most violent fits of it, than by imagining a mixed | In the island of Ternate there is a volcano which,
sound made up of the raging of a tempest, the
murmur of a troubled sea, and the roaring of
thunder and artillery, confused all together.
Though we heard this at a distance of twelve
miles, yet it was very terrible. I therefore
resolved to approach nearer to the mountain;
and, accordingly, three or four of us got into a
boat, and were set ashore at a little town situated
at the foot of the mountain. From thence we
rode about four or five miles, before we came
to the torrent of fire that was descending from
the side of the volcano; and here the roaring |
grew exceedingly loud and terrible as we ap-
proached. I observed a mixture of colours in
the cloud, above the crater, green, yellow, red,
and blue. There was likewise a ruddy dismal
light in the air, over that tract where the burn-
ing river flowed. These circumstances, set off
and augmented by the horror of the night, made
a scene the most uncommon and astonishing I
ever saw; which still increased as we approached
the burning river. Imagine a vast torrent of
liquid fire, rolling from the top down the side of
the mountain, and with irresistible fury bearing
down and consuming vines, olives, and houses;
and divided into different channels, according to
the inequalities of the mountain. The largest
stream seemed half a mile broad at least, and
five miles long. I walked so far before my com-
panions up the mountain, along the side of the
river of fire, that I was obliged to retire in great
haste, the sulphureous steam having surprised
me, and almost taken away my breath. During
our return, which was about three o'clock in the
morning, the roaring of the mountain was heard
all the way, while we observed it throwing up
huge spouts of fire and burning stones, which,
falling, resembled the stars in a rocket. Some-made in the summit of this immense mountain;
times I observed two or three distinct columns of
flame, and sometimes one only, that was large
enough to fill the whole crater. These burning
columns, and fiery stones, seemed to be shot a
thousand feet perpendicular above the summit of
the volcano; and in this manner the mountain
continued raging for six or eight days after.
On the 18th of the same month, the whole
appearance ended, and the mountain remained
perfectly quiet, without any visible smoke or
flame."

some travellers assert, burns most furiously in
the times of the equinoxes, because of the winds
which then contribute to increase the flames. In
the Molucco islands, there are many burning
mountains; they are also seen in Japan, and the
islands adjacent; and in Java and Sumatra, as
well as in other of the Philippine islands. In
Africa there is a cavern, near Fez, which contin-
ually sends forth either smoke or flames. In the
Cape de Verde islands, one of them, called the
Island del Fuego, continually burns; and the
Portuguese, who frequently attempted a settle-
ment there, have as often been obliged to desist.
The Peak of Teneriffe is, as everybody knows, a
volcano that seldom desists from eruptions. But
of all parts of the earth, America is the place
where those dreadful irregularities of nature are
the most conspicuous. Vesuvius, and Etna it- ||
self, are but mere fire-works in comparison to
the burning mountains of the Andes; which, as
they are the highest mountains of the world, so
also are they the most formidable for their erup-
tions. The mountain of Arequipa, in Peru, is
one of the most celebrated; Carassa and Mala-
hallo are very considerable; but that of Coto-
paxi, in the province of Quito, exceeds anything
we have hitherto read or heard of. The moun-
tain of Cotopaxi, as described by Ulloa, is more
than three miles perpendicular from the sea;
and it became a volcano at the time of the Span-
iards' first arrival in that country. A new erup-
| tion of it happened in the year 1743, having been
some days preceded by a continual roaring in its
bowels. The sound of one of these mountains is
not, like that of the volcanoes in Europe, con-
fined to a province, but is heard at a hundred
and fifty miles' distance.8 "An aperture was

The matter which is found to roll down from the mouth of all volcanoes, in general resembles the dross that is thrown from a smith's forge. | But it is different, perhaps, in various parts of the globe; for, as we have already said, there is not a quarter of the world that has not its volcanoes.

In Asia, particularly in the islands of the Indian ocean, there are many. One of the most famous is that of Albouras, near mount Taurus, the summit of which is continually on fire, and covers the whole adjacent country with ashes.

See Supplementary Note C, p. 96.

and three more about equal heights near the middle of its declivity, which was at that time buried under prodigious masses of snow. The ignited substances ejected on that occasion, mixed with a prodigious quantity of ice and snow, melting amidst the flames, were carried down with such astonishing rapidity, that in an in stant the valley from Callo to Latacunga was overflowed; and besides its ravages in bearing down the houses of the Indians, and other poor inhabitants, great numbers of people lost their lives. The river of Latacunga was the channel of this terrible flood; till being too small for receiving such a prodigious current, it overflowed the adjacent country, like a vast lake, near the town, and carried away all the buildings within its reach. The inhabitants retired into a spot of higher ground behind the town, of which those parts which stood within the limits of the current were totally destroyed. The dread of still greater devastations did not subside for three days; during which the volcano ejected cinders, 8 Ibid.

7 Ulloa, vol. i. p. 442.

while torrents of melted ice and snow poured | an extensive, and, if I may so call it, a superficial down its sides. The eruption lasted several days, | spread, for then the country round would be and was accompanied with terrible roarings of quickly undermined; it must, therefore, be supthe wind, rushing through the volcano, still plied from the deeper regions of the earth; louder than the former rumblings in its bowels. those undiscovered tracts where the Deity perAt last all was quiet, neither fire nor smoke to forms his wonders in solitude, satisfied with selfbe seen, nor noise to be heard; till in the ensu- approbation! ing year, the flames again appeared with recruited violence, forcing their passage through several other parts of the mountain, so that in clear nights the flames being reflected by the transparent ice, formed an awfully magnificent illumination."

NOTE A.-Volcanoes.

The

A great chain of ignivomous mountains stretches around the great ocean. Terra del Fuego, Chili, Peru, all the chain of the Andes, are full of volcanoes. We distinguish in Peru, those of Arequipa Such is the appearance and the effect of those flames in 1738 rose higher than 2,000 feet, and and of Pitchinca; and that of Cotopaxi, whose fires which proceed from the more inward rewhose explosion was heard at the distance of 120 cesses of the earth: for that they generally come leagues, if we may give credit to the Spaniards. from deeper regions than man has hitherto ex- Chimboraço, the highest mountain of the globe, is plored, I cannot avoid thinking, contrary to the an extinguished volcano; and there are a great many others. Humboldt has seen the smoke of Antisana opinion of Mr. Buffon, who supposes them rooted rise 18,000 feet. If we pass the isthmus of Panama, but a very little way below the bed of the moun- we find the volcanoes of Nicaragua and of Guatimala. tain. "We can never suppose," says this great Their number is infinite: there are some which are naturalist, "that these substances are ejected covered with perpetual snow, and which consequently from any great distance below, if we only con- Mexico, properly so called; namely, Orizaba, Popoare elevated to a great height. Then come those of sider the great force already required to fling cateipetl, 16,626 feet high; Jorullo, which first them up to such vast heights above the mouth broke out in 1759, and several others, all situate of the mountain; if we consider the substances under the 19th parallel of latitude. California contains five volcanoes, that are now burning. There thrown up, which we shall find upon inspection can be no doubt, according to the accounts of Cook, to be the same with those of the mountain below; la Perouse, and Malaspina, that there is a number of if we take into our consideration, that air is al- very considerable volcanoes on the north-west of ways necessary to keep up the flame; but most America. Mount Saint Elie is nearly 16,800 in of all, if we attend to one circumstance, which is, between those of Mexico and those in the Aleutian height; these volcanoes form the intermediate link that if these substances were exploded from a islands, and the peninsula of Alaschka. These last, vast depth below, the same force required to which are very numerous, both extinct and burning, shoot them up so high, would act against the serve to continue the chain towards Kamschatka, sides of the volcano, and tear the whole moun-eight; and the island of Formoso has several. where there are three of great violence. Japan has tain in pieces." To all this specious reasoning, volcanic belt now becomes immensely wide, and particular answers might easily be given; as, embraces the Philippine islands, the Marian or Lathat the length of the funnel increases the force drones, the Moluccas, Java, Sumatra, the isles of of the explosion; that the sides of the funnel are Queen Chariotte, the New Hebrides, and, in short, actually often burst with the great violence of all that vast archipelago which forms the fifth part of the globe. The other volcanic chains are far the flame; that air may be supposed at depths from being of so great extent. There is perhaps one at least as far as the perpendicular fissures de- in the Indian sea. The islands of Saint Paul and scend. But the best answer is a well known Amsterdam, the formidable volcano in the island of fact; namely, that the quantity of matter dis- Bourbon, and the jets of hot water in the island of Madagascar, are the only known links of this chain. charged from Etna alone is supposed, upon a The gulf of Arabia flows at the base of the volcanc moderate computation, to exceed twenty times of Gebel-Tar. The neighbourhood of the Dead sea, the original bulk of the mountain. The greatest and the whole chain of mountains which runs through part of Sicily seems covered with its eruptions. Syria, have been the theatre of volcanic eruptions. We be allowed to connect these two facts. may The inhabitants of Catanea have found, at the vast volcanic zone surrounds Greece, Italy, Germany, distance of several miles, streets and houses sixty and France. The celebrated revolutions of the feet deep, overwhelmed by the lava or matter it Grecian archipelago, and those new islands produced has discharged. But what is more remarkable, by sub-marine explosions, are well known. the walls of these very houses have been built of summits of Mount Etna are next descried; this mountain has burnt for 3,300 years, and it is sur materials evidently thrown up by the mountain. rounded by extinguished volcanoes which appear The inference from all this is very obvious; that much more ancient. The islands of Lipari seem to the matter thus exploded cannot belong to the owe their origin to the volcanoes which they conmountain itself, otherwise it would have been tain. Vesuvius has not always been the only ignivomous mountain in the kingdom of Naples; another quickly consumed; it cannot be derived from still larger, but extinguished, has been discovered moderate depths, since its amazing quantity near Rocca Fina. The Solfatara is ranked under evinces, that all the places near the bottom must the same class. The Ponce islands, or islands of have long since been exhausted; nor can it have Ponza, are of volcanic origin; the catacombs of Rome are excavations from the lava. Tuscany abounds in hot and sulphureous springs, and other indications of volcanoes. Arduini observed in the

Kircher, Mund. Subt. vol. i. p. 202.

A

The

cave and the bath are situated on the borders of a small lake, (Lago d'Agnano,) which from its circular form, great depth, (500 feet,) and the volcanie nature of the surrounding country, is supposed to be an ancient crater. A mile from the lake is the famous Solfatara, a volcano not long since in action, abounding in sulphur, alum, and other volcanic productions. Near by is a rivulet of boiling water. Not far distant is the crater of another extinct volcano, (Astroni,) four miles in circumference; and just north of the bay of Baia is another hot spring. with a volcanic soil; fifteen miles is Ischia, whose extinct volcano, currents of lava, (once the destruction of its town,) and hot springs, are sufficient to prove its volcanic origin. South of these, the plain of Sorrento bears evidence of a former volcano. Thus, Vesuvius is nearly surrounded with volcanoes, now apparently extinct, but whose fires, as is proved by the hot springs and vapour baths, yet burn. A mountain which has ejected such immense quantities of lava as has Vesuvius, must necessarily have a great extent of volcanic fires. If, as says Bracciniand from experiment the descent to the internal plain in 1631 was by a rapid declivity of three miles, and consequently its situation far below the level of the sea, what limits ought to be assigned to the fires, which, as they were then latent, must have been far below the plain he reached? It will not therefore require much credulity to believe a radius of six or eight miles necessary to include the fires of Veŝuvius, even supposing that there are no others in the neighbourhood. But others do exist, and judging of their probable limits by the size of the old crater, is there not reason to believe that they also extend six or eight miles, and thus meet those of Vesuvius; or rather, that there is but one great source, or furnace, of which Vesuvius is the present spiracle!"-Communicated from J. D. Dana to Professor Silliman, July 12th, 1834.

environs of Padua, Verona, and Vicenza, a great number of extinguished volcanoes. Dalmatia has several. It was long suspected that a district in Hungary nourished subterraneous fires in its bosom; the eruption of a volcano has recently evinced the truth of the conjecture. Germany contains a great number of extinguished volcanoes; the best known of which are those of Kamberg in Bohemia, Transberg near Gottingen, and those near Bonn and Andernach, upon the borders of the Rhine. The southern part of France is full of extinguished volcanoes, amongst which Mount Cantal, the Puy-de-Nine miles west of Naples is the island of Procida, Dome, and Mount d'Or in Auvergne, are the most conspicuous. The western is not like the Great Ocean, encircled by a chain of ignivomous mountains, but it contains in its bosom several groupes. If the principality of Wales, the island of Staffa, and some parts of Scotland and Ireland, exhibit only equivocal proofs of the existence of extinguished volcanoes, Iceland presents to our view its Hecla, its Kotlouguia, and several other volcanoes, which rise from the midst of perpetual snow. This volcanic focus is one of the most active in the globe; the very bottom of the ocean is, in these regions, agitated, and the waves often heave up whole fields of pumicestone, or with convulsive throes give birth to permanently new islands. Several circumstances lead us to suppose, that there are some volcanoes in the interior of Greenland. That frozen country experiences the shocks of earthquakes. The middle of the Atlantic ocean conceals another volcanic focus, of which the Azores and Canary islands have felt the effects. The Peak of Teneriffe, which is 11,400 feet, is the most elevated volcano in the old world. It is very probable that Lisbon has in its vicinity a submarine volcano. The Antilles probably contain a whole system of volcanoes, parts of which are recognised in Jamaica, Guadaloupe, and Grenada. We may also mention some volcanoes, which are detached, or which belong to groupes little known. Such are Mount Elburtz in Persia, the extinguished volcanoes of Daourie, discovered by Patrin; perhaps some volcanoes to the north of China. That which is seen in Fuego, one of the Cape Verde islands, and those which the Portuguese authors point out in Guinea, Congo, and Monomotapa.

NOTE B.-Vesuvius.

"While contemplating Vesuvius, it is natural to dwell upon the volcano, its nature, depth, and extent, and to inquire whether it is not connected with Stromboli and Etna, and whether this grand bed of fire does not extend throughout Italy, which every where bears evidence of former volcanoes and of present subterranean fires. However this may be, it appears that it may be said with considerable confidence, that at least fifteen or twenty miles on each side will not more than include this burning furnace. Twelve miles from Vesuvius, beyond Naples, are the vapour baths of San Germano. An old stone building covers a spot of earth, whence issues this heated vapour. There is but a slight smell of sulphur, but the heat throws one immediately into a profuse perspiration. The walls on the inside are covered with an incrustation of alum, from half to two inches thick. Here, then, is sufficient evidence of subterranean fires. A short distance from these baths is the Grotto del Cane, a small partly artificial cave, but twelve or fifteen feet deep and six high, in the side of a hill of Tufa. It is noted for the carbonic acid it contains. The smoke of a taper settling upon it, ran out of the entrance like a liquid; thus showing that there is an incessant fountain of the gas. I stepped in, and besides the increased pressure perceived also an increase of heat. This heat and the continual reproduction of the gas, seem sufficient to prove its igneous origin. This

NOTE C.- Volcano of Kirauea.

Various burning chasms and volcanoes are to be seen in the Sandwich Islands. Mr. Ellis, in his Missionary Tour, thus describes a great volcano in Hawaii or Owyhee, which he visited: "About two P. M. the crater of Kirauea suddenly burst upon our view. We expected to have seen a mountain with a broad base and rough indented sides, composed of loose slags or hardened streams of lava, and whose summit would have presented a rugged wall of scoria, forming the rim of a mighty caldron. But instead of this, we found ourselves on the edge of a steep precipice, with a vast plain before us, fifteen or sixteen miles in circumference, and sunk from 200 to 400 feet below its original level. The surface of this plain was uneven, and strewed over with large stones and volcanic rocks, and in the centre of it was the great crater, at the distance of a mile and a half from the precipice on which we were standing. Our guides led us round towards the north end of the ridge, in order to find a place by which we might descend to the plain below. We walked on to the north end of the ridge, where, the precipice being less steep, a descent to the plain below seemed practicable. It required, however, the greatest caution, as the stones and fragments of rock frequently gave way under our feet, and rolled down from above; but with all our care, we did not reach the bottom without several falls and slight bruises. The steep which we had descended was formed of volcanic matter, apparently a light red and gray kind of lava, vesicular, and lying in horizontal strata, varying in thickness from one to forty feet. In a small number of places the different strata of lava were also rent in perpendicular or oblique directions, from the top to the bottom, either by earthquakes, or other violent

only allow but just heat enough to produce the | tire the reader with a history of opinions instead most dreadful phenomena, and, backing their as- of facts, some have ascribed them to electricity, sertions with long calculations, give theory an and some to the same causes that produce thunair of demonstration. Mr. Amontons has been der. particularly sparing of the internal heat in this respect; and has shown, perhaps accurately enough, that a very moderate degree of heat may suffice to give the air amazing powers of expan-nal heat seems alone sufficient to account for sion.