1 823.] Volcanic Island of Milo, 275 



In the month of June, 1810, we landed at Milo, and proceeded 

 to the Old Town, which is quite ruinous, although a few inha- 

 bitants still occupy some of the houses. The ancient walls bear 

 the marks of great waste and decay. Four miles from this is the 

 New Town, situated upon one of the most elevated parts of the 

 island. The incursions of the Algerines, and the plague, 

 induced these few hundred people to neglect their former low 

 situation (the old city) for this elevated one. On the foot, and 

 at the side next the sea, of the hill upon which the present town 

 stands, are many very interesting remains of a most remote 

 period. We could distinctly trace the extent of a large amphi- 

 theatre, and many beautiful marble columns are seen amongst the 

 ruins. Walls of immense thickness; — and the cement by which 

 these stones are held together, appears to brave the waste of time 

 better than the hard stone itself. The highest point of Milo, or 

 Mount St. EHas, is about 800 feet above the sea, and it is of a 

 conical shape ; this summit was formerly a place of observation 

 for pilots, but now for pirates, who infest the Archipelago. On 

 the north side of the island, and half a mile from it, are some 

 curious basaltic rocks, which do not appear to contain zeolite; 

 but there are no columns on Milo itself. Upon ascending from 

 the harbour to the town, we pass over hills and rocks of lava, in 

 which opal is found, with pumice stone, and sulphur, and beds 

 of limestone which have been burnt, and still retain many per- 

 fect shells, which soon absorb moisture, and fall to pieces in the 

 hand. In one part of a rock of red sandstone, at about the 

 middle of the entrance into the port, are some singular Catacombs 

 in the perpendicular rock, some of them capable of containing 

 four, six, or eight bodies, and they are seen in the side of the 

 cliff ten or twenty feet below the level of the water. This is a 

 strong proof that the harbour was the crater of a volcano, as 

 here there is.no tide, and these tombs must have been formed 

 before the grand eruption which gave' access to the sea. The 

 situation of these sepulchres is marked upon the chart. It 

 occurred to me on seeing in the map (which was partly copied 

 from an Admiralty book), that 40 fathoms was the greatest 

 depth in this large basin, that there might be a part infinitely deeper 

 which had been the real furnace of the volcano. I was at great 

 pains in sounding, but could no where find it lo be deeper, except 

 at the entrance. On the west and south sides of the harbour are 

 innumerable hot sulphureous springs, some of them being 125° 

 of Fahr. but most of them rise out of the sand, in the sea a few 

 yards from the shore ; they are so numerous that every wave, 

 although it blows fresh, is very warm to the hand. Along with 

 the water, a great quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen gas is 

 emitted. The ruins of ancient baths still exist here, and near 

 them a part of an inscription, with the name Diagoras. Now if 

 the eruption had taken place since the time of that philosopher 



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