Part 14

“About ten o’clock the heavy stones ceased to fall, and a rain of thick sand succeeded. At half past one the noise of the volcano began to diminish, and the horizon to clear a little; and at two it became quite tranquil; and we now began to perceive the dreadful ravages which the darkness had hitherto concealed from us. The ground was covered with dead bodies, part of whom had been killed by the stones, and the others consumed by the fire. Two hundred perished in the church of Budiao, and thirty-five in a single house in that village. The joy the living felt at having preserved themselves, was in many converted into the extremity of sorrow at finding themselves deprived of their relations and friends. Fathers found their children dead, husbands their wives, and wives their husbands, in the village of Budiao, where there were very few who had not lost some of their nearest connections. In other places we found many persons extended upon the ground, wounded or bruised in a thousand ways. Some with their legs broken, some without arms, some with their skulls fractured, and others covered with wounds. Many died immediately, others on the following days, and the rest were abandoned to the most melancholy fate, without physicians, without medicines, and in want even of necessary food.

“Five populous towns were entirely destroyed by the eruption; more than twelve hundred of the inhabitants perished amidst the ruins; and twenty thousand who survived the awful catastrophe, were stripped of their possessions and reduced to beggary.

“The subsequent appearance of the volcanic mountain was most melancholy and terrific. Its side, formerly so well cultivated, and which afforded a prospect the most picturesque, is now become a barren sand. The stones, sand and ashes, which cover it, in some places exceed the depth of ten and twelve yards; and on the ground where lately stood the village of Budiao, there are spots in which the cocoa-trees are almost covered. In the ruined villages, and through the whole extent of the eruption, the ground remains buried in the sand to the depth of half a yard, and scarcely a single tree is left alive. The crater of the volcano has lowered more than one hundred and twenty feet; and the south side discovers a spacious and horrid mouth, which is frightful to the view. Three new ones have opened at a considerable distance from the principal crater, through which also smoke and ashes are incessantly emitted. In short, the most beautiful villages of Camarines, and the principal part of that fine province, are deeply covered with barren sand.”

ISLANDS WHICH HAVE RISEN FROM THE SEA.

Besides the convulsions of nature displayed in volcanoes, the most remarkable particulars of which we have given in our history of mountains, other operations are carried on below the fathomless depths of the sea, the nature of which can only be conjectured by the effects produced. Nor is it more astonishing that inflammable substances should be found beneath the bottom of the sea, than at similar depths on land, and that there also the impetuous force of fire should cause the imprisoned air and elastic gases to expand, and, by its mighty force, should drive the earth at the bottom of the sea above its surface. These marine volcanoes are perhaps more frequent, though they do not so often come within the reach of human observation, as those on land; and stupendous must be the operations carried on, when matter is thrown up to an extent which the ingenuity of man does not enable him to reach by fathoming.

Many instances have occurred, as well in ancient as in modern times, of islands having been formed in the midst of the sea; and their sudden appearance has constantly been preceded by violent agitations of the surrounding waters, accompanied by dreadful noises, and in some instances by fiery eruptions from the newly formed isles, which are composed of various substances, frequently intermixed with a considerable quantity of volcanic lava. Such islands remain for ages barren, but in a long course of time become abundantly fruitful. It is a matter of curious inquiry, whether springs are found on such newly created spots, when the convulsions which gave them birth have subsided; but on this point it would seem that we are not possessed of any certain information, as it does not appear that they have been visited by any naturalist with the express view of recording their properties.

Among the writers of antiquity who have transmitted accounts of islands which have thus started up to the view of the astonished spectator, Seneca asserts that, in his time, the island of Therasea, in the Egean sea, was seen to rise in this manner by several mariners, who were sailing near the point of its ascent. Pliny’s relation is still more extraordinary; for he says that in the Mediterranean, thirteen islands emerged at once from the sea, the cause of which he ascribes rather to the retiring of the waters, than to any subterraneous operation of nature: but he speaks at the same time of the island of Hiera, in the vicinity of Therasea, as having been formed by subterraneous explosions, and enumerates several others said to have been derived from a similar origin, in one of which he says, a great abundance of fishes were found, of which, however, all who ate, perished soon afterward.

It is to the Grecian archipelago, and the Azores, or Western isles, that we are to look for the grandest and most surprising instances of this phenomenon. We will select an example from each of these groups of islands, beginning with the latter.

In December, 1720, a violent earthquake was felt on the island of Tercera, one of the Azores. And on the following morning, a new island, which had sprung up in the night, made its appearance, and a huge column of smoke was seen rising from it. The pilot of a ship which attempted to approach it, sounded on one of these newly formed islands, with a line of sixty fathoms, but could not find a bottom. On the opposite side, the sea was deeply tinged with various colors, white, blue and green; and was very shallow. This island was larger on its first appearance than at some distance of time afterward; it at length sunk beneath the level of the sea, and is now no longer visible.

What can be more surprising than to see fire, not only force its way out of the bowels of the earth, but likewise make for itself a passage through the waters of the sea! What can be more extraordinary, or foreign to our common notions of things, than to observe the bottom of the sea rise up in a mountain above its surface, and become so firm an island as to be able to resist the violence of the greatest storms! We know that subterraneous fires, when pent up in a narrow passage, are able to elevate a mass of earth as large as an island; but that this should be done in so regular and precise a manner, that the water of the sea should not be able to penetrate and extinguish those fires; and that, after they should have exhausted themselves, the mass of earth should not fall down, or sink again with its own weight, but still remain in a manner suspended over the great arch below; this seems more surprising than any of the facts which have been related of Mount Etna, Vesuvius, or any other volcano.

In the first part of the Transactions of the Royal Society for the year 1812, Captain Tillard, of the British navy, has published a very interesting narrative of a similar phenomenon, which occurred in the same sea near the Azores. We give this narrative in his own words.

“Approaching the island of St. Michael’s, on Sunday, the twelfth of June, 1811, in his majesty’s sloop Sabrina, under my command, we occasionally observed, rising in the horizon, two or three columns of smoke, such as would have been occasioned by an action between two ships, to which cause we universally attributed its origin. This opinion was, however, in a very short time changed, from the smoke increasing and ascending in much larger bodies than could possibly have been produced by such an event; and having heard an account, prior to our sailing from Lisbon, that in the preceding January or February, a volcano had burst out within the sea near St. Michael’s, we immediately concluded that the smoke we saw proceeded from that cause, and, on our anchoring the next morning in the road of Ponta del Gada, we found this conjecture correct as to the cause, but not as to the time; the eruption of January having totally subsided, and the present one having only burst forth two days prior to our approach, and about three miles distant from the one before alluded to.

“Desirous of examining as minutely as possible a contention so extraordinary between two such powerful elements, I set off from the city of Ponta del Gada on the morning of the fourteenth, in company with Mr. Read, the consul-general of the Azores, and two other gentlemen. After riding about twenty miles across the north-west end of the island of St. Michael’s, we came to the edge of the cliff, whence the volcano burst suddenly upon our view in the most terrific and awful grandeur. [See cut, page 122.] It was only a short mile from the base of the cliff, which was nearly perpendicular, and formed the margin of the sea; this cliff being, as nearly as I could judge, from three to four hundred feet high. To give you an adequate idea of the scene by description, is far beyond my powers; but for your satisfaction, I shall attempt it.

[Illustration: ST. MICHAEL’S VOLCANO.]

“Imagine an immense body of smoke rising from the sea, the surface of which was marked by the slippery rippling of the waves, occasioned by the light and steady breezes incidental to these climates in summer. In a quiescent state, it had the appearance of a circular cloud revolving on the water like a horizontal wheel, in various and irregular involutions, expanding itself gradually on the lee side, when suddenly a column of the blackest cinders, ashes and stones would shoot up in the form of a spire, at an angle of from ten to twenty degrees from a perpendicular line, the angle of inclination being universally to windward; this was rapidly succeeded by a second, third and fourth shower, each acquiring greater velocity, and overtopping the other till they had attained an altitude as much above the level of our eye, as the sea was below it.

“As the impetus with which the columns were severally propelled diminished, and their ascending motion had nearly ceased, they broke into various branches resembling a group of pines; these again forming themselves into festoons of white feathery smoke, in the most fanciful manner imaginable, intermixed with the finest particles of falling ashes, which at one time assumed the appearance of innumerable plumes of black and white ostrich feathers, surmounting each other, and another, that of the light wavy branches of a weeping-willow.

“During these bursts, the most vivid flashes of lightning continually issued from the densest part of the volcano; and the cloud of smoke, now ascending to an altitude much above the highest point to which the ashes were projected, rolled off in large masses of fleecy clouds, gradually expanding themselves before the wind in a direction nearly horizontal, and drawing up to them a quantity of water-spouts, which formed a most beautiful and striking addition to the general appearance of the scene.

“That part of the sea where the volcano was situated, was upward of thirty fathoms deep, and at the time of our viewing it the volcano was only four days old. Soon after our arrival on the cliff, a peasant observed he could discern a peak above the water: we looked but could not see it; however, in less than half an hour it was plainly visible, and before we quitted the place, which was about three hours from the time of our arrival, a complete crater was formed above the water, not less than twenty feet high on the side where the greatest quantity of ashes fell; the diameter of the crater being apparently about four or five hundred feet.

“The great eruptions were generally attended with a noise like the continued firing of cannon and musketry intermixed, as also with slight shocks of earthquakes; several of which having been felt by my companions, but none by myself, I had become half skeptical, and thought their opinion arose merely from the force of imagination; but while we were sitting within five or six yards of the edge of the cliff, partaking of a slight repast which had been brought with us, and were all busily engaged, one of the most magnificent bursts took place which we had yet witnessed, accompanied by a very severe shock of an earthquake. The instantaneous and involuntary movement of each was to spring upon his feet; and I said, ‘This admits of no doubt.’ The words had scarcely passed my lips, before we observed a large portion of the face of the cliff, about fifty yards on our left, falling, which it did with a violent crash. So soon as our first consternation had a little subsided, we removed about ten or a dozen yards further from the edge of the cliff, and finished our dinner.

“On the succeeding day, June fifteenth, having the consul and some other friends on board, I weighed, and proceeded with the ship toward the volcano, with the intention of witnessing a night view; but in this expectation we were greatly disappointed, from the wind freshening, and the weather becoming thick and hazy, and also from the volcano itself being more quiescent than it was the preceding day. It seldom emitted any lightning, but occasionally as much flame as may be seen to issue from the top of a glass-house or foundry chimney. On passing directly under the great cloud of smoke, about three or four miles distant from the volcano, the decks of the ship were covered with fine black ashes, which fell intermixed with small rain. We returned the next morning, and late on the evening of the same day I took leave of St. Michael’s, to complete my cruise.

“On the opening of the volcano clear of the north-west part of the island, after dark on the sixteenth, we witnessed one or two eruptions that, had the ship been near enough, would have been awfully grand. It appeared one continued blaze of lightning; but its distance from the ship, upward of twenty miles, prevented our seeing it with effect. Returning again toward St. Michael’s, on the fourth of July, I was obliged, by the state of the wind, to pass with the ship very close to the island, which was now completely formed by the volcano, being nearly the hight of Matlock High Tor, about eighty yards above the sea. At this time it was perfectly tranquil; which circumstance determined me to land, and explore it more narrowly. I left the ship in one of the boats, accompanied by some of the officers. As we approached we perceived that it was still smoking in many parts, and, upon our reaching the island, found the surf on the beach very high. Rowing round to the lee-side, with some little difficulty, by the aid of an oar as a pole, I jumped on shore, and was followed by the other officers. We found a narrow beach of black ashes, from which the side of the island rose in general too steep to admit of our ascending; and where we could have clambered up, the mass of matter was much too hot to allow our proceeding more than a few yards in the ascent.

“The declivity below the surface of the sea was equally steep, having seven fathoms of water at scarcely the boat’s length from the shore, and at the distance of twenty or thirty yards we sounded twenty-five fathoms. From walking round it in about twelve minutes, I should judge that it was something less than a mile in circumference; but the most extraordinary part was the crater, the mouth of which, on the side facing St. Michael’s, was nearly level with the sea. It was filled with water, at that time boiling, and was emptying itself into the sea by a small stream about six yards over, and by which I should suppose it was continually filled again at high water. This stream, close to the edge of the sea, was so hot, as only to admit the finger to be dipped suddenly in, and taken out again immediately.

“It appeared evident, by the formation of this part of the island, that the sea had, during the eruptions, broken into the crater in two places, as the east side of the small stream was bounded by a precipice; a cliff between twenty and thirty feet high, forming a peninsula of about the same dimension in width, and from fifty to sixty feet long, connected with the other part of the island by a narrow ridge of cinders and lava, as an isthmus, of from forty to fifty feet in length, from which the crater rose in the form of an amphitheater.

“This cliff, at two or three miles’ distance from the island, had the appearance of a work of art, resembling a small fort or block-house. The top of this we were determined, if possible, to attain; but the difficulty we had to encounter in doing so, was considerable: the only way to attempt it was up the side of the isthmus, which was so steep that the only mode by which we could effect it, was by fixing the end of an oar at the base, with the assistance of which we forced ourselves up in nearly a backward direction.

[Illustration: SABRINA ISLAND.]

“Having reached the summit of the isthmus, we found another difficulty: for it was impossible to walk upon it, as the descent on the other side was immediate, and as steep as the one we had ascended; but by throwing our legs across it, as would be done on the ridge of a house, and moving ourselves forward by our hands, we at length reached that part of it where it gradually widened itself, and formed the summit of the cliff, which we found to have a perfectly flat surface, of the dimensions before stated. Judging this to be the most conspicuous situation, we here planted the union, and left a bottle sealed up, containing a short account of the origin of the island, and of our having landed upon it, and naming it Sabrina island.

“Within the crater I found the complete skeleton of a guard-fish, the bones of which, being perfectly burnt, fell to pieces upon attempting to take them up; and, by the account of the inhabitants on the coast of St. Michael’s, great numbers of fish had been destroyed during the early part of the eruption, as large quantities, probably suffocated or poisoned, were occasionally found drifted into the small inlets or bays. The island, like other volcanic productions, is composed principally of porous substances, generally burnt to complete cinders, with occasional masses of a stone, which I should suppose to be a mixture of iron and limestone.”

Sabrina island has gradually disappeared, since the month of October, 1811, leaving an extensive shoal. Smoke was discovered still issuing out of the sea in the month of February, 1812, near the spot where this wonderful phenomenon appeared.

Having thus spoken of the Azores, we now pass to some similar phenomena in the Grecian archipelago. Before entering, however, on the details which are here furnished on this curious and most interesting subject, it may not be improper to observe, that the island of Acroteri, of great celebrity in ancient history, appears to have its surface composed of pumice-stone, incrusted by a surface of fertile earth; and that it is represented by the ancients as having risen, during a violent earthquake, from the sea. Four neighboring islands are described as having a similar origin, notwithstanding the sea is in that part of the archipelago of such a depth as to be unfathomable by any sounding line. These arose at different times: the first long before the commencement of the Christian era; the second in the first century; the third in the eighth; and the fourth in 1573.

We now proceed to a phenomenon of a similar nature, belonging to the same cluster of islands, which being of a more recent date, we are enabled to enter into all its particulars. They are such as can not fail to interest and surprise.

On the twenty-second of May, 1707, a severe earthquake was felt at Stanchio, an island of the archipelago; and on the ensuing morning a party of seamen, discovering not far off what they believed to be a wreck, rapidly rowed toward it; but finding rocks and earth instead of the remains of a ship, hastened back, and spread the news of what they had seen, in Santorini, another of these islands. However great the apprehensions of the inhabitants were at the first sight, their surprise soon abated, and in a few days, seeing no appearance of fire or smoke, some of them ventured to land on the new island. Their curiosity led them from rock to rock, where they found a kind of white stone, which yielded to the knife like bread, and nearly resembled that substance in color and consistence. They also found many oysters sticking to the rocks: but while they were employed in collecting them, the island moved and shook under their feet, on which they ran with precipitation to their boats. Amid these motions and tremblings the island increased, not only in hight, but in length and breadth: still occasionally, while it was raised and extended on the one side, it sunk and diminished on the other. One person observed a rock to rise out of the sea, forty or fifty paces from the island, which, having been thus visible for four days, sunk, and appeared no more: several others appeared and disappeared alternately, till at length they remained fixed and unmoved. In the mean time the color of the surrounding sea was changed: at first it was of a light green, then reddish, and afterward of a pale yellow, accompanied by a noisome stench, which spread itself over a part of the island of Santorini.

On the sixteenth of July, smoke first appeared, not indeed on the island, but issuing from a ridge of black stones which suddenly rose about sixty paces from it, where the depth of the sea was unfathomable. Thus there were two separate islands, one called the White, and the other the Black island, from the different appearances they exhibited. This thick smoke was of a whitish color, like that of a lime-kiln, and was carried by the wind to Santorini, where it penetrated the houses of the inhabitants.