376 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the volcano. The darkness was so intense that the crews believed 

 the last day had come, and the vessels were endangered by the 

 heavy shower of stones, ashes, and earth which fell upon them 

 and which the men hastened to throw overboard. The ships' lan- 

 terns were lighted as at night. The volcano could be seen, at a 

 considerable distance, throwing up columns of flame which, on 

 descending, set the neighboring woods on fire. The darkness cov- 

 ered the greater part of Mindanao, which is a very large island, 

 and the ashes were carried to Cebu, Panay, and other islands, and 

 there was an especially heavy fall on the island of Jolo (Sulu), 

 which is more than forty leagues west by south from the south- 

 east point of Mindanao, where the volcano burst out. On this 

 island, on account of the darkness and the general uproar, the 

 source of the ashes which fell there was not known at the time, 

 but when it became light enough to see it was found that at the 

 same time with the eruption on Mindanao a second volcano had 

 burst out upon a small island which lies off the mouth of the prin- 

 cipal river of Sulu. There the earth had opened with a violent 

 commotion, and had vomited out flames mingled with trees and 

 huge stones. So great was the disturbance that the sea bottom 

 was mingled with the interior of the earth, and the volcano threw 

 out quantities of shells and other things that grow upon the bot- 

 tom of the sea. The mouth of this volcano remained open after- 

 ward. It was very broad, and the eruption had burned up every- 

 thing upon the island. But what excited the greatest amazement 

 was that a third volcano broke out on the same day and hour with 

 the two just mentioned, in the province of Ilocos, in Luzon, and 

 at least six hundred miles north; and this volcano ejected water. 

 The outbreak was preceded by a violent storm and earthquake. 

 The earth swallowed up three mountains, on the sides of one of 

 which were three villages. All three mountains were torn from 

 their foundations and blown into the air, together with a vast 

 amount of water, and the chasm which took their place formed a 

 broad lake, that showed no trace of the mountains which had 

 stood on the spot. The letter from which the foregoing account 

 is taken goes on to say that the noise of this outbreak, which oc- 

 curred between 9 and 10 a. m., was heard not only in Manila 

 but in all the Philippine Islands and the Moluccas. It even 

 reached the mainland of Asia in the kingdoms of Cochin China, 

 Champa, and Cambodia, as was learned from priests and others 

 who came to Manila from those countries afterward. The noise 

 sounded like heavy artillery and musketry fire at two or three 

 leagues' distance. In Manila it was supposed that the firing was 

 going on in Cavite, while at Cavite it was referred to Manila, 



