautiful jetty black;
+when cut across that direction it is glistering gray. The lavas of
+Vesuvius are generally of a brown colour, and are also used in the
+arts. In them are found the beautiful olive-green crystals of the
+mineral called olivine, sometimes used by jewellers. But the most
+useful of all volcanic productions is native sulphur, in which Mount
+Etna has been very prolific. It is to this mountain chiefly, therefore,
+that we are indebted for our beautiful fire-works--our squibs,
+crackers, Roman candles, serpents, Catherine-wheels, and sky-rockets.
+Would it had produced nothing more harmful than these! But it has also
+supplied one of the ingredients of that villainous gunpowder, which has
+been the means of thrusting so many of our fellow-creatures prematurely
+out of the world. Etna, however, can hardly be held responsible for
+this sad misuse of the valuable substance which it affords; while even
+gunpowder itself has, on the whole, been of vast benefit to mankind.
+Could we only refrain from shooting each other with it, we might regard
+it as an almost unmixed good; for it has helped us greatly in forming
+our roads, railways, and tunnels, and in working our quarries and mines.
+
+In all great eruptions the flow of the lava is preceded by the ejection
+of vast quantities of volcanic dust, ashes, dross, slag, and loose
+stones. These are tossed into the air with tremendous violence,
+consequently, to a great height. The stones thus ejected are sometimes
+of immense size. A rock, whose weight is estimated at two hundred tons,
+was thrown from the summit of Cotopaxi to the distance of more than ten
+miles. Large stones have been tossed up by Vesuvius to the estimated
+height of three thousand six hundred feet. The dust of the volcano of
+St. Vincent was carried more than two hundred miles to the eastward in
+the teeth of the trade wind; consequently it must have been thrown to
+an enormous height, in order to its falling at so vast a distance from
+its source.
+
+Besides the usual volcanic dust and ashes, there is sometimes thrown
+from the crater of a volcano a substance resembling spun-glass or
+asbestos. It possesses the flexibility and lustre of silk. The volcano
+of Salazes, in the Island of Bourbon, is remarkable for this substance,
+and it has there been seen to form a cloud covering the entire surface
+of the mountain. But it has also been found in other places. How
+curious it would be to have this volcanic silk spun into threads, and
+knitted into stockings or woven into a garment! Who can tell what may
+happen in these days of adventure and invention? Who knows but what
+some young reader, whose eye is now resting on this page, may yet live
+to present his ladylove with a pair of knitted gloves composed of the
+volcanic silk of Salazes?
+
+Great as the contrast is between this filmy material and the ponderous
+blocks tossed into the air by Cotopaxi and Etna, it is not greater than
+that between the latter and other masses which have from time to time
+been upheaved by volcanic forces. Instances have occurred of whole
+islands having been raised from the bed of the ocean, or whole
+mountains upreared on the surface of the land, far away from the sea,
+and that too in the short space of a few hours. But of such we shall
+have occasion to speak more at large in the sequel.
+
+Of all the extraordinary productions that have ever been thrown up by
+volcanoes, the strangest of all are fishes. How droll to dine upon fish
+cooked in a volcano! A queer fish it must be that likes to dwell in the
+bowels of a mountain--more especially of one whose entrails are mostly
+of liquid fire. But of this also more fully anon.
+
+In addition to the solid materials thrown out by volcanoes, there are
+sometimes poured forth torrents of boiling water and liquid mud. More
+frequently, however, the water issues in the form of vast columns of
+steam and sulphurous vapour. These ascend to great heights in the air,
+and becoming gradually chilled, they form immense masses of dark heavy
+clouds, similar to those we observe before a thunderstorm. Nor is this
+resemblance apparent only. For the clouds that overhang an active
+volcano during an eruption of its vapours are, in reality,
+thunderclouds highly charged with electricity. They accordingly produce
+what Baron Humboldt calls the volcanic storm. It includes all the most
+terrible of atmospheric phenomena--lightnings of extraordinary
+vividness; thunders that peal and reverberate as if they would rend the
+echoes asunder; torrents of rain that pour down upon the mountain and
+its neighbourhood, hissing like thousands of serpents when they fall on
+the glowing lava-torrent; and whirlwinds that sweep the volcanic ashes
+round and round in vast eddies, and before whose violence no man of
+mortal mould is able for a moment to stand.
+
+Beyond and above this din of contending elements are heard the hoarse
+bellowings of the mountain itself, which, meanwhile, trembles to its
+very core. The detonations from the volcano far exceed in loudness any
+other earthly noise. Compared with these, the pealing of the loudest
+thunder is but as the report of a musket contrasted with the
+simultaneous discharge of a thousand pieces of heavy ordnance. The
+explosions of Tomboro, and the vibrations accompanying them, have been
+heard and felt at almost incredible distances. Judge, then, of the
+immensity of the forces which are thus brought into play, and the
+overwhelming grandeur of the scene which such an eruption, with all its
+accompaniments of storm and tempest, must present to the bewildered eye
+and ear. Even to read of it sends a thrill through the nerves: what,
+then, must it be to listen and behold?
+
+So far do we dwell from the nearest volcanoes, and so little are we
+familiar with the names except of a few, that not many persons are
+aware of the large number of burning mountains on the face of our
+globe. The total number, however, of those which are known to have been
+active within historic times is fully two hundred. Of these, the most
+familiar to us for its classic fame and its restless activity is Mount
+Vesuvius, which stands alone in its grandeur on the continent of
+Europe. The most violent in its activity is Tomboro, in the island of
+Sumbawa. The highest is Cotopaxi, in the range of the Andes, which
+rises far into the region of perpetual snow. Its height is 16,800 feet
+above the level of the sea. Strange it seems, that volcanic fires
+should glow at such a height in the midst of snow and ice. But in this
+particular Cotopaxi does not stand alone. The Peak of Teneriffe, Mount
+Etna, and several others, also rise above the snow-line; while the
+burning mountains of Iceland, Greenland, and Kamtschatka, with those
+which rear their heads in the frozen regions near the South Pole, are
+for the most part enveloped in ice and snow from head to foot.
+
+Before proceeding to describe to you some of the more interesting of
+the individual volcanoes and volcanic groups, it may be well to let you
+into a secret worth knowing. You would doubtless like to have a volcano
+all to yourself. Here is the receipt: Buy several pounds of clean iron
+filings, and a somewhat larger quantity of the flowers of sulphur. Mix
+the two together and knead them well with water into a stiffish paste.
+Then wrap this pudding in a cloth, and put another cloth about it,
+which has been smeared with common or coal-tar. Dig a hole in some
+quiet corner of your garden, pop your dumpling into it, and cover it
+well up with earth, treading it down firmly with your feet. Not many
+hours will elapse before you will see the ground swell like a molehill;
+an eruption will ensue, and you will be the happy possessor of a
+Stromboli of your own!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Volcanoes of Iceland--Mount Hecla--Earliest Eruption--Great Eruption in
+1845--Skaptar Yokul--Terrible Eruption in 1783--Rise and Disappearance
+of Nyoe--Katlugaia--The Geysers--A very hot Bath --Californian
+Geysers--Iceland-spar--Jan Mayen
+
+
+We shall begin with the volcanoes of Iceland, of which the most
+interesting and active is Mount Hecla. The annexed woodcut will give
+you an idea of its appearance. You will observe the column of volcanic
+vapour ascending from the snow-clad summit of the cone, and how dreary
+and desolate is the aspect of the country at its base.
+
+The earliest recorded eruption of Mount Hecla took place in the ninth
+century of the Christian era; but probably there had been many before
+that date. Since then there have been between twenty and thirty
+considerable eruptions of this mountain, and it has sometimes remained
+in a state of activity for upwards of six years with little
+intermission. It took a long rest, however, of more than sixty years'
+duration, prior to the year 1845, when it again burst forth. After a
+violent storm on the night of the 2nd of September in that year, the
+surface of the ground in the Orkney Islands was found strown with
+volcanic dust. There was thus conveyed to the inhabitants of Great
+Britain an intimation that Hecla had been again at work. Accordingly,
+tidings soon after arrived of a great eruption of the mountain. On the
+night of the 1st of September, the dwellers in its neighbourhood were
+terrified by a fearful underground groaning, which continued till
+mid-day on the 2nd. Then, with a tremendous crash, there were formed in
+the sides of the cone two large openings, whence there gushed torrents
+of lava, which flowed down two gorges on the flanks of the mountain.
+The whole summit was enveloped in clouds of vapour and volcanic dust.
+The neighbouring rivers became so hot as to kill the fish, and the
+sheep fled in terror from the adjoining heaths, some being burnt before
+they could escape.
+
+On the night of the 15th of September, two new openings were
+formed--one on the eastern, and the other on the southern slope--from
+both of which lava was discharged for twenty-two hours. It flowed to a
+distance of upwards of twenty miles, killing many cattle and destroying
+a large tract of pasturage. Twelve miles from the crater, the
+lava-stream was between forty and fifty feet deep and nearly a mile in
+width. On the 12th of October a fresh torrent of lava burst forth, and
+heaped up another similar mass. The mountain continued in a state of
+activity up to April 1846; then it rested for a while, and began again
+in the following month of October. Since then, however, it has enjoyed
+repose.
+
+The effects of these eruptions were disastrous. The whole island was
+strown with volcanic ashes, which, where they did not smother the grass
+outright, gave it a poisonous taint. The cattle that ate of it were
+attacked by a murrain, of which great numbers died. The ice and snow,
+which had gathered about the mountain for a long period of time, were
+wholly melted by the heat. Masses of pumice weighing nearly half a ton
+were thrown to a distance of between four and five miles.
+
+[Illustration:  Mount Hecla]
+
+Mount Hecla is not the only volcano in Iceland. There are several
+others; and from one of them, named Skaptar Yokul, there was, in the
+year 1783, an eruption still more violent than that from Hecla above
+described. It began on the 8th of June, and raged with little abatement
+till the end of August, whence onward it continued, but with less
+violence, till the following year. The lava, in this case, poured from
+numerous openings; but these rivulets ultimately united themselves into
+two large currents, which flowed onwards to the sea. In their progress,
+these burning torrents filled up the beds of two considerable rivers.
+The greater of the two streams, after it had ceased to flow and had
+become a solid mass of rock, measured fifty miles in length, and
+between twelve and fifteen miles in breadth. Its average depth on the
+plains was about a hundred feet; but in the bed of the river, which it
+had filled, it was not less than six hundred feet. The snow and ice,
+which had previously covered the mountain, were not only melted, but
+the water that flowed from them was raised to the boiling point, and
+poured down with destructive effect on the plains. The dust and ashes
+thrown into the air darkened the sun; and they were then strown over
+the surface of the island, destroying all the pastures, so that many
+thousands of cattle, horses, and sheep perished. But worse than that,
+upwards of nine thousand persons lost their lives by this dreadful
+catastrophe.
+
+About a month before this great eruption of Skaptar Yokul, a volcanic
+island was thrown up from the sea, at a distance of about seventy miles
+from Iceland. So great was the quantity of ashes and dross ejected from
+its crater, that it overspread the sea to a distance of a hundred and
+fifty miles, forming a crust which obstructed the progress of ships.
+Portions of this crust floated as far as the Shetland and Orkney
+islands. The King of Denmark named this fiery apparition "Nyoe," or
+"New Island," and doubtless prided himself not a little on this
+addition to his limited dominions. But, alas, for human ambition! About
+a year after the date of its first appearance, Nyoe sank into the
+depths out of which it arose, and its position is now marked only by a
+moderate shoal.
+
+It is not by their ejected lavas alone that the volcanoes of Iceland
+produce their destructive effects. Disastrous consequences have
+frequently resulted from the sudden melting of their snows and
+glaciers, on which the volcanic fires operate far more rapidly than
+does the heat of the sun. It is chiefly by the vast quantities of
+earth, sand, stones, and broken fragments of rock, which they hurry
+along with them in their wild career, that the waters, so suddenly
+freed, produce the greatest amount of damage. During an eruption of
+Katlugaia, one of the southern Icelandic volcanoes, in 1756, the mass
+of material thus carried down by the melted snows and glaciers was so
+great, that, advancing several leagues into the sea, it formed three
+parallel promontories, which rose above the sea-level, where there had
+formerly been a depth of forty fathoms of water. Vast ravines were, at
+the same time, scooped out of the sides of the mountain by the erosion
+of the waters. Another eruption of this volcano in 1860 produced
+similar results.
+
+Still more interesting than the volcanic mountains of Iceland are its
+Geysers, or intermittent springs of boiling water. The chief of these
+is the Great Geyser. A jet rises to a vast height, and is accompanied
+by much steam. Indeed, it is quite at the boiling-point.
+
+The little mound, from the top of which the jet appears to rise, is
+composed of a substance named siliceous sinter, and is a deposit from
+the water of the fountain. At the top of this mound, which is between
+six and seven feet in height, there is an oval basin, measuring about
+fifty-six feet in one direction, and about forty-six in the other; its
+average depth is about three feet. In the centre of this basin is a
+round hole, about ten feet in diameter, out of which the water springs.
+This hole is the mouth of a circular well, between seventy and eighty
+feet in depth. It is down this well that the jet retires on its
+disappearance; and it drags along with it all the water out of the
+basin, leaving both basin and well quite empty, without even a puff of
+steam coming out of the hole. In this state of emptiness the basin and
+well remain for several hours. Suddenly the water begins to rise in the
+well, overflowing till it fills the basin. Loud explosions are heard
+from below, and the ground trembles. Then, with amazing violence, up
+springs a vast column of boiling water, surmounted by clouds of steam,
+which obscure the air. This first jet is followed by several others in
+rapid succession, to the number of sixteen or eighteen; the last jet
+being usually the greatest of all, and attaining a height of nearly a
+hundred feet. In some instances it has risen to a height of a hundred
+and fifty feet; and one particular jet was measured which rose to the
+amazing height of two hundred and twelve feet.
+
+The action of the fountain seldom continues more than about five
+minutes at a time, and then a repose of several hours ensues. If left
+to itself, the periods of the fountain's activity, though not quite
+regular, generally recur at intervals of six or seven hours. But they
+may be hastened by throwing big stones down the well. This not only
+hurries the eruption of the jet, but increases its energy, and the
+stones are thrown out with great force by the column of boiling water;
+the loudness of the explosions being also considerably augmented.
+
+There are several other geysers in the island besides this big one.
+Their jets are smaller, but to compensate this deficiency, they are
+more frequent in their ascent; so that travellers who are too impatient
+to await the eruptions of the Great Geyser, content themselves with
+visiting the little ones.
+
+Would it not be very convenient to live near a geyser? We might have
+our victuals cooked by it, and have pipes led from it all round our
+house, to keep us comfortable in winter; and we might have nice hot
+baths in our dressing-rooms, arid even a little steam-engine to roast
+our meat and grind our coffee. But perhaps you may think it might not
+be altogether pleasant to be kept so continually in hot water.
+
+Were any of the water from the geyser to fall on your hands, you would
+doubtless feel it rather sore; still more so, were you to be so rash as
+to thrust your hand fairly into the jet of boiling water, as it ascends
+into the air. Nevertheless, strange as it may seem, it would be
+possible for you, without feeling any pain or sustaining any injury, to
+thrust your hand right into the glowing lava as it flows from the
+crater of Hecla. The only precaution needful to be observed, is first
+to plunge the hand into cold water, and then dry it gently with a soft
+towel, but so as to leave it still a little moist. This discovery was
+made by a French philosopher, M. Boutigny, and has been practically
+proved both by him and M. Houdin, the celebrated conjuror, by thrusting
+their hands into molten iron, as it flowed from the furnace. The latter
+describes the sensation as like what one might imagine to be felt on
+putting the hand into liquid velvet.[1] The reason why this experiment
+proves so harmless is that between the skin and the glowing substance
+there is formed a film of vapour, which acts as a complete protection.
+It is this elastic cushion of vapour which imparts that feeling of
+softness described by M. Houdin; for it is with it alone that the hand
+comes into contact.
+
+[1. Houdin's Autobiography, ii 270]
+
+Geysers have been recently discovered in California; but the jets do
+not rise higher than twenty or thirty feet. They are, however, very
+numerous, there being upwards of a hundred openings within a space of
+half a mile square. The vapour from the whole group rises to upwards of
+a hundred and fifty feet into the air. The boiling water issues from
+conical mounds, with great noise. The whole ground around them is a
+mere crust, and when it is penetrated the boiling water is seen
+underneath. The Californian geysers, however, are impregnated, not with
+silica, like those of Iceland, but with sulphur, of which they form
+large deposits. The sulphurous vapours from the water corrode the rocks
+near the fountains; nevertheless trees grow, without injury to their
+health, at a distance from them of not more than fifty feet.
+
+Besides obsidian, already mentioned as a product of its volcanoes,
+Iceland is famed for another mineral of great scientific value. It is
+that fine variety of carbonate of lime named Iceland-spar. Transparent
+and colourless, like glass, this mineral possesses the property of
+double refraction--any small object viewed through it in a particular
+direction appearing double. It is much used for optical
+purposes--especially for obtaining polarized light.
+
+There is another volcano lying far to the northward of Iceland. It is
+in the island of Jan Mayen, off the coast of Greenland, and has on its
+summit a vast crater, 2000 feet in diameter, and 500 in depth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Mount Vesuvius--Origin of Name--Former Condition--Eruption of A D
+79--Death of Pliny--Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum--Appearance
+of the Mountain before and after Eruption--Formation of Monte
+Nuovo--Eruption of Boiling Water--Coloured Vapours--Cascade of
+Lava--Discovery of Remains of Herculaneum and Pompeii--The Buildings of
+Pompeii--Street of Tombs--Skeletons--Sundry Shops--Ascents of
+Vesuvius--Crater--Temple of Serapis.
+
+
+Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the continent of Europe,
+and it is highly interesting both from its historical associations and
+the frequency of its eruptions. It is situated on the coast of the Bay
+of Naples, about six miles to the eastward of the city and at a short
+distance from the shore. It forms a conspicuous feature in the
+beautiful landscape presented by that bay, when viewed from the sea,
+with the city in the foreground.
+
+Mount Vesuvius was in ancient times held sacred to the deified hero
+Hercules, and the town of Herculaneum, built at its base, was named
+after him. So also, it is said, was the mountain itself, though in a
+more round-about way. Hercules, as you will doubtless learn, was
+feigned to have been the son of the heathen god Zeus and Alcmena, a
+Theban lady. Now one of the appellations of Zeus was Ves, which was
+applied to him as being the god of rains and dews--the wet divinity.
+Thus Hercules was Vesouuios, the son of Ves. How this name should have
+become corrupted into "Vesuvius," you can be at no loss to perceive.
+
+Vesuvius was not always a volcano. It was for many ages a very
+peaceable and well-behaved mountain. Ancient writers describe it as
+having been covered with gardens and vineyards, except at the top which
+was craggy. Within a large circle of nearly perpendicular cliffs, was a
+flat space sufficient for the encampment of an army. This was doubtless
+an ancient crater; but nobody in those times knew anything of its
+history. So little was the volcanic nature of the mountain suspected,
+that the Roman towns of Stabiae, Pompeii, and Herculaneum had been
+erected at its base, and their inhabitants dwelt in fancied security.
+
+In the year A.D. 63, however, the dwellers in the cities got a great
+fright; for the mountain shook violently, and a good many houses were
+thrown down. But soon all became quiet again, and the people set about
+rebuilding the houses that had fallen. They continued to live in
+apparent safety for some time longer. They danced, they sung, they
+feasted; they married, and were altogether as merry a set of citizens
+as any in southern Italy. But the 24th of August A.D. 79 at length
+arrived. Then, woe to Stabiae! woe to Pompeii! woe to Herculaneum!
+
+Pliny the elder was that day in command of the Roman fleet at Misenum,
+which was not far off. His family were with him, and, among others, his
+nephew, Pliny the younger, who has left an interesting account of what
+happened on the occasion. He observed an extraordinary dense cloud
+ascending in the direction of Vesuvius, of which he says:--"I cannot
+give you a more exact description of its figure, than by resembling it
+to that of a pine tree; for it shot up to a great height in the form of
+a tall trunk, which spread out at the top into a sort of branches. It
+appeared sometimes bright, and sometimes dark and spotted, as it was
+either more or less impregnated with earth and cinders"
+
+On seeing this remarkable appearance, the elder Pliny, who was a great
+naturalist and a man of inquiring mind, resolved to go ashore and
+inspect more narrowly what was going on. But a rash resolve it proved.
+Steering towards Retina (now Resina), a port at the foot of the
+mountain, he was met, on his approach, by thick showers of hot cinders,
+which grew thicker and hotter as he advanced--falling on the ships
+along with lumps of pumice and pieces of rock, black but burning hot.
+Vast fragments came rolling down the mountain and gathered in heaps
+upon the shore. Then the sea began suddenly to retreat, so that landing
+at this point became impracticable. He therefore steered for Stabiae,
+where he landed, and took up his abode with Pomponianus--an intimate
+friend.
+
+Meanwhile, flames appeared to issue from several parts of the mountain
+with great violence--the darkness of the night heightening their glare.
+Pliny nevertheless went to sleep. Soon, however, the court leading to
+his chamber became almost filled with stones and ashes; so his servants
+awoke him, and he joined Pomponianus and his household. The house now
+began to rock violently to and fro; while outside, stones and cinders
+were falling in showers. They, notwithstanding, thought it safer to
+make their way out from the tottering mansion; so, tying pillows upon
+their heads with napkins, they sallied forth. Although it was now day,
+the darkness was deeper than that of the blackest night. By the aid of
+torches and lanterns, however, they groped their way towards the beach,
+with a view to escape by sea; but they found the waves too high and
+tumultuous. Here Pliny, having drunk some cold water, lay down upon a
+sailcloth which was spread for him; when almost immediately flames,
+preceded by a strong smell of sulphur, issuing from the ground,
+scattered the company and forced him to rise. With the help of two of
+his servants he succeeded in raising himself; but, choked by some
+noxious vapour, he instantly fell down dead.
+
+[Illustration:  Vesuvius Before the Eruption of A.D. 79.]
+
+Nor was he alone in his death; for although many of the inhabitants of
+the devoted cities were able to effect their escape; yet, so suddenly
+did the overwhelming shower of ashes, cinders, and stones fall upon
+them, that not a few of them perished in their dwellings or their
+streets. As for the cities themselves, they were utterly buried
+completely out of sight, and, like other things that are long out of
+sight, they soon became also buried out of mind. For many centuries
+they remained entirely forgotten.
+
+You will doubtless like to know how Vesuvius looked, after doing so
+much mischief. Here is a picture showing what like it was immediately
+before the eruption; and one showing its appearance soon after the
+event. On comparing the two, you will observe the mountain had
+undergone a great change. It was no longer flat on the top, but had
+formed for itself a large cone, from the summit of which dense vapours
+ascended. This cone was composed entirely of the ashes, cinders, and
+loose stones, thrown up during the eruption. It had become separated by
+a deep ravine from the remainder of the former summit, which afterwards
+came to be distinguished by the name Monte Somma. The whole of the
+forests, vineyards, and other luxuriant vegetation, which had covered
+that portion of the sides of Vesuvius where the eruption took place,
+were destroyed. Nothing could be more striking than the contrast
+between the beautiful appearance of the mountain before this
+catastrophe, and its desolate aspect after the sad event. This
+remarkable contrast forms the subject of one of Martial's Epigrams,
+lib. iv. Ep. 44. It is thus rendered by Mr. Addison:--
+
+[Illustration:  Vesuvius after the Eruption of A.D. 79.]
+
+     "Vesuvius covered with the fruitful vine
+      Here flourished once, and ran with floods of wine.
+      Here Bacchus oft to the cool shades retired,
+      And his own native Nysa less admired.
+      Oft to the mountain's airy tops advanced,
+      The frisking Satyrs on the summit danced.
+      Alcides [1] here, here Venus graced the shore,
+      Nor loved her favourite Lacedaemon more.
+      Now piles of ashes, spreading all around,
+      In undistinguished heaps deform the ground.
+      The gods themselves the ruined seats bemoan,
+      And blame the mischiefs that themselves have done."
+
+[1. Hercules]
+
+Since the eruption of A.D. 79, Vesuvius has had many fits of activity
+with intervals of rest. In A.D. 472, it threw out so great a quantity
+of ashes, that they overspread all Europe, and filled even
+Constantinople with alarm. In A.D. 1036 occurred the first eruption in
+which there was any ejection of lava. This eruption was followed by
+five others, the last of which occurred in 1500. To these succeeded a
+long rest of about a hundred and thirty years, during which the
+mountain had again become covered with gardens and vineyards as of old.
+Even the inside of the crater had become clothed with shrubbery.
+
+In this interval, however, there was an extraordinary eruption--not of
+Vesuvius itself, but at no great distance from it, in the Bay of Baiae,
+on the opposite shore of the Bay of Naples. The whole of this
+neighbourhood is a volcanic country, and was anciently named the
+Phlegraean Fields. It contains a crater in a state of subdued activity,
+called the Solfatara; an extinct volcano having a large crater called
+Monte Barbaro; and Lake Avernus, also supposed to be an extinct
+volcanic crater. Between Monte Barbaro and the sea, there was formerly
+a fiat piece of ground bordering on the Lucrine Lake, which is
+separated from the Bay of Baiae by a narrow strip of shingle. On the
+29th of September 1538, the flat piece of ground above mentioned became
+the scene of a great eruption, which resulted in the throwing up of a
+new elevation to the height of four hundred and thirteen feet, and with
+a circumference of eight thousand feet. It received the name of Monte
+Nuovo, and is now covered with a luxuriant vegetation.
+
+In 1631 there was another dreadful eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which
+covered with lava most of the villages at the foot of the mountain. To
+add to the calamity, torrents of boiling water were, on this occasion,
+thrown out by the volcano, producing awful destruction.
+
+There have been since that time numerous eruptions, which it would be
+tedious to mention in detail; but two of them are worthy of notice.
+During an eruption in February 1848, a column of vapours arose from the
+crater about forty feet high, presenting a variety of colours; and a
+short time afterwards there arose ten circles, which were black, white,
+and green, and which ultimately assumed the form of a cone. A similar
+appearance had been observed in 1820. More recently, in May 1855, a
+great stream of glowing lava, about two hundred feet in breadth, flowed
+towards a vast ravine nearly a thousand feet in depth. The first
+descent into this chasm is a sheer precipice, over which the lava
+dashed heavily, forming a magnificent cascade of liquid fire.
+
+Of the buried cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii no traces were
+discovered till the year 1713, when some labourers, in digging a well,
+came upon the remains of Herculaneum about twenty-four feet
+underground. Little attention, however, was paid to the discovery at
+that time; but in 1748 a peasant, digging in his vineyard, stumbled on
+some ancient works of art. On sinking a shaft at this spot to the depth
+of twelve feet, the remains of Pompeii were found. This discovery led
+to further researches, and the exact positions of the two cities were
+erelong ascertained. The work of disinterment has continued with little
+interruption from that to the present time, and many valuable specimens
+of ancient art have been brought to light.
+
+The greatest progress has been made at Pompeii; because the stuff, in
+which it was buried, is far looser than that which covers Herculaneum.
+In the former city, although it was anciently reckoned only a
+third-rate place, there have already been discovered eight temples, a
+forum, a basilica, two theatres, a magnificent amphitheatre, and public
+baths. The ramparts, composed of huge blocks of stone, have also been
+exposed. One of the most remarkable places is the Cemetery. It consists
+of a broad path covered with pavement, and bordered on either side with
+stately monuments, placed over the tombs of the wealthy citizens of the
+place, and in which whole families have been interred.
+
+The houses were found filled with elegant furniture, the walls of the
+apartments adorned with beautiful paintings. Numerous statues, vases,
+lamps, and other elegant works of art, have been recovered. Many
+skeletons have also been found, in the exact positions in which the
+living men were caught by the deadly shower of suffocating ashes. The
+excavators came upon the skeleton of a miser, who had been attempting
+to escape from his house, and whose bony fingers were still clutching
+the purse which contained the treasure he loved. There were also found
+in the barracks at Pompeii the skeletons of two soldiers chained to the
+stocks; and the writings scribbled by the soldiers on the walls are
+still quite legible. In the vaults of a villa in the suburbs were
+discovered the skeletons of seventeen persons, who had probably sought
+refuge there, and been entombed. The stuff in which they were imbedded
+had been originally soft, but had become hardened through time. In this
+substance was found a cavity, containing the skeleton of a female with
+an infant in her arms. Although nothing but the bones remained, the
+cavity contained a perfect cast of the woman's figure--thus showing
+that she must have been imbedded in the substance while alive. Round
+the neck of this skeleton there was a gold chain, and on the fingers
+jewelled rings.
+
+In many of the houses the names of the owners over the doors are still
+legible, and the fresco-paintings on the inner walls are still quite
+fresh and beautiful. The public fountains are adorned with shells
+formed into patterns; and in the room of a painter there was found a
+collection of shells in perfectly good order. A large quantity of
+fishing-nets was found in both the cities, and in Herculaneum some
+pieces of linen retaining its texture. There also was discovered a
+fruiterer's shop, with vessels full of almonds, chestnuts, carubs, and
+walnuts. In another shop stood a glass vessel containing moist olives,
+and a jar with caviare--the preserved roe of the sturgeon. In the shop
+of an apothecary stood a box that had contained pills, now reduced to
+powder, which had been prepared for a patient destined never to swallow
+them--a happy circumstance for him, if he eventually escaped from the
+city. Very recently there has been laid open a baker's shop, with the
+loaves of bread on the shelves, all ready for his customers, but doomed
+never to be eaten. These loaves are of the same form as those still
+made in that country, and on being analyzed were found to consist of
+the same ingredients as modern bread.
+
+Mount Vesuvius rises rather abruptly from the plain on which it stands.
+The circuit of the base is about twelve miles, and the height of the
+summit above the level of the sea about three thousand feet. This
+latter measurement, however, alters from time to time, owing to the
+variable height of the cone. Its moderate elevation, and the ease with
+which it may be approached, have induced many travellers to ascend the
+mountain; and not a few have recorded their experiences. So frequent
+are the eruptions of the volcano, however, and so much do they change
+the aspect of the crater, that any description remains correct for only
+a limited time.
+
+Within the last hundred years the crater has been five times wholly
+altered, in consequence of its interior having been completely blown
+out, and its walls having crumbled down. When Sir William Hamilton
+ascended the mountain in 1756, it had no less than three craters and
+cones, one within another. The outermost was a very wide-mouthed cone.
+Within it rose centrically another, smaller in size and narrower in the
+mouth; and within that again was the third and highest, having a
+smaller base and still narrower opening at the top, whence the greatest
+volume of vapour ascended. In 1767 this innermost cone merged in the
+second, which was greatly enlarged; and by a subsequent eruption the
+interval between the first and second was obliterated, so that only a
+single cone remained. In 1822 the whole interior of the cone was blown
+out, and its walls crumbled down, so as to lower the height of the
+mountain several hundred feet. But within the vast gulf, nearly a mile
+in diameter, which was thus left yawning open, there soon began to be
+formed a new cone, which showed itself erelong above the jagged edge of
+the crater. Eventually this cone increased, by the accumulation of
+ejected matters, to such an extent as to obliterate the division
+between it and the rim of the former crater--thus once more
+establishing a continuous cone. Since that time, the cone and crater
+have twice undergone similar changes.
+
+The most usual appearance of the crater, when in comparative repose, is
+that of a vast circular or oval hollow basin, with nearly perpendicular
+walls, broken in their continuity, every here and there, by large
+projecting dykes, formed by the injection of more recent lavas into
+fissures rent in those which had previously become consolidated. Below
+the perpendicular walls is a rapid slope, composed of fine ashes or
+sand, descending to the floor of the crater, which is, for the most
+part, nearly flat. It is much rent by fissures, which during the night
+are seen to glow with a ruddy glare, emanating from the hot materials
+beneath, and giving to the floor the appearance of being overspread
+with a fiery tissue, like a spider's web. From the bottom there usually
+rise one or two small craters of eruption, whence continually issue
+sulphurous fumes, and which, at pretty regular intervals, discharge
+showers of stones heated to whiteness.
+
+The exterior of the cone is composed entirely of loose cinders, ashes,
+and stones, so that the ascent is very laborious. The region of the
+mountain beneath the cone presents no difficulties, and that part of
+the ascent may be performed on donkeys or mules. The view from the top
+is magnificent. The contrast between the desolate aspect of the
+interior of the crater, and the smiling prospect which may be seen from
+its edge, has been well compared to looking out of Tartarus into
+Paradise.
+
+Near Puzzuoli, in the Bay of Baiae, and not far from Monte Nuovo, stand
+the ruins of the Temple of Serapis, so interesting to geologists. These
+remains, consisting chiefly of the shafts of three marble columns,
+still erect, though with a slight inclination sea-ward, afford distinct
+proofs, confirmed by other phenomena in the neighbourhood, that, since
+the beginning of the Christian era, the level of the coast in relation
+to that of the sea has changed twice--the land having first sunk and
+been then raised again, each time to the extent of upwards of 20 feet.
+The evidence of the submergence of the pillars consists mainly of a
+zone commencing at the height of about 12 feet above their pedestals,
+and extending 9 feet upwards, in which are numerous perforations, made
+by a marine bivalve mollusc. The upraising again of the ground on which
+the temple stands, to nearly its original height, appears to have
+occurred about the time of the formation of Monte Nuovo.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+Mount Etna--Its Appearance and Height-Ancient Eruptions-Pindar's
+Allusion--Virgil's Description--Subordinate Cones and
+Craters-Caverns--Val del Bove--Formation of Monti Rossi--Eruption of
+1852--Whirlwinds--Lava Torrents--Cascades of Lava--Description of
+Crater --Empedocles--Enceladus--Craters of 1865-Cyclopean
+Isles--Homer's Legend-Volcanic Origin--Other Basaltic Groups
+
+
+Mount Etna may well be called the Queen of European Volcanoes, so
+majestic does she look, with her lofty summit glistening in the
+sunbeams white with snow, yet pouring forth volumes of vapour. This
+mountain, as you will observe from the annexed woodcut, is altogether
+more massive in its appearance than Vesuvius. It is about three times
+higher, rising to nearly eleven thousand feet above the level of the
+sea, and it has a circuit of about eighty-seven miles at its base.
+
+Etna has been a volcano from time immemorial; but of its more ancient
+eruptions only vague traditions have survived. The Greek poet Pindar is
+the earliest writer who makes mention of its activity. He refers to it
+in his first Pythian Ode, Strophe B, 1. 1. The passage is thus rendered
+by Carey--
+
+     "From whose caverned depths aspire,
+      In purest folds upwreathing, tost
+      Fountains of approachless fire--
+      by day a flood of smouldering smoke
+      With sullen gleam the torrents pour"
+
+[Illustration:  Mount Etna.]
+
+The ode in which this allusion occurs is said to have been written
+about B.C. 470; and the eruption to which it refers probably took place
+shortly before that date.
+
+Virgil also describes the mountain very forcibly in the AEneid, lib.
+iii. 570. Dryden renders the passage thus:--
+
+     "The port capacious, and secure from wind,
+      Is to the foot of thund'ring Etna joined.
+      By turns a pitchy cloud she rolls on high:
+      By turns hot embers from her entrails fly,
+      And flakes of mounting flames, that lick the sky.
+      Oft from her bowels massy rocks are thrown,
+      And shivered by the force come piece-meal down.
+      Oft liquid lakes of burning sulphur flow,
+      Fed from the fiery springs that boil below."
+
+Since the one to which Pindar alludes, there have been recorded about
+sixty eruptions; but in the present century Etna has been less
+frequently active than Vesuvius.
+
+Owing to the great height of Mount Etna, the lava seldom rises so far
+as to flow from the summit. It more frequently bursts forth from the
+flanks of the mountain; and in this manner there have been formed
+numerous smaller cones, of which several have craters of their own.
+Hence Etna is rather a group of volcanoes than a single cone; but all
+these subordinate volcanic hills cluster round the flanks of the great
+central summit. Etna may thus be regarded as a fertile mother of
+mountains, with all her children around her. Some of these hills, her
+offspring, are covered with forests and rich vegetation--such having
+enjoyed a lasting repose. Others are still arid and bare, having been
+more recently formed. Owing to this peculiarity in its structure, Etna
+does not present that conical aspect which characterizes most other
+volcanoes. Strange as it may seem, there are, on the sides of the
+mountain, caverns which the Sicilians use for storing ice. Some of
+these caverns are of vast extent. One called Fossa della Palomba
+measures, at its entrance, 625 feet in circumference, and has a depth
+of about 78 feet. This great cavity, however, forms merely the
+vestibule to a series of others, which are perfectly dark.
+
+Another striking feature of Mount Etna is the Val del Bove. It is a
+deep valley, presenting, when viewed from above, somewhat of the
+appearance of an amphitheatre, It stretches from near the summit down
+to the upper limit of the wooded region of the mountain, and has a
+remarkably desolate aspect--presenting a vast expanse of bare and
+rugged lava.
+
+Of the numerous eruptions of Etna, one of the most memorable was that
+of 1669, when on the flank of the mountain above Nicolosi, about half
+way between Catania and the top of the great crater, there was formed
+an immense rent about twelve miles long, from which a vast torrent of
+lava descended. After flowing for several miles, and destroying a part
+of Catania in its course, it entered the sea, and formed a small
+promontory, which has since proved very useful as a breakwater. But
+besides this stream, there were at the same time thrown up such immense
+quantities of ashes, cinders, stones, and other matters, that they
+formed two conical hills, more than three hundred feet in height above
+the slope of the mountain from which they rose, and measuring nearly
+two miles in circumference at their base. These hills were named Monti
+Rossi.
+
+Mount Etna was in activity as lately as 1865; but a previous eruption
+in 1852 was of greater violence. It began, as usual, with hollow
+underground rumblings, and the ascent of dense columns of vapour,
+mingled with dust and ashes, high into the air. These were speedily
+whirled into enormous eddies by fierce whirlwinds. Two new mouths were
+formed on the side of the mountain, and these vomited forth immense
+streams of lava, which rushed with the vehemence of a torrent down the
+steep. The violence of the commotion increasing, the two mouths were,
+by the crumbling of the intervening rocks, blended into one, and then
+huge fragments of the broken rock were hurled to a great height, along
+with vast quantities of hot stones, cinders, and black sand. Increasing
+quantities of lava were now poured from the greatly enlarged opening,
+and these formed on the plains below a great river of liquid fire,
+nearly two miles in breadth, and between seven and eight feet in depth,
+which advanced at the rate of upwards of a hundred feet in an hour,
+carrying before it devastation and ruin. Its course being through a
+highly cultivated country, the damage it inflicted was immense. This
+eruption continued for several months, with only short intervals of
+rest.
+
+[Illustration:  Crater of Etna.]
+
+It has more than once happened, that the lava-streams of Etna, in their
+descent from the crater of eruption, have come to a precipitous wall of
+rock, over which they have plunged in a cascade similar to that formed
+by the lava of Vesuvius in 1855, but on a less magnificent scale, as
+respects the height of the fall. One of these occasions was during the
+eruption of 1771, and another during that of 1819.
+
+The principal cone of Mount Etna was ascended in 1834 by Messrs. Elie
+de Beaumont and Leopold von Buch. The former describes what they saw in
+the following terms:--"It was to us a moment of surprise difficult to
+describe, when we found ourselves unexpectedly on the margin--not,
+indeed, of the great crater--but of an almost circular gulf, nearly
+three hundred feet in diameter, which does not touch the great crater
+save at a small part of its circumference. We peered eagerly into this
+nearly cylindrical funnel; but vain was our search into the secret of
+its volcanic action. From the almost horizontal tops of the nearly
+vertical steeps, nothing can be descried but the upper cone. On trying
+to reckon those one below another, vision becomes gradually lost in the
+perfect darkness beneath. No sound issues from this darkness. There are
+only exhaled slightly sulphurous white vapours, chiefly steam. The
+dismal aspect of this black and silent gulf, in which our view was
+lost--its dark moist sides, along which crept, in a languid and
+monotonous manner, long flakes of vapour of a sombre gray--the great
+crater to which this narrow gulf is attached, with its confused heap of
+diverse substances, coloured yellow, gray, red, like the image of
+chaos--all presented around us an aspect quite funereal and sepulchral."
+
+The French geologist, in having escaped from his visit to the crater
+with nothing worse than a fit of the vapours, came off better than
+Empedocles, the Sicilian philosopher, in the days of old: for, as the
+story goes, this inquisitive sage, being very anxious to have a peep
+into the crater, and venturing too near, toppled in altogether, and
+nothing more was seen of him, except one of his sandals, which was
+vomited up by the volcano--thus conveying to his friends an intimation
+of the manner of his death.
+
+Some incredulous persons allege that this story has no better
+foundation than the fable of the poets, that the giant Enceladus, son
+of Titan and Terra, having offended Jupiter, the infuriated god first
+felled him with a thunderbolt, and then put Mount Etna as a sort of
+extinguisher on the top of him--his restlessness underneath fully
+accounting for all the commotions of the mountain.
+
+Soon after the eruption which took place towards the end of January
+1865, the craters then opened were visited by M. Fouque, a French
+geologist. At the time of his visit, 10th March, they were seven in
+number, and he thus describes their modes of action:--
+
+"The three upper craters produced two or three times a minute, powerful
+detonations like thunderclaps. The lower craters, on the contrary,
+incessantly gave forth a succession of reports too rapid to be
+reckoned. These sounds, although unremitting, were clear and distinct,
+the one from the other. I can find no better comparison for them than
+the strokes of a hammer falling on an anvil. Had the ancients heard a
+similar noise, I can readily conceive whence arose the idea of their
+imagining a forge in the centre of Etna, with the Cyclops for workmen."
+
+Off the eastern coast of Sicily, and not far from Mount Etna, lie the
+Cyclopean Isles, of one of which the annexed woodcut gives a
+representation. You will observe what a singular appearance it
+presents, with its rows of basaltic columns piled one above another.
+The other isle is close by, and there is an ancient tradition that they
+at one time formed part of the mainland of Sicily. Homer has a curious
+story about the manner in which they became detached. The passage
+occurs towards the end of the ninth book of the Odyssey. He tells that,
+at the time Ulysses visited Sicily, it was inhabited by the Cyclops,
+who, as already mentioned, were said to have had each only one eye,
+situated in his forehead. Their king's name was Polyphemus, a huge
+giant who beguiled Ulysses and a portion of his crew into a cave, where
+he killed some of the crew and devoured them for his supper. Ulysses,
+fearing his turn might come next, persuaded Polyphemus to taste some
+strong wine he had with him, and filled him so tipsy that he fell fast
+asleep. While he was in this state, Ulysses burnt out his one eye with
+a red-hot iron. The giant awoke in agony, but Ulysses contrived to
+escape from his clutches, and, after getting into his ship, began
+taunting and jeering the monster. Thereupon Homer says:--
+
+[Illustration:  Cyclopean Isle]
+
+     "These words the Cyclops' burning rage provoke:
+      From the tall hill he rends a pointed rock;
+      High o'er the billows flew the massy load,
+      And near the ship came thund'ring on the flood.
+      It almost brushed the helm, and fell before:
+      The whole sea shook, and refluent beat the shore."
+
+                                     Pope's _translation_.
+
+The huge missile having thus missed its mark, Ulysses, with great
+impudence, renewed his jeers, taunting the giant, and telling him who
+it was that had poked out his eye; whereupon Polyphemus invokes the
+vengeance of Neptune upon him, and--
+
+     "A larger rock then heaving from the plain,
+      He whirled it round--it rung across the main:
+      It fell and brushed the stern: the billows roar,
+      Shake at the weight, and refluent beat the shore."
+
+                                     Pope's _translation_.
+
+The rocks of which the Cyclopean Isles are composed are entirely of
+volcanic origin, and it is far from improbable that they may have at
+one time been attached to Sicily, and severed from it by some great
+volcanic convulsion. A careful examination of these large piles of
+basaltic columns led Dr. Daubeny to the conclusion, that the lavas from
+which they have been formed were consolidated under great pressure, and
+probably at the bottom of the sea, whence they have been afterwards
+upheaved. He also concludes, from certain appearances, that the two
+islands were at one time united.
+
+The Cyclopean Isles strongly resemble, in their general aspect, the
+well-known Giant's Causeway on the northern coast of Ireland, and the
+Isle of Staffa off the western coast of Scotland. The latter, which,
+around its whole sea-girt outline, presents ranges of basaltic columns,
+some of them disposed in curious fantastic groups, most nearly
+resembles the Sicilian pair. These differ from it chiefly in their
+having the columns piled in terraces, one above another. Staffa,
+however, can boast of a far more striking feature --the celebrated Cave
+of Fingal--its stately basaltic columns inspiring every beholder with
+admiration, not unmixed with awe, while its brightly-tinted floor
+rivals in brilliancy of colouring the most beautiful mosaics.
+
+In the Island of Iceland, also, there are some remarkable ranges of
+basaltic columns. One in particular, named the Ruins of Dverghamrar, is
+in the form of a semicircle skirting the sea-coast. Another group,
+still more wonderful, forms a curious natural Gothic arch, surmounted
+by pinnacles. It is so picturesque that an architect might study it
+with advantage, and derive from it valuable hints in designing the
+entrance to a cathedral.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Lipan Islands--Stromboli--Origin of Name--Position of
+Crater--Description of Crater--New Volcanic Island named
+Julia--Phenomena preceding its Elevation--Description of Island and
+Crater--Its Disappearance--Rise of Islands at Santorin
+
+
+The Lipari Islands are all of volcanic origin. The most interesting
+among them, for the length of time it has been in action and the
+constancy of its activity, is Stromboli. This name is a corruption of
+the ancient Greek name Strongulae which was given to it because of its
+round swelling form. This is a very fussy little volcano, for it keeps
+perpetually puffing, growling, and fuming. It throws out columns of
+steam, and at intervals stones, cinders, and ashes, which are for the
+most part drifted by the wind into the sea. This restless volcano has
+been in almost uninterrupted activity since at least the third century
+before the Christian era --however much further back.
+
+Several enterprising travellers have ascended to the crater of
+Stromboli. It was examined with great care in 1828 by M. Hoffmann, a
+celebrated Prussian geologist, who, while being held fast by his
+companions, leant over the crag immediately above the crater, and
+looked right down into one of its active mouths. He thus describes what
+he saw:--
+
+"Three active mouths were seen at the bottom of the crater. The
+principal one, in the middle, was about two hundred feet in diameter;
+it shows nothing remarkable, only fuming slightly; and numerous yellow
+incrustations of sulphur coat the walls of its chimney. Close by this
+mouth is another, somewhat nearer the precipice, only twenty feet wide,
+in which I could observe the play of the column of liquid lava, which
+at intervals poised itself at a level. This lava did not look like a
+burning mass vomiting flames, but as glossy as molten metal--like iron
+issuing from the smelting furnace, or silver at the bottom of a
+crucible.
+
+"This melted mass rose and fell--evidently urged by the powerful
+tension of elastic vapours pressing it upwards from beneath; and it was
+easy to perceive the balance of effect between the weight of the molten
+masses and the pressure of the steam which resisted them. The surface
+rose and fell rhythmically: there was heard a peculiar sound, like the
+crackling of air from bellows entering the door of a furnace. A bubble
+of white vapour issued at each crack, raising the lava, which fell down
+again immediately after its escape. These bubbles of vapour dragged to
+the surface of the lava red-hot cinders, which danced as if tossed by
+invisible hands in rhythmic sport above the brink of the opening.
+
+"This play, so regular and attractive, was interrupted, every quarter
+of an hour or so, by more tumultuous movements. The mass of whirling
+vapour then rested motionless for a moment--even making a jerking
+motion of return, as if inhaled by the crater, from the bottom of which
+the lava rose more strongly as if to encounter it. Then the ground
+trembles, and the walls of the crater starting bend. It was quite an
+earthquake. The mouth of the crater uttered a loud rolling bellow,
+which was followed by an immense bubble of vapour, bursting at the
+surface of the lava with a loud thundering report. The whole surface of
+the lava, reduced to glowing splinters, was then tossed into the air.
+
+[Illustration:  Julia, or Graham's Island, in August 1831.]
+
+"The heat struck our faces forcibly; while a flaming sheaf rose right
+into the air, and fell back in a shower of fire all around. Some bombs
+ascended to a height of about 1200 feet, and in passing over our heads
+described parabolas of fire. Immediately after such an eruption, the
+lava withdrew to the bottom of the chimney, which then yawned black and
+gaping. But erelong there was seen re-ascending the shining mirror of
+the surface of lava, which then recommenced the rhythmic play of its
+ordinary less violent bubblings."
+
+What an agreeable visit this must have been! Don't you think, between
+ourselves, that the German philosopher must, on this occasion, have
+greatly resembled an Irishman in love, seeing he was so eager to reach
+the mouth of the _crater?_
+
+Before passing on to the description of other existing volcanoes, it
+may entertain you to hear something about Julia. This interesting
+_crater_ had a short and troubled existence. She was not born like
+others of her name, but rose suddenly and majestically out of the sea,
+as the poets feign that Venus did of old. She did not, however, keep
+her head long above water, but after raging and fuming for about a
+couple of months, she plunged again under the waves. This happened in
+the year 1831.
+
+On page 57 is a picture showing you how she looked in August of that
+year, about a month after she made her appearance. You see what a fury
+of a _crater_ she must have been. It was a French philosopher (Constant
+Prevost) who christened her Julia; but it is hard to divine what
+prompted him to act so ungallantly. Perhaps, at the moment, he may have
+had in his eye some Julia of his acquaintance, with very red hair and a
+very fiery temper.
+
+This volcanic island rose out of the Mediterranean, about midway
+between the Island of Pantellaria and the village of Sciacca on the
+southern coast of Sicily. From about the 28th of June to the 2nd of
+July 1831, the inhabitants of Sciacca felt several slight shocks, which
+they imagined to have proceeded from Etna. On the 8th of July the crew
+of a Sicilian ship, which was sailing at a distance of about six miles
+from Sciacca, suddenly observed in the sea a jet of water about 100
+feet high. It rose into the air with a thundering noise, sustained
+itself for about ten minutes, and then fell down. Similar jets
+continued to rise in succession, at intervals of about a quarter of an
+hour, and produced a thick mist overspreading the surface of the sea,
+which was much agitated and covered with a reddish scum. Shoals of dead
+fishes were drifted on the waves. On the third day the jets were
+between 800 and 900 feet in diameter, and between 60 and 70 feet in
+height, while the steam from them rose to nearly 1800 feet.
+
+On the 12th of July the inhabitants of Sciacca had their nostrils
+assailed by a strong smell of sulphur, and beheld the surface of the
+sea covered with black porous cinders, which, being drifted ashore,
+formed a bed of some thickness on the beach. So great was the drift of
+volcanic ashes, that boats could hardly struggle through the water, and
+multitudes of dead fishes floated on its surface. Next morning they saw
+rising out of the sea a column of dark vapour, which, however, towards
+night became lurid red. From time to time, during both the day and
+night, they heard loud reports, and saw bright sparks of fire through
+the dusky vapour.
+
+[Illustration:  Julia, or Graham's Island, on 29th September 1831.]
+
+On the 18th of July the captain of the Sicilian ship discovered that an
+island had arisen out of the sea at the spot whence the appearances
+before described had proceeded. It had already attained a height of
+nearly twelve feet, and had in its centre a crater, which vomited forth
+immense jets of steam, along with ashes, cinders, stones, &c. The water
+which boiled in this crater was reddish, and the cinders, which covered
+the sea all round the island, were of a chocolate colour. The island
+subsequently attained a height of upwards of 90 feet at its highest
+point, and a circumference of about three-quarters of a mile. A channel
+of communication was also opened between the sea and the interior of
+the crater, which had a diameter of about 650 feet. The vapours and
+other matters thrown up from the mouth of the volcano formed a luminous
+column upwards of 200 feet in height.
+
+On the 29th of September it was visited by the French gentleman who
+gave it the name of Julia, and it then presented the appearance which
+we have sketched. He landed with a party and proceeded to examine the
+crater, in which he found a circular basin filled with reddish water,
+almost boiling hot, and fresh. This basin was nearly 200 feet in
+diameter. There rose from the water bubbles of gas, which made it
+appear as if it were boiling. The water was not quite at the boiling
+point, however, yet the bubbles of gas were sufficiently hot to burn
+the fingers.
+
+[Illustration:  Crater of Julia, or Graham's Island.]
+
+These bubbles rose from a great depth, and each, on bursting, which it
+did with a feeble report, threw out sand and cinders. At a short
+distance from the crater there rose sulphurous vapours, which deposited
+sulphur and salt. The loose dust and ashes forming the soil of the
+island were hot, and walking on them was difficult. The foregoing
+woodcut will give you an idea of the appearance which the crater
+presented to those visitors.
+
+In the following month of October nothing remained of this wonderful
+island but a hillock of sand and cinders; and at the end of six months
+it had quite vanished. Soundings taken a few years ago show ten feet of
+water over the spot, so that, although the island has disappeared,
+there is still a shoal left behind. This temporary volcano is best
+known in England under the name of Graham's Island; so called after an
+English naval officer of that name, who was the first to set foot on
+it, and who planted upon it the English flag, so claiming it for his
+sovereign. The Sicilians allege this to be the reason why it
+disappeared so soon--that it was in a hurry to escape from under the
+English yoke.
+
+Similar phenomena have been taking place during the past year, 1866, in
+the Bay of Santorin, situated in the island of that name, which lies to
+the northward of Crete. There are several islands in the bay, all
+apparently of volcanic origin, and one of them was thrown up about
+three centuries before the beginning of the Christian era. Last year
+their number was increased by a series of eruptions similar in their
+attendant circumstances to those which accompanied the upheaval of
+Julia. The first warnings were given on the 30th of January 1866, by
+low underground rumblings, and slight movements of the ground at the
+south end of New Kammeni, one of the formerly upheaved islands in the
+bay. Next day these phenomena increased in violence, and quantities of
+gas bubbled up from the sea. On the 1st of February, reddish flames
+ascended from the water, and on the 2nd there rose, out of the harbour
+of Voulcano, an island, which was christened "George." The volcanic
+agitation was prolonged during February and March--the upheaval of
+other two islands being the result. Whether these additional islands
+will continue permanently above water remains to be seen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Peak of Teneriffe--Its Crater--Eruption of Chahorra--Palma--Great
+Caldera--Lancerote--Great Eruption--Sudden Death--Fuego, Cape de Verde
+Islands--Cotopaxi--Its Appearance--Great Eruptive
+Force--Tunguragua--Great Eruption of Mud and Water--Fish thrown
+out--Quito--Its Overthrow--Pichinca--Humboldt's Ascent--Narrow
+Escape--Antisana--Sangay--Rancagua--Chillan--Masaya
+
+
+The Island of Teneriffe is celebrated for its magnificent snow-clad
+peak. On referring to the woodcut of this volcano at page 11, you will
+observe in what a sharp point the cone terminates, and how slender is
+the column of vapour at its summit. The crater at the top is
+comparatively small--its greatest diameter being 300, and its smallest
+200 feet, while its depth is only about 100 feet. From this crater
+there has been no eruption since 1706, when the finest harbour in the
+island was destroyed. But from the side of the peak there rises a
+supplementary mountain named Chahorra, on the top of which there is
+also a crater, whence there was an eruption in 1798. So great was its
+violence, that masses of rock were thrown to a height of upwards of
+3000 feet. In the neighbouring island of Palma there is a volcanic
+crater named the Great Caldera, whose depth is said to be upwards of
+5000 feet.
+
+Almost due east of Palma, and much nearer the African coast, lies the
+Island of Lancerote, on which are a great many volcanic cones, arranged
+nearly in a straight line. These were for the most part formed by a
+long series of eruptions which took place during the years from 1730 to
+1736. Such immense quantities of lava were poured forth in the course
+of those six years, that about a third of the surface of the island was
+covered by them, and many towns and villages were destroyed. St.
+Catalina, a populous and thriving town, was first overflowed by a
+lava-stream, and then a new crater burst forth on its very site,
+raising over it a hill 400 feet high. All the cattle in the island fell
+down dead in one day, and nearly about the same time--they were
+suffocated by deadly vapours that rose from the ground. The volcanic
+activity of this island was renewed in August 1824, when there was
+formed, near the port of Rescif, a new crater, which vomited forth such
+quantities of stones, ashes, and other volcanic matters, that in the
+short space of twenty-four hours they formed a hill of considerable
+height.
+
+The Cape de Verde Islands, lying to the south-westward of the Canaries,
+are also volcanic. In 1847 a volcano named Fuego, situated in one of
+them, after remaining at rest about fifty years, burst into fresh
+activity. No less than seven new vents were formed; and from these were
+poured forth great streams of lava, which wrought immense damage in the
+cultivated parts of the island. The inhabitants sustained great loss by
+the destruction of their cattle and crops.
+
+Passing over to the South American continent, we come to the range of
+the Andes, which contains numerous volcanoes. Among these the most
+conspicuous is Cotopaxi, the highest volcano in the world, situated in
+the territory of Quito. So perfect is the form of the cone, that it
+looks as if it had been turned in a lathe. Its coating of snow gives it
+a dazzling appearance, and so sharply is the snow-line defined that it
+seems almost as if the volcano-king wore a white night-cap instead of a
+crown.
+
+The eruptions of this mountain are rare. One of the greatest of them
+lasted for three years, and desolated an immense extent of country with
+floods of lava. On this occasion, it is said, columns of fire rose to
+the height of nearly 5000 feet, so great was the energy of the volcanic
+force.
+
+A little to the southward of Cotopaxi, but concealed from it by the
+intervening mass of Chimborazo, lies the volcano of Tunguragua, from
+which there was an extraordinary eruption in the year 1797, that proved
+very destructive to the cities in its neighbourhood. Indeed, so
+terrible was the convulsion of the ground, which lasted four minutes,
+that the cities of Riobamba and Quero were reduced to heaps of ruins.
+Then the base of Tunguragua was rent, and from numerous apertures there
+were poured out streams of water and mud, the latter gathering in the
+valleys to the depth of 600 feet. This mud spread itself far and wide,
+blocking up the channels of rivers, and forming lakes, which remained
+upwards of two months. But, strangest of all, quantities of dead fishes
+were found in the water which burst from the volcano. These fishes are
+supposed to have been bred in subterranean lakes contained in caverns
+in the interior of the mountain, considerably removed from the volcanic
+fires in the centre. It is probable that, when the rent was formed near
+the base, one of those caverns was broken open, and that the waters
+from it were discharged along with their finny inhabitants.
+
+Here is a picture of one of those fishes, which was taken by Baron
+Humboldt. When you see what a queer-looking fish it is, you will wonder
+the less at its having chosen so strange an abode.
+
+[Illustration:  Pimelodus Cyclopum]
+
+Quito, the capital of the province of that name, is the highest of
+cities--being situated at an elevation of between nine and ten thousand
+feet above the level of the sea. It is built on a plain, lying on the
+flanks of the volcano Pichinca, of which a view is given in the annexed
+woodcut. Poor Quito has suffered severely from this dangerous
+neighbourhood; for, on the 22nd of March 1859, a violent shaking of the
+mountain laid the whole city in ruins.
+
+Pichinca, you will observe, has a most irregular outline, but very
+graceful withal. Instead of a single cone like Cotopaxi, it has a group
+of cones, some of which are very pointed. It has four principal
+summits, of which the most southerly contains the active crater. Here
+the celebrated traveller Baron Humboldt nearly lost his life. Having
+ascended the cone and approached the edge of the crater, he peered into
+the depths of the dark abyss, and there beheld the glowing lava boiling
+as if in a huge caldron. A thick mist coming on, he unwarily advanced
+to within a few feet of the rapid slope descending into the crater, and
+was within an ace of toppling over into the fiery gulf beneath. What a
+pity it would have been had he fallen in! We should have had no
+"Personal Narrative," no "Cosmos."
+
+[Illustration:  Pichinca]
+
+There are in this region of South America other two great volcanoes,
+named Antisana and Sangay. The former has not been in action since
+1718, but is remarkable for the immense beds of lava which it has
+amassed around it during its former eruptions. Sangay, again, has ever
+since 1728 been in a state of almost perpetual activity--in this
+respect resembling Stromboli, which, however, it far exceeds in height,
+its summit being nearly 18,000 feet above the level of the sea. The
+eruptions of this mountain are accompanied by loud explosions, which
+are heard at great distances, and they succeed each other with immense
+rapidity. The fumes emitted are sometimes gray, sometimes orange; and
+the matters ejected are cinders, dross, and spherical masses of stone.
+These last are often two feet in diameter, and in strong explosions as
+many as sixty of them may be thrown out at a time. They are glowing at
+a white heat, and for the most part they fall back into the vent of the
+crater. Sometimes, however, they alight on the edge of the
+cone--imparting to it a temporary brilliancy; but the mass of the cone,
+being composed of loose black cinders, has a most dismal aspect.
+
+Another very active South American volcano is Rancagua in Chili. It is,
+however, of moderate height, and thus in its general character
+resembles Stromboli, which it rivals in restlessness. Another of the
+volcanoes of Chili, named Chillan, which had long been in a state of
+repose, renewed its activity in November 1864. Its usually snow-clad
+summit became covered in a short time with a thick layer of volcanic
+ashes, which greatly altered its appearance. Streams of lava were also
+thrown out by the mountain on this occasion.
+
+There are several volcanoes in Central America. One of them, named
+Masaya, was very active during the sixteenth century. It is situated
+near the lake of Nicaragua, in the territory of that name. It was
+visited in 1529 by the Spanish historian Gonzales Fernando de Oviedo,
+from whose description it seems to have presented phenomena resembling
+those seen in the crater of Stromboli. "In its ordinary state," he
+says, "the surface of the lava, in the midst of which black scoriae are
+continually floating, remains several hundred feet below the edges of
+the water. But sometimes there is suddenly produced an ebullition so
+violent, that the lava rises almost to the very brim."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Jorullo--Great Monument--Jorullo's Estate--Interruption to his
+Quiet--His Estate Swells--Swallows Two Rivers--Throws up Ovens--Becomes
+a Burning Mountain--Popocatepetl--Spanish Ascents--Orizaba --Muller's
+Ascent--Morne-Garou--Pelee---La Soufriere
+
+
+What a fortunate man was Mr. Jorullo! Old Cheops, king of Egypt, spent
+vast sums of money, many long years, and the labour of myriads of his
+subjects, in erecting the Great Pyramid as a monument to his memory.
+But Mr. Jorullo, without his having to lay down a single Mexican
+dollar, and without any labour, either of his own or of his servants,
+had a magnificent monument raised to his memory in a single night.
+Jorullo's monument, too, is far bigger than the pyramid of
+Cheops--being nearly four times the height, and occupying a much larger
+extent of ground. Whether it will last as long as the pyramid has done,
+time only can show.
+
+You would doubtless like to know how this great monument was reared.
+Here is the story:--Don Pedro di Jorullo was a Mexican gentleman who
+lived about the middle of the last century. He was a landed
+proprietor--the owner of a nice little farm of great fertility,
+situated to the westward of the city of Mexico, and about ninety miles
+from the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The ground was well watered by
+artificial means, and produced abundant crops of indigo and sugar-cane.
+Thus Mr. Jorullo was a very thriving well-to-do sort of man.
+
+[Illustration:  Jorullo]
+
+This gentleman's prosperity continued without interruption till the
+month of June 1759, when, to the great alarm of his servants dwelling
+on the estate, strange underground rumblings were heard, accompanied by
+frequent shakings of the ground. These continued for nearly two months;
+but at the end of that time all became quiet again, and Mr. Jorullo's
+servants slept in fancied security. On the night of the 28th of
+September, however, their slumbers were suddenly broken by a return of
+the horrible underground rumblings-thundering more loudly than before.
+The next night, these subterranean thunders became so loud, that the
+Indian servants started from their beds, and fled in terror to the
+mountains in the neighbourhood. Gazing thence, after day had dawned,
+they beheld to their astonishment that a tract of ground from three to
+four square miles in extent, with their master's farm in the middle of
+it, had been upheaved in the shape of an inflated bladder. At the edges
+this singular elevation rises only about thirty-nine feet above the old
+level of the plain; but so great is the general convexity of the mound,
+that towards the centre it swells up to five hundred and twenty-four
+feet above the original level.
+
+The Indians affirmed that they saw flames issue from the ground
+throughout an extent of more than half a square league, while fragments
+of burning rocks were thrown to enormous heights. Thick clouds of ashes
+rose into the air, illuminated by glowing fires beneath; and the
+surface of the ground seemed to swell into billows, like those of a
+tempestuous sea. Into the vast burning chasms, whence these ejections
+were thrown, two rivers plunged in cataracts; but the water only
+increased the violence of the eruption. It was thrown into steam with
+explosive force, and great quantities of mud and balls of basalt were
+ejected. On the surface of the swollen mound there were formed
+thousands of small cones, from six to ten feet in height, and sending
+forth steam to heights varying from twenty to thirty feet.
+
+Out of a chasm in the midst of these cones, or ovens, as the natives
+call them, there rose six large masses, the highest of which is sixteen
+hundred feet in height, and constitutes the volcano of Jorullo. The
+eruptions of this central volcano continued till February 1760 with
+extreme violence--the crater throwing out large quantities of lava; but
+in the succeeding years it became less turbulent in its activity. It
+still, however, continues to burn; and the mountain emits from the wide
+crater at its summit several jets of vapour. The foregoing woodcut
+gives a view of this volcano, and of the little steaming ovens which
+stud the whole ground around it, giving it at a distance the appearance
+of the sea in a storm. And now confess that Mr. Jorullo's monument is
+far grander than the pyramid of Cheops. Surely the loss of his farm was
+amply compensated to him, by the perpetuation of his memory and his
+name, through the rearing of such a marvellous cenotaph.
+
+For a long time after the first eruption, the ground for a great
+distance round the volcano was too hot to be habitable or capable of
+cultivation. It is now, however, so much cooled down, that it is once
+more covered with vegetation; and even some small portions of the
+raised ground containing the ovens have been again brought under
+culture.
+
+Besides this volcano, so recent in its origin, Mexico contains other
+five--Orizaba, Toluca, Tuxtla, Popocatepetl, and Colima. What is rather
+remarkable, these five, together with Jorullo, all lie nearly in a
+straight line running east and west. The tracts of country which these
+volcanoes have desolated with their lavas are called by the Mexicans
+the "Malpays."
+
+The most remarkable of these mountains is Popocatepetl. Although it has
+long remained in comparative quiet, it was very active at the time of
+the Spanish invasion under Cortes. Of the first approach of the
+Spaniards to this volcano, and of the attempts made by some of them to
+climb to the top, Mr. Prescott, in his history of the conquest of
+Mexico, gives the following graphic account:--
+
+"They were passing between two of the highest mountains on the North
+American continent, Popocatepetl, 'the hill that smokes' and
+Iztaccihuatl, or 'white woman;' a name suggested, doubtless, by the
+bright robe of snow spread over its broad and broken surface. A puerile
+superstition of the Indians regarded these celebrated mountains as
+gods, and Iztaccihuatl as the wife of her more formidable neighbour. A
+tradition of a higher character described the northern volcano as the
+abode of the departed spirits of wicked rulers, whose fiery agonies in
+their prison-house caused the fearful bellowings and convulsions in
+times of eruption. It was the classic fable of antiquity. These
+superstitious legends had invested the mountain with a mysterious
+horror, that made the natives shrink from attempting its ascent, which,
+indeed, was, from natural causes, a work of incredible difficulty.
+
+"The great _volcan_, as Popocatepetl was called, rose to the enormous
+height of 17,852 feet above the level of the sea; more than 2000 feet
+above the 'monarch of mountains'--the highest elevation in Europe.
+During the present century it has rarely given evidence of its volcanic
+origin, and 'the hill that smokes' has almost forfeited its claim to
+the appellation. But at the time of the conquest it was frequently in a
+state of activity, and raged with uncommon fury while the Spaniards
+were at Tlascala; an evil omen, it was thought, for the natives of
+Anahuac. Its head, gathered into a regular cone by the deposit of
+successive eruptions, wore the usual form of volcanic mountains, when
+not disturbed by the falling in of the crater. Soaring towards the
+skies, with its silver sheet of everlasting snow, it was seen far and
+wide over the broad plains of Mexico and Puebla; the first object which
+the morning sun greeted in his rising, the last where his evening rays
+were seen to linger, shedding a glorious effulgence over its head, that
+contrasted strikingly with the ruinous waste of sand and lava
+immediately below, and the deep fringe of funereal pines that shrouded
+its base.
+
+"The mysterious terrors which hung over the spot. and the wild love of
+adventure, made some of the Spanish cavaliers desirous to attempt the
+ascent, which the natives declared no man could accomplish and live.
+Cortes encouraged them in the enterprise, willing to show the Indians
+that no achievement was above the dauntless daring of his followers.
+One of his captains, accordingly, Diego Ordaz, with nine Spaniards, and
+several Tlascalans, encouraged by their example, undertook the ascent.
+It was attended with more difficulty than had been anticipated.
+
+"The lower region was clothed with a dense forest, so thickly matted,
+that in some places it was scarcely possible to penetrate it. It grew
+thinner, however, as they advanced, dwindling by degrees into a
+straggling stunted vegetation, till, at the height of somewhat more
+than 13,000 feet, it faded away altogether. The Indians, who had held
+on thus far; intimidated by the strange subterraneous sounds of the
+volcano, even then in a state of combustion, now left them. The track
+opened on a black surface of glazed volcanic sand and of lava, the
+broken fragments of which, arrested in its boiling progress in a
+thousand fantastic forms, opposed continual impediments to their
+advance. Amidst these, one huge rock, the Pico del Fraile, a
+conspicuous object from below, rose to the perpendicular height of 150
+feet, compelling them to take a wide circuit. They soon came to the
+limits of perpetual snow, where new difficulties presented themselves,
+as the treacherous ice gave an imperfect footing, and a false step
+might precipitate them into the frozen chasms that yawned around. To
+increase their distress, respiration in these aerial regions became so
+difficult, that every effort was attended with sharp pains in the head
+and limbs. Still they pressed on, till, drawing nearer the crater, such
+volumes of smoke, sparks, and cinders were belched forth from its
+burning entrails, and driven down the sides of the mountain, as nearly
+suffocated and blinded them. It was too much even for their hardy
+frames to endure, and, however reluctantly, they were compelled to
+abandon the attempt on the eve of its completion. They brought back
+some huge icicles--a curious sight in those tropical regions--as a
+trophy of their achievement, which, however imperfect, was sufficient
+to strike the minds of the natives with wonder, by showing that with
+the Spaniards the most appalling and mysterious perils were only as
+pastimes. The undertaking was eminently characteristic of the bold
+spirit of the cavalier of that day, who, not content with the dangers
+that lay in his path, seemed to court them from the mere Quixotic love
+of adventure. A report of the affair was transmitted to the Emperor
+Charles V.; and the family of Ordaz was allowed to commemorate the
+exploit by assuming a burning mountain on their escutcheon.
+
+"The general was not satisfied with the result. Two years after he sent
+up another party, under Francisco Montano, a cavalier of determined
+resolution. The object was to obtain sulphur to assist in making
+gunpowder for the army. The mountain was quiet at the time, and the
+expedition was attended with better success. The Spaniards, five
+in-number, climbed to the very edge of the crater, which presented an
+irregular ellipse at its mouth, more than a league in circumference.
+Its depth might be from 800 to 1000 feet. A lurid flame burned gloomily
+at the bottom, sending up a sulphureous steam, which, cooling as it
+rose, was precipitated on the sides of the cavity. The party cast lots,
+and it fell on Montano himself to descend in a basket into this hideous
+abyss, into which he was lowered by his companions to the depth of 400
+feet! This was repeated several times, till the adventurous cavalier
+had collected a sufficient quantity of sulphur for the wants of the
+army."
+
+The more tranquil state of the volcano in modern times having rendered
+the summit no longer so difficult of access as it was in those days,
+the ascent has been several times achieved--twice in 1827, and again in
+1833 and 1834. The crater is now a large oval basin with precipitous
+walls, composed of beds of lava, of which some are black, others of a
+pale rose tint. At the bottom of the crater, which is nearly flat, are
+several conical vents, whence are continually issuing vapours of
+variable colour, red, yellow, or white. The beds of sulphur deposited
+in this crater are worked for economical purposes. Two snowy peaks
+tower above its walls.
+
+Not less magnificent in its proportions is the volcano of Orizaba,
+which is nearly of the same height as Popocatepetl. It was very active
+about the middle of the sixteenth century, having had several great
+eruptions between 1545 and 1560; but since then it has sunk into
+comparative repose. This mountain was ascended by Baron Muller in 1856.
+A first attempt proved unsuccessful; but by passing a night in a grotto
+near the limit of perpetual snow, he was able on the following day,
+after a toilsome ascent, to reach the edge of the crater--not, however,
+till near sunset. His experiences, and the scene which was presented to
+his wondering gaze, he describes in the following terms:--
+
+"I have achieved my purpose, and joy banishes all my griefs, but only
+for a moment; suddenly I fell to the ground, and a stream of blood
+gushed from my mouth.
+
+"On recovering, I found myself still close to the crater, and I then
+summoned all my strength to gaze and observe as much as possible. My
+pen cannot describe either the aspect of those regions, or the
+impressions they produced on me. Here seemed to be the gate of the
+nether world, enclosing darkness and horror. What terrible power must
+have been required to raise and shiver such enormous masses, to melt
+them and pile them up like towers, at the very moment of their cooling
+and acquiring their actual forms!
+
+"A yellow crust of sulphur coats in several places the internal walls,
+and from the bottom rise several volcanic cones. The soil of the
+crater, so far as I could see, was covered with snow, consequently not
+at all warm. The Indians however affirmed that, at several points, a
+hot air issues from crevices in the rocks. Although I could not verify
+their statement, it seemed to me probable; for I have often observed
+similar phenomena in Popocatepetl.
+
+"My original intention of passing the night on the crater had for
+overpowering reasons become impracticable. The twilight which, in this
+latitude, as every one knows, is extremely short, having already begun,
+it was necessary to prepare for our return. The two Indians rolled
+together the straw mats which they had brought, and bent them in front
+so as to form a sort of sledge. We sat down upon these, and stretching
+out our legs, allowed ourselves to glide down on this vehicle. The
+rapidity with which we were precipitated increased to such a degree,
+that our descent was rather like being shot through the air, than any
+other mode of locomotion. In a few minutes we dashed over a space which
+it had taken us five hours to climb."
+
+There are several of the West Indian islands of volcanic origin; and
+three of them--St. Vincent, Martinique, and Guadaloupe--contain active
+volcanoes. The most remarkable is the volcano of Morne-Garou, in St.
+Vincent, the eruptions from which have been particularly violent. In
+1812 the ashes which it threw out were so great in quantity, and
+projected to so vast a height, that they were carried to a distance of
+two hundred miles in the teeth of the trade-wind. From Mount Pelee, in
+Martinique, there was an eruption in August 1851. La Soufriere, the
+volcano in Guadaloupe, is said to have been cleft in twain during an
+earthquake. Its activity has long been in a subdued state; but it is
+remarkable for its deposits of sulphur.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Hawaii, Sandwich Islands--Crater of Kilauea--Its awful Aspect--Fiery
+Lake and Islands--Jets of Lava--Depth of Crater and Surface of
+Lake--Bank of Sulphur--Curious Rainbow--Mouna-Kaah and
+Mouna-Loa--Eruption of the Latter in 1840--Recent Eruption--Great Jet
+and Torrent of Lava--Burning of the Forests--Great
+Whirlwinds--Underground Explosions--Other Volcanoes in the Pacific.
+
+
+Hawaii is well known in history as being the island where the
+celebrated navigator Captain Cook was killed. The name used to be
+written Owhyhee; but a better apprehension of the native pronunciation
+has led to its being altered into Hawaii. No one who visits it in the
+present day need be afraid of sharing the fate of poor Captain Cook;
+for the descendants of the savages who, in his time, inhabited the
+island, have now, through the labours of Christian missionaries, become
+a very decent sort of quiet, well-behaved Christian people.
+
+Hawaii, which is the largest of a group called the Sandwich Islands,
+can boast of the greatest volcanic crater in the world. It is called
+sometimes Kirauea, sometimes Kilauea; for the natives seem not very
+particular about the pronunciation of their _l_ and their _r_; but
+where one uses _l_ another as pertinaciously employs _r_, while a third
+set use a sound between the two, as you may have heard some people do
+at home. Situated on the lower slopes of a lofty mountain called
+Mouna-Roa, or Loa (for there is the same dubiety about the _l_ and the
+_r_ here as in the former case), the crater of Kilauea is a vast plain
+between fifteen and sixteen miles in circumference, and sunk below the
+level of its borders to a depth varying from two hundred to four
+hundred feet--the walls of rock enclosing it being for the most part
+precipitous. The surface of the ground is very uneven, being strown
+with huge stones and masses of volcanic rock, and it sounds hollow
+under the tramp of the foot.
+
+Towards the centre of the plain is a much deeper depression. Those who
+have ventured to approach it, and look down, describe it as an awful
+gulf, about eight hundred feet in depth, and presenting a most gloomy
+and dismal aspect. The bottom is covered with molten lava, forming a
+great lake of fire, which is continually boiling violently, and whose
+fiery billows exhibit a wild terrific appearance. The shape of the lake
+resembles the crescent moon; its length is estimated at about two
+miles, and its greatest breadth at about one mile. It has numerous
+conical islands scattered round the edge, or in the lake itself, each
+of them being a little subordinate crater. Some of them are continually
+sending out columns of gray vapour; while from a few others shoots up
+what resembles flame. It is, probably, only the bright glare of the
+lava they contain, reflected upwards. Several of these conical islands
+are always belching forth from their mouths glowing streams of lava,
+which roll in fiery torrents down their black and rugged sides into the
+boiling lake below. They are said sometimes to throw up jets of lava to
+the height of upwards of sixty feet. The foregoing woodcut can convey
+only an imperfect idea of this immense crater.
+
+[Illustration:  Crater of Kilauea]
+
+The outer margin of the gulf all round is nearly perpendicular. The
+height of the bounding cliffs is estimated at about four hundred feet
+above a black horizontal ledge of hardened lava, which completely
+encircles it, and beyond which there is a gradual slope down into the
+burning lake. The surface of the molten lava is at present between
+three and four hundred feet below this horizontal ledge; but the lava
+is said sometimes to rise quite up to this level, and to force its way
+out by forming an opening in the side of the mountain, whence it flows
+down to the sea. An eruption of this kind took place in 1859. On one
+side of the margin of the lake there is a long pale yellow streak
+formed by a bank of sulphur. The faces of the rocks composing the outer
+walls of the crater have a pale ashy gray appearance, supposed to be
+due to the action of the sulphurous vapours. The surface of the plain
+itself is much rent by fissures. It is said that the glare from the
+molten lava in the lake is so great as to form rainbows on the passing
+rain-clouds.
+
+The entire Island of Hawaii is of volcanic origin; and besides this
+great crater it contains two other lofty mountains, whose summits are
+covered with snow, and whose height is estimated at fifteen or sixteen
+thousand feet above the level of the sea. The one is named Mouna-Kaah
+or Keah, the other is Mouna-Loa--the same on whose lower flanks the
+crater of Kilauea is situated. Mouna-Kaah has long been in a state of
+repose. So also was Mouna-Loa up to 1840, when it burst forth with
+great fury, and it has continued more or less in a state of activity
+ever since. There has been a grand eruption very lately, said by the
+natives to have been the greatest of any on record.
+
+A new crater opened near the top, at a height of about ten thousand
+feet, and for three days a flood of lava poured down the north-eastern
+slope. After a pause of about thirty-six hours, there was opened on the
+eastern slope, about half way down the mountain, another crater, whence
+there rose an immense jet of liquid lava, which attained a height of
+about a thousand feet, and had a diameter of about a hundred feet. This
+jet was sustained for twenty days and nights; but during that time its
+height varied from the extreme limit of a thousand, down to about a
+hundred feet. The play of this fiery fountain was accompanied by
+explosions so loud as to be heard at the distance of forty miles.
+Nothing could surpass the awful grandeur of this jet, which was at a
+white heat when it issued from its source, but, cooling as it ascended
+into the air, it became of a bright blood red, which, as the liquid
+fell, deepened into crimson.
+
+In a few days there was raised around this crater a cone of about three
+hundred feet in height, composed of the looser materials thrown out
+along with the lava. This cone continued to glow with intense heat,
+throwing out occasional flashes. The base of this cone eventually
+acquired a circumference of about a mile. But the fountain itself
+formed a river of glowing lava, which rushed and bounded with the speed
+of a torrent down the sides of the mountain, filling up ravines and
+dashing over precipices, until it reached the forests at the foot of
+the volcano. These burst into flames at the approach of the fiery
+torrent, sending up volumes of smoke and steam high into the air. The
+light from the burning forests and the lava together was so intense as
+to turn night into day, and was seen by mariners at a distance of
+nearly two hundred miles.
+
+During the day the air throughout a vast extent was filled with a murky
+haze, through which the sun showed only a pallid glimmer. Smoke, steam,
+ashes, and cinders were tossed into the air and whirled about by fierce
+winds--sometimes spreading out like a fan, but every moment changing
+both their form and colour. The stream of lava from the fountain flowed
+to a distance of about thirty-five miles. The scene was altogether
+terrific--the fierce red glare of the lava--the flames from the burning
+trees--the great volumes of smoke and steam--the loud underground
+explosions and thunderings,--all combined to overpower the senses, and
+fill the mind with indescribable awe.
+
+A remarkable volcanic chain runs along the northern and western margins
+of the Pacific Ocean. It embraces the Aleutian Islands, the peninsula
+of Kamtschatka, the Kurile, the Japanese, and the Philippine Islands.
+The most interesting are the volcanoes of Kamtschatka, in which there
+is an oft-renewed struggle between opposing forces--the snow and
+glaciers predominating for a while, to be in their turn overpowered by
+torrents of liquid fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+Atolls, or Coral Islands--Their strange Appearance--Their Connexion
+with Volcanoes--Their Mode of Formation--Antarctic
+Volcanoes--Diatomaceous Deposits
+
+
+To the southward of the Sandwich Islands, on the other side of the
+equator, there is a large group of islands in the Pacific, which have a
+very peculiar appearance. They are called Atolls or Coral Islands.
+Although not exactly of volcanic origin, yet the manner in which they
+are formed has some connexion with submarine volcanic action.
+
+An atoll consists essentially of a ring of coral rocks but little
+elevated above the level of the sea, and having in its centre a lagoon
+or salt-water lake, which generally communicates by a deep narrow
+channel with the sea. The ring of rocks is flat on the surface, which
+is composed of friable soil, and sustains a luxuriant vegetation,
+chiefly of cocoa-nut palms. It is seldom more than half a mile in
+breadth between the sea and lagoon, sometimes only three or four
+hundred yards. The outer margin of the ring is the highest, and it
+slopes gradually down towards the lagoon; but on the outside of the
+ledge of rocks is a beach of dazzling whiteness, composed of powdered
+and broken coral and shells. The appearance they present is thus not
+less beautiful than singular. Some of these islands are of large size,
+from thirty to fifty miles long, and from twenty to thirty broad, but
+they are in general considerably smaller. Their most frequent form is
+either round or oval. The rocks composing them are all formed by
+different species of coral. The animal which constructs them is of the
+polyp tribe, and so small that it can be seen only under the higher
+powers of the microscope. It multiplies by means of buds like those of
+a tree, the individuals all combining to form a composite stony mass,
+which is called a polypidom. A number of such polypidoms growing close
+together form a coral reef. See woodcuts.
+
+[Illustration:  Coral]
+
+[Illustration:  Coral Polyp]
+
+It was at one time supposed that these coral reefs were erected on the
+edges of the craters of submarine volcanoes, an opinion to which their
+annular form, and the lagoon in the centre, lent some countenance; but
+the vast size of some of them, united to several other particulars
+connected with them, threw great doubts over this supposition.
+
+More recently it has been shown by Mr. Darwin that, while volcanic
+agency does perform a part in their formation, it is different from
+what had been formerly imagined. His supposition is, that these coral
+reefs were built round the coasts of islands which had once stood very
+much higher above water than they do now. He conceives that the bottom
+of the sea under them being very volcanic, and containing large
+collections of molten lava beneath a thin solid crust, the islands have
+gradually sunk down into the lava, until their central parts have
+become covered with a considerable depth of water. The central parts
+thus submerged, he imagines, form the lagoons in the middle of the
+islands, while the ring of coral reefs has gradually grown upwards, as
+the ground on which it rested sank downwards.
+
+[Illustration:  Coral Reef.]
+
+The corals thus rise to near the surface, but immediately on their
+being uncovered by the water they die, and the reef ceases to grow.
+Then the waves by their action break the upper part of it into pieces,
+which thus become heaped up by degrees on the remainder, until the mass
+attain so great a height that the sea can no longer wash over it. Thus
+the curious ring of land is gradually formed, and affords a nutritive
+soil, in which cocoa-nuts, on being cast ashore, germinate and grow to
+be large trees. Other seeds, wafted by the waves or carried by birds,
+also begin to grow, until the whole surface becomes covered with
+vegetation. Then comes man and builds his habitation upon those fertile
+spots, and finds in them an agreeable and convenient abode, well suited
+to those who are accustomed to live by fishing and other simple means.
+
+You will thus perceive that the connexion between the atoll and the
+volcano consists in this--that while the coral builds up the reef, the
+volcano beneath ingulfs the island and causes it to sink down. In some
+instances, however, the volcano, after a while, reverses its action,
+and raises up the island with the reef upon it. In such cases, the
+coral reefs are seen standing out of the water, forming perpendicular
+cliffs several hundred feet in height. Then also the interior of the
+island becomes once more dry land, and that, too, of great fertility.
+
+[Illustration:  Mount Erebus.]
+
+Almost due south of that region, in the Pacific, where the coral
+islands abound, but at a great distance from them, and considerably
+within the limits of the Antarctic zone, lies South Victoria. Here, in
+lat. 76 degrees S., Captain Ross discovered, in 1841, two volcanoes,
+which he called Erebus and Terror, after the names of his two ships. Of
+the former, which is the higher of the two, a view is given in the
+annexed woodcut. It is covered with perpetual snow from the bottom even
+to the tip of the summit. Nevertheless, it is continually sending forth
+vast columns of vapour, which glow with the reflection of the white hot
+lava beneath. These vapours ascend to a great height, more than two
+thousand feet above the top of the cone, which is itself twelve
+thousand feet above the level of the sea.
+
+There is found in these frozen regions a remarkable botanical
+curiosity, having a certain connexion with volcanoes. The waters of the
+ocean, all along the borders of the icy barrier, produce in amazing
+abundance the family of water-plants named Diatomaceae. The Diatoms are
+so called from their faculty of multiplying themselves indefinitely by
+splitting into two; and so rapidly is this process performed, that in a
+month a single diatom may produce a thousand millions. The quantity
+found in the Antarctic regions is so immense that, between the
+parallels of 60 degrees and 80 degrees of south latitude, they stain
+the whole surface of the sea of a pale olive-brown tint. These plants,
+which are so minute as to be individually invisible, save under the
+higher powers of the microscope, have the curious property of
+encrusting themselves with a sheath, or shell, of pure silica. These
+shells remain after the death of the plant, and are as indestructible
+as flint. They are marvellous objects, both as respects the elegance of
+their forms and the beauty of their markings. So great is the
+accumulation of these shells at the bottom of the sea, that they have
+formed an immense bank 400 miles in length by 120 in breadth, between
+the 76th and 78th degrees of south latitude. One portion of this bank
+rests on the coast at the foot of Mount Erebus.
+
+Now, it is remarkable that these microscopic shells of Diatoms are not
+unfrequently found in the ejections of volcanoes; while it is generally
+supposed that, in the case of those situated near the sea, eruptions
+are caused by the formation of explosive steam consequent on the access
+of sea-water to the reservoirs of molten lava lying underground. The
+proximity of this Diatomaceous bed to Mount Erebus would easily explain
+how these minute shells might be found abundant in the fine dust
+ejected from that volcano.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+Volcanoes of Java--Papandayang--Mountain Ingulfed--Great Destruction of
+Life and Property--Galoen-gong--Destructive Eruption--Mount
+Merapia--Great Eruption, with Hurricane--Another, very destructive--Mud
+Volcano Crater of Tankuban-Prahu--Island of Sumbawa--Volcano of
+Tomboro--Terrific Eruption--Timor--A Volcano quenches itself--Cleaving
+of Mount Machian--Sangir--Destructive Eruption--Bourbon.
+
+
+One of the most marvellous volcanic regions in the world is that
+composed of the islands of the Malayan Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
+They form a chain stretching from east to west, but curving up towards
+the north at the western extremity. The most easterly of the chain is
+Timor, the most westerly Sumatra.
+
+The most interesting of the group is Java, which is almost entirely of
+volcanic origin, and contains no less than thirty-eight mountains of
+that conical form which indicates their having at one time or other
+been active volcanoes. Only a few of them, however, have been in
+activity in more recent times. The most remarkable eruption was that of
+the mountain named Papandayang, which occurred in 1772. During this
+convulsion the greater part of the mountain, which was formerly one of
+the largest in the island, was completely swallowed up in some great
+underground gulf.
+
+On the night between the 11th and 12th of August of that year, the
+mountain appeared to be wholly enveloped in a remarkable luminous
+cloud. The inhabitants fled in consternation; but before they could all
+escape, the mountain began to totter, and the greater part of it
+tumbled down and disappeared. The crash with which it fell was
+dreadful, the noise resembling the discharge of volleys of artillery.
+Besides that part of the mountain which thus fell in, a large extent of
+ground in its neighbourhood was ingulfed. The space measured fifteen
+miles in length and six in breadth. The ground for many miles round
+this space was covered with immense quantities of ashes, stones,
+cinders, and other substances thrown out by the volcano. These were, on
+many parts of the surface, accumulated to the height of three feet; and
+even at the end of six weeks, the layers thus deposited retained so
+much heat as to render the mountain inaccessible. By this dreadful
+occurrence forty villages were destroyed, some ingulfed with the ground
+on which they stood, others buried under the loose materials which had
+been ejected. Not far short of three thousand of the inhabitants
+perished.
+
+Another of the volcanoes of Java, called Galoen-gong, burst into
+eruption in 1822, commencing with a terrible explosion of stones,
+ashes, &c., followed by a stream of hot mud, which overspread a large
+tract of ground. This eruption proved still more fatal to human life,
+about four thousand persons having been destroyed.
+
+So lately as September 1849, Mount Merapia, another volcano in this
+island, which had been supposed to be quite extinct, burst forth into
+an eruption, which lasted three days. It was accompanied by a violent
+hurricane. The bed of a river was filled up by the matter thrown out
+from the crater, and the destruction of property in crops, &c., was
+immense. Fortunately the inhabitants succeeded in making their escape,
+so that no lives were lost. A second eruption of this mountain however,
+in January 1864, was more disastrous, three hundred and fifty people
+having perished.
+
+Java likewise contains a remarkable mud volcano. When viewed from a
+distance, there are seen to rise from it large volumes of vapour, like
+the spray from the billows dashing against a rocky shore, and there is
+heard a loud noise like distant thunder. On a nearer approach, the
+source of these phenomena is seen to be a hemispherical mound of black
+earth mixed with water, about sixteen feet in diameter, and which at
+intervals of a few seconds is pushed upwards by a force acting from
+beneath to a height of between twenty and thirty feet. It then suddenly
+explodes with a loud noise, scattering in every direction a quantity of
+black mud, which has a strong pungent smell resembling that of
+coal-tar, and is considerably warmer than the air. With the mud thus
+thrown out there has been formed around the mound a large perfectly
+level and nearly circular plain, about half a mile in circumference.
+The water mixed with the mud is salt, and the salt is separated from it
+by evaporation for economical purposes. During the rainy season the
+action of this mud volcano becomes more violent, the explosions are
+louder, and the mud is thrown to a greater height.
+
+The crater of Tangkuban-Prahu, another of the volcanoes of Java,
+presents a remarkable appearance. On approaching its edge, nothing is
+seen but an abyss, from which dense clouds of vapour continually arise,
+with hideous sounds, like the steam rushing from the open valves of
+hundreds of steam-engines. This great abyss consists really of two
+craters, separated the one from the other by a narrow ridge of rock, to
+which it is possible to descend and view them both. Each of them is
+elliptical in form, and surrounded by a crater-wall. That of the
+western, which the natives call the poison-crater, is a rapid slope
+nearly a thousand feet in depth, and is densely covered with brushwood
+almost to the bottom. The flat floor of this deep basin is continually
+sending out vapours, and in its centre is a pool of boiling water of a
+sulphur yellow colour. The floor itself is nothing but a crust of
+sulphur full of rents and holes, whence vapours constantly arise. This
+crust covers a surface of boiling hot bitter water, and by breaking it
+beautiful crystals of sulphur may be obtained.
+
+The eastern is called by the natives the king's-crater; its walls are
+only between five and six hundred feet in depth, and are perfectly bare
+from top to bottom. The surfaces of the rocks composing them are
+grayish white, an effect produced upon them by the action of the
+vapours, to which they are continually exposed. The bottom of this
+crater consists of mud mixed with sulphur; but round the edges are some
+stones and hard masses. These are the remnants of an eruption which
+took place from this crater in 1846, when there was thrown up a great
+mass of sulphurous boiling mud, accompanied by quantities of sand and
+stones. This mountain, therefore, seems to be also more of the nature
+of a mud volcano, than of one which throws out burning lava.
+
+Nearly in a right line to the eastward of Java lies the Island of
+Sumbawa, in which stands the volcano of Tomboro, the most violent in
+its eruptions of any in the world. One of the most remarkable occurred
+in the year 1815, beginning on the 5th of April and continuing till the
+middle of July. Its effects were felt over an immense tract of country,
+embracing the Molucca Islands, Java, and portions of Celebes, Sumatra,
+and Borneo. The concussions produced by its explosions were sensible at
+a distance of a thousand miles all round; and their sound is said to
+have been heard even at so great a distance as seventeen hundred miles.
+In Java the day was darkened by clouds of ashes, thrown from the
+mountain to that great distance (three hundred miles), and the houses,
+streets, and fields, were covered to the depth of several inches with
+the ashes that fell from the air. So great was the quantity of ashes
+ejected, that the roofs of houses forty miles distant from the volcano
+were broken in by their weight. The effects of the eruption extended
+even to the western coasts of Sumatra, where masses of pumice were seen
+floating on the surface of the sea, several feet in thickness and many
+miles in extent.
+
+From the crater itself there were seen to ascend three fiery columns,
+which, after soaring to a great height, appeared to unite in a confused
+manner at their tops. Ere long, the whole of the side of the mountain
+next the village of Sang'ir seemed like one vast body of liquid fire.
+The glare was terrific, until towards evening, when it became partly
+obscured by the vast quantities of dust, ashes, stones, and cinders
+thrown up from the crater. Between nine and ten o'clock at night the
+ashes and stones began to fall upon the village of Sang'ir, and all
+round the neighbourhood of the mountain. Then arose a dreadful
+whirlwind, which blew down nearly every house in the village, tossing
+the roofs and lighter parts high into the air. In the neighbouring
+sea-port the effects were even more violent, the largest trees having
+been torn up by the roots and whirled aloft. Before such a furious
+tempest no living thing could stand. Men, horses, and cattle were
+whirled into the air like so much chaff, and then dashed violently down
+on the ground. The sea rose nearly twelve feet above the highest
+tide-mark, sweeping away houses, trees, everything within its reach.
+
+This whirlwind lasted about an hour, and then commenced the awful
+internal thunderings of the mountain. These continued with scarcely any
+intermission until the 11th of July, when they became more moderate,
+the intervals between them gradually increasing till the 15th of July,
+when they ceased. Almost all the villages for a long distance round the
+mountain were destroyed; and it is computed that nearly twelve thousand
+persons perished. By far the greatest part of this destruction was
+wrought by the violence of the whirlwind which accompanied the eruption.
+
+Considerably to the eastward of Sumbawa lies the Island of Timor, in
+which there was for a long time a volcanic peak, whose perpetual fires
+served as a lighthouse to mariners navigating those seas. But in the
+year 1637 there took place a great eruption of the mountain, which
+ended in its being gobbled up whole and entire, leaving nothing behind
+it but a lake, in which its fires were quenched, and which now occupies
+its place.
+
+To the north of Timor lie the Molucca Islands, several of which are
+volcanic. In one of them, named Machian, there occurred in the year
+1646 an extraordinary event. A mountain was rent from top to bottom,
+sending out great columns of fire and dense vapours. The two parts now
+remain two distinct mountains.
+
+In the Island of Sangir, another of the Moluccas, there was a violent
+eruption in March 1856. A large portion of the mountain fell down, and
+tremendous floods of water issued forth. The destruction that ensued
+was dreadful, upwards of two thousand persons having perished.
+
+In another part of the Indian Ocean, near Madagascar, lies the little
+Isle of Bourbon, containing the volcano Salazes, which occasionally
+throws out the curious thready substance already mentioned, so strongly
+resembling spun glass.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Mud and Air Volcanoes--Luss--Macaluba--Taman--Korabetoff--New Island in
+the Sea of Azof--Jokmali--Fires of Baku--Mud Volcano in Flank of
+Etna--Air Volcanoes of Turbaco, Cartagena, and Galera-Zamba.
+
+
+The curious mud volcano in the Island of Java, described in the
+preceding chapter, although presenting some peculiar features, is not
+the only one of the kind in the world. Mud, as you have learned, is
+often thrown out in great quantities, along with boiling water, even by
+true volcanoes, which at other times eject ashes and lava. But there
+are some volcanoes that never throw out anything else than mud and
+water, gas and steam. Such are called mud volcanoes or salses.
+
+The most remarkable assemblage of mud volcanoes in the world exists in
+the district of Luss, lying at the south-east corner of Beloochistan.
+They extend over a very large area, and are exceedingly numerous. The
+cone of one of them is no less than four hundred feet high, and the
+crater at the top is ninety feet in diameter. The mud in the crater is
+quite liquid, and is constantly disturbed by bubbles of gas, and
+occasionally by jets of the mud itself.
+
+More familiarly known is the mud volcano of Macaluba, near Girgenti, in
+Sicily. It is situated in a country much impregnated with sulphur and
+other inflammable matters. The top of the hill is covered with dry
+clay, in which are numerous basins full of warmish water mixed with mud
+and bitumen. From these small craters bubbles of gas arise from time to
+time; but at long intervals they become much more active, and throw up
+jets of wet mud to the height of nearly two hundred feet. This mud
+smells strongly of sulphur.
+
+In the peninsula of Taman, near the entrance to the Sea of Azof, there
+is a group of mud volcanoes, from one of which there was a considerable
+eruption on the 27th of February 1793. It was preceded by underground
+detonations, and accompanied by a column of fire and dense vapour,
+which rose to the height of several hundred feet. The discharge of mud
+and gas was abundant. The accompaniment of fire and smoke makes this
+eruption more nearly resemble that of a true volcano.
+
+There is in the adjacent parts of the Crimea a mountain named
+Korabetoff, which also presents similar phenomena. On the 6th of August
+1853, a column of fire and smoke was seen to rise from the top of this
+mountain to a great height, and it continued for five or six minutes.
+Two other similar but less violent ejections of fire and smoke followed
+at short intervals. These appearances were the accompaniments of an
+eruption of black fetid mud, which overspread the ground at the foot of
+the mountain to a considerable depth.
+
+A still more striking phenomenon occurred in the Sea of Azof, on the
+10th of May 1814. On that day a column of flame and very thick smoke
+arose out of the water, with a loud report like that of a cannon, and
+masses of earth with large stones were tossed high up into the air. Ten
+eruptions of this kind succeeded each other at intervals of about a
+quarter of an hour; and after they had ceased for a time, they began
+again during the night. Next morning it was found that an island had
+risen out of the sea, between nine and ten feet in height, surrounded
+by a lower level of hardened mud. A strong fetid smell, probably that
+of petroleum, proceeded from the island, and extended for a
+considerable distance all round.
+
+[Illustration:  Air Volcanoes of Turbaco]
+
+Another mud volcano, named Jokmali, near the Caspian Sea, was formed in
+November 1827. In this case, also, the ejection of mud was for several
+hours preceded by flames, rising to so great a height that they could
+be seen at a distance of twenty-four miles. Large pieces of rock were
+at the same time thrown up and scattered to considerable distances all
+round. The entire district in which this mountain is situated, has its
+soil copiously impregnated with petroleum, and numerous wells are
+formed for its collection. Quantities of this mineral oil are
+frequently found floating on the sea, along the neighbouring shores,
+where the sailors are in the habit of setting fire to this floating
+petroleum, while they dexterously steer their boats so as to avoid the
+flames. In this district also stands the city of Baku, held sacred by
+the Parsees, or fire-worshippers, who have here built a temple, in
+which are kept burning perpetual fires, fed by the naphtha springing
+from the ground.
+
+During the past year, 1866, a small mud volcano has been formed in the
+flanks of Mount Etna. It began with an outburst of strong jets of
+boiling water. First, one rose to the height of about six feet, then
+several others broke out, whereupon the height of the whole set
+diminished. There was much gas bubbling through the water, and some
+petroleum floated on its surface. It was very muddy, and left a thick
+deposit as it flowed away. Neither flames nor noise accompanied this
+eruption.
+
+There are also diminutive volcanoes, consisting of small conical hills,
+from which nothing seems to be emitted but various sorts of gas. These
+are called air volcanoes. Such are those of Turbaco in South America,
+discovered by Baron Humboldt, who has left us a picture of them, of
+which you here have a copy. These volcanic hillocks are truncated
+cones, eighteen or twenty in number, composed of hardened mud, from 18
+to 24 feet in height, and from about 140 to about 180 feet in diameter
+at the base. The small craters at the top are filled with liquid mud,
+whence bubbles of gas, chiefly nitrogen, are being continually
+disengaged.
+
+There is a similar, but much larger, group in the neighbouring province
+of Cartagena. It consists of about one hundred cones spread over a
+district of nearly four hundred square leagues. There is also a group
+of about fifty cones within a range of four or five miles in the
+adjacent peninsula of Galera-Zamba. A sub-marine volcano, from which
+there have been several eruptions, is supposed to be connected with
+these numerous salses.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+New Zealand--Boiling Fountains and Lakes
+
+
+In the eruptions of mud volcanoes, described in the foregoing chapter,
+a frequent ingredient is boiling water. There are, however, several
+instances in which there are thrown up jets of boiling water that are
+not intermingled with mud, but in which the water is either pure or
+impregnated with some mineral which it holds in perfect solution. Of
+this nature are the Geysers of Iceland and California, already
+described.
+
+In New Zealand there is another variety of this phenomenon, the boiling
+water issuing forth, not in intermittent jets, as in the Geysers, but
+in perpetually flowing springs, forming lakes, in which the water
+remains nearly at the boiling point. These springs and lakes occur at a
+place called Roto-Mahana. The annexed woodcut will convey an idea of
+their appearance.
+
+There are several basins raised one above another, and all higher than
+the level of the large lake. The highest is of an oval form, and about
+two hundred and fifty feet in circumference. It is filled from an
+opening at the height of about a hundred feet above the level of the
+lower lake. At various stages below this upper basin are numerous other
+springs, from which several similar basins are filled. The whole of
+these basins empty themselves into the large lake below, and the water
+in all of them is nearly boiling hot, giving forth, with a hissing
+sound, volumes of white vapour.
+
+[Illustration:  Boiling Lakes of Roto Mahana]
+
+These waters are richly impregnated with carbonate of lime, which has
+formed all round the margins of the basins beautiful incrustations of
+snowy whiteness. The sand round the lake is very warm; and if a stick
+be thrust into it, jets of steam arise.
+
+Doubtless, some years hence, the enterprising English settlers will
+establish hot baths here. Not far from the lake there are smaller
+basins, in which the water is not beyond what would be agreeable for a
+warm bath; while it is of a blue colour and beautifully clear.
+
+On both banks of the river Waikato, also in this neighbourhood, are
+found numerous basins full of boiling mud or slime, which cannot be
+approached save with extreme care, owing to the softness and
+slipperiness of the soil. The largest of these basins is oval in form,
+14 feet long by 8 feet wide, and about as much in depth. It contains
+hot mud of a bright red colour, being strongly impregnated with oxide
+of iron. Large viscous bubbles are continually rising to the top, and
+on bursting they emit a fetid, sulphureous smell. These phenomena are
+nearly akin to those of a mud volcano.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Underground Sounds--Quito--Rio Apure--Guanaxuato--Melida--Nakous.
+
+
+Not the least remarkable among the phenomena produced by volcanic
+forces, are the strange underground noises which are occasionally
+heard. For the most part these are the preludes either of shocks of
+earthquake or of volcanic eruptions. Those which for months preceded
+the upheaval of the volcano of Jorullo, will recur to your remembrance.
+For about a month before the great mud eruption from Tunguragua on 4th
+February 1797, already described, there proceeded from the interior of
+that mountain noises of the most fearful kind. These would occur
+suddenly in the midst of perfect silence. They were heard by Antonio
+Pineda, the naturalist, who was there at the time, and they led him to
+foretell the approach of some great convulsion. Strange to say,
+however, the catastrophe itself was unaccompanied by underground noises
+any where near the volcano. But, stranger still, at Quito, which is
+distant about 200 miles, a short time after the eruption began, there
+were heard tremendous underground thunders. But this distance, between
+the site of the underground noises and the probable focus of
+disturbance, was far exceeded in another remarkable instance. It is
+stated by Humboldt that, in the grassy plains of Calaboso, on the banks
+of the Rio Apure, a tributary of the Orinoco, there were heard, over a
+large extent of country, loud underground thunders, unaccompanied by
+any shaking of the ground; while great streams of lava were being
+poured forth from the crater of Morne-Garou, in the Island of St.
+Vincent, at the distance of no less than 632 miles in a right line.
+This was as though an eruption of Mount Vesuvius were accompanied by
+underground thunders in Normandy.
+
+There have, nevertheless, been instances of the existence of such
+underground noises, without their having been followed either by an
+earthquake, by a volcanic eruption, or any other outward appearance
+whatever. One of the most remarkable cases of the kind, was that
+mentioned by Humboldt as having occurred at Guanaxuato in Mexico, a
+mountain-city situated far from any active volcano. This celebrated
+traveller states that these noises began on the 9th of January 1784,
+and lasted above a month. The sounds were at first neither very loud
+nor very frequent; but from the 15th to the 16th of January they
+resembled continuous low rolling thunder, alternating with short loud
+thunder-claps. The sounds then gradually died away and nothing came of
+them, although they excited great terror among the inhabitants while
+they lasted. There are mines in the neighbourhood fifteen hundred and
+ninety-eight English feet in depth, yet neither in them nor at the
+surface could the least tremor be detected.
+
+A somewhat similar phenomenon occurred in the Island of Melida in the
+Adriatic, off the coast of Dalmatia, where underground rumblings were
+heard from March 1822 to September 1824; but in this case the sounds
+were sometimes accompanied by shocks.
+
+A still more singular phenomenon of this sort occurs on the borders of
+the Red Sea, at a place called Nakous, where intermittent underground
+sounds have been heard for an unknown number of centuries. It is
+situated at about half a mile's distance from the shore, whence a long
+reach of sand ascends rapidly to a height of about three hundred feet.
+This reach is about eighty feet wide, and resembles an amphitheatre,
+being walled in by low rocks. The sounds coming up from the ground at
+this place recur at intervals of about an hour. They at first resemble
+a low murmur; but ere long there is heard a loud knocking, somewhat
+like the strokes of a bell, and which, at the end of about five
+minutes, becomes so strong as to agitate the sand.
+
+The explanation of this curious phenomenon given by the Arabs, is, that
+there is a convent under the ground here, and that these sounds are
+those of the bell, which the monks ring for prayers. So they call it
+"Nakous," which means a bell. The Arabs affirm that the noise so
+frightens their camels when they hear it as to render them furious.
+Philosophers attribute the sounds to suppressed volcanic
+action--probably to the bubbling of gas or vapours underground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Extinct Volcanoes--Auvergne--Vienne--Agde--Eyfel--Italy--Lacus
+Cimini--Grotto del Cane--Guevo Upas--Talaga Bodas--The Dead Sea.
+
+
+There are two sorts of extinct volcanoes: _first_, those in which all
+evidences of activity have entirely ceased; and, _secondly_, those in
+which a subdued state of activity lingers. The former are more widely
+distributed than the latter; but sometimes both kinds occur in the same
+district of country.
+
+Extinct volcanoes are found in the district of Auvergne in France.
+Solidified streams of lava occur at Volvic near Riom; and the crater
+whence they descended is still visible on the top of the Puy de Nugere.
+It is an oblong basin, having its edge broken on the side down which
+the lava flowed. In its descent the fiery stream appears to have
+encountered a knoll of granite, by which it was divided into two
+branches. These seem to have reunited lower down, and thence to have
+overspread the valley beneath.
+
+The Puy de Come, a mountain near Clermont, appears to have sent forth
+two streams of lava, which have effected considerable changes in the
+surface of the country--blocking up the courses of rivers diverting
+them into new channels, and forming swamps in the old. On the top of
+Puy Pariou, to the north of Clermont, there exists a perfect crater,
+quite round, and about two hundred and fifty feet deep, whence there
+has flowed a stream of lava, whose course can be distinctly traced. The
+summit of Puy Graveniere, a long round-backed hill also near Clermont,
+consists almost entirely of a heap of volcanic cinders, which have
+obliterated all traces of a crater; but two streams of lava appear to
+have flowed from the sides of the mountain. The Puy de Dome, and the
+mountains in its neighbourhood, likewise appear to be of volcanic
+origin, and to have been upheaved somewhat in the same manner as
+Jorullo. Although the aspect of the mountains of Auvergne indicates so
+clearly their having been active since the surrounding country acquired
+its present general conformation, neither history nor tradition has
+preserved any record of their eruptions.
+
+There is extant, however, a letter from Sidonius Apollinaris, a
+cotemporary of Pliny, addressed to the Bishop of Vienne, in which he
+refers to forms of prayer which had been appointed by the bishop at the
+time when earthquakes demolished the walls of Vienne, and the
+mountains, opening, vomited forth torrents of inflamed materials. It
+hence appears that the extinct volcanoes in the neighbourhood of
+Vienne, and perhaps those of Le Puy, had been in a state of eruption
+not long after the beginning of the Christian era. To the westward of
+the latter town, there is a number of small volcanic craters, of which
+the two largest are the Lake de Bouchet and the Crater of Bar, which
+also appears to have been at one time a lake, but is now dry. The
+former has its greatest diameter about 2300 feet, with a depth of about
+90 feet. The latter is on the top of a mountain, which is composed
+entirely of such substances as are ejected by volcanoes. Its diameter
+is about 1660, and its depth about 130 feet; while it is almost perfect
+in its form. The mountains near Vienne exhibit streams of lava, which
+accommodate themselves to the existing valleys. Near Agde also, on the
+shores of the Gulf of Lions, on the top of a hill named St. Loup, there
+is an extinct crater, whence have descended two streams of lava
+apparently of recent origin. On one of them the town of Agde has been
+built; the other projects into the sea.
+
+The district of Eyfel, on the borders of the Rhine, is another in which
+extinct volcanoes abound. They occur mostly in the form of circular
+craters, which are now filled with water, their borders consisting of
+volcanic ejections. They also exhibit various superficial streams of
+lava. One of the most remarkable of these round craters lies near
+Andernuch, a little west of the Rhine. It is named the Lake of Laach,
+and is nearly two miles in circumference. On its margin are found
+numerous volcanic ejections, exactly resembling those of Mount
+Vesuvius. Notwithstanding these evidences that the extinct volcanoes of
+Eyfel have been in activity since the country acquired its present
+conformation, there are no historical records of their operations.
+There is, indeed, a passage in Tacitus referring to fires that issued
+from the earth near Cologne; but his description does not warrant the
+conclusion that the event to which he alludes was of the nature of a
+volcanic eruption. The Drachenfels on the eastern bank of the Rhine,
+and the other mountains in its neighbourhood, belong to the more
+ancient volcanic formations. The same may be affirmed of the other
+mountains scattered throughout Germany and central Europe generally, in
+which rocks of volcanic origin occur.
+
+There are a good many traces of extinct volcanoes in Italy, besides
+those of the Phlegraean fields already mentioned. In general character
+they resemble those previously described. The chief localities are
+certain lakes, near Volterra in Tuscany, which give forth very hot
+sulphurous and boracic acid vapours; a small sulphureous lake near
+Viterbo continually giving forth bubbles of gas; the Lake of Vico
+between Viterbo and Rome; the mountain and Lake of Albano near Rome;
+Mount Vultur in the Apennines, in the province of the Basilicata; and
+Lake Agnano near Naples. Of these, the Lakes of Vico and Agnano are the
+most interesting. The former is the ancient Lacus Cimini, and old
+authors state that its site was once occupied by a town, whose ruins
+used to be visible at the bottom of the lake when the water was clear.
+The ground, with the town upon it, is said to have been ingulfed during
+a volcanic convulsion, when the lake was formed in its place.
+
+The Lake Agnano is the site of an ancient volcanic crater, and on its
+margin is situated the Grotto del Cane, so famous for the deadly
+vapours it exhales. These consist of carbonic acid gas, in combination
+with watery vapour. This celebrated Grotto is thus described, in his
+work on volcanoes, by Dr. Daubeny, who visited the spot:--
+
+"The mouth of the cavern being somewhat more elevated than its
+interior, a stratum of carbonic acid goes on constantly accumulating at
+the bottom, but upon rising above the level of its mouth, flows like so
+much water over the brim. Hence the upper part of the cavern is free
+from any noxious vapour; but the air of that below is so fully
+impregnated, that it proves speedily fatal to any animal that is
+immersed in it, as is shown to all strangers by the experiment with the
+dog.
+
+"The sensation I experienced, on stooping my head for a moment to the
+bottom, resembled that of which we are sometimes sensible on drinking a
+large glass of soda water in a state of brisk effervescence. The cause
+in both instances is plainly the same.
+
+"The quantity of carbonic acid present in the cavern at various
+heights, was shown by immersing in it various combustibles in a state
+of inflammation. I found that phosphorus would continue lighted at
+about two feet from the bottom, whilst a sulphur match went out a few
+inches above, and a wax taper at a still higher level.
+
+"It was impossible to fire a pistol at the bottom of the cavern, for
+although gunpowder may be exploded even in carbonic acid by the
+application of a heat sufficient to decompose the nitre, and
+consequently to envelop the mass in an atmosphere of oxygen gas, yet
+the mere influence of a spark from steel produces too slight an
+augmentation of temperature for this purpose."
+
+Similar phenomena, but on a grander scale, are presented by the extinct
+crater in the Island of Java called "Guevo Upas," the Poison-Valley. It
+is a level about half a mile in circumference, surrounded by
+precipitous rocks. From various parts of its soil carbonic acid gas is
+discharged in such quantities as to prove fatal to any animal venturing
+nigh. The ground is consequently strown with numerous skeletons. This
+valley gave rise to the famous figment about the upas-tree, which once
+obtained such general belief in Europe.
+
+There is another extinct crater in Java, whence are exhaled vapours
+equally deadly, but which exert a most peculiar effect on the dead
+carcasses subjected to their influence. Instead of their being, as in
+the Gruevo Upas, reduced to skeletons, the carcasses have all their
+bones dissolved by the vapours; while the flesh, skin, hair, and nails
+are by their action preserved from decay. This remarkable crater is
+situated near the volcano of Talaga Bodas.
+
+Of all the extinct volcanoes in the world, however, none is so
+remarkable as the Dead Sea. That singular collection of salt and bitter
+water has the level of its surface depressed 1312 feet below that of
+the Mediterranean--thus indicating an enormous subsidence. The Dead Sea
+occupies the site of what was formerly the plain of Jordan, described
+as having been "well-watered everywhere, as the garden of the Lord,
+like the land of Egypt." One part of it, called the Vale of Siddim, was
+full of slime-pits--the only indications of volcanic action. When the
+cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which stood in the plain, were destroyed,
+the Lord, it is said, rained upon them fire and brimstone from heaven;
+but while these fell upon the cities from the atmosphere, it appears
+that they must have primarily been discharged from the earth; for "the
+smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace." The phenomena,
+therefore, most likely resembled, in the first instance, those of
+Jorullo; but the catastrophe seems to have ended like the last great
+eruption of the volcano in Timor--the whole of the plain having been
+ingulfed and replaced by the salt lake, whose depressed level so
+clearly indicates the nature of its origin.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wonders of Creation, by Anonymous
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