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diff --git a/old/wndnt10u.txt b/old/wndnt10u.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c6ab0c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wndnt10u.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3188 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wonders of Creation, by Anonymous + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Wonders of Creation + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6131] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 17, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: Unicode UTF-8 + +*** START OF THE 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--Skaptàr Yökul--Terrible Eruption in 1783--Rise +and Disappearance of Nyoë--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--Pelée--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 +Sumbáwa--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 Æneid, 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 Sumbáwa. 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--Skaptàr Yökul--Terrible Eruption in 1783--Rise +and Disappearance of Nyoë--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 Skaptàr Yökul, 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 Skaptàr Yökul, 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 "Nyoë," 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, Nyoë 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 Υης, +which was applied to him as being the god of rains and dews--the +wet divinity. Thus Hercules was Υησουυιος, 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 Stabiæ, 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 Stabiæ! 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 Stabiæ, 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 +Baiæ, on the opposite shore of the Bay of Naples. The whole of +this neighbourhood is a volcanic country, and was anciently named +the Phlegræan 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 Baiæ 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 Baiæ, 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 Æneid, +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. Fouqué, 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 Στρογγυλη 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 Prévost) 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--Pelée---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 Cortés. 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. Cortés 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 Pelée, 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 +Sumbáwa--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 +Sumbáwa, 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 Sumbáwa 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 Côme, 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 Dôme, 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 Phlegræan 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 + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WONDERS OF CREATION *** + +This file should be named wndnt10u.txt or wndnt10u.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, wndnt11u.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wndnt10au.txt + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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