228 THE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA IN 1883 



strait. The cones within the ring were formed by the quiet eruptions 

 that filled up the crater. The largest cone to the southwest is the peak 

 of Rakata. During the late eruption almost all of the island Krakatoa, 

 north of the line drawn through this peak, was removed. The increase 

 of size of Verlaten Island is indicated by the line surrounding it. Lang 

 Island was also slightly added to at the north. 



Figure 2 is a section through the length ofj the island of Krakatoa 

 and shows its geological position. A thin bed of postertiary age (a) 

 rests on the tertiary rocks below, and above it stood the old volcano, 

 whose supposed form is indicated by the broken line. The lateral 

 cone of Rakata is well shown, and also the position of the two small 

 cones — Danan and Perboewatan. 



After the eruption of Perboewatan in 1680, for nearly two centuries 

 Krakatoa remained scarcely noticed amid the grander peaks that sur- 

 rounded it. But during this time the unseen forces below had been 

 gathering strength, as if to resent this seeming neglect, and the first 

 intimations of what followed were given by earthquakes, of frequent 

 occurrence, that were felt as far distant as North Australia. 



On May 20, 1883, "sounds like the firing of artillery were heard 

 at Batavia and Buitenzorg in Java, nearly 100 English miles from Kra- 

 katoa." On the twenty-sixth of the same month aparty was organized 

 at Batavia and proceeded in a steam launch to the island. It was then 

 seen that the cone of Perboewatan was again in activity. The party 

 succeeded in taking a photograph of the volcano and returned to 

 Batavia. The accounts of the subsequent disturbances are rather 

 indefinite. According to Professor Judd, " the eruption from Perboe- 

 watan seems to have had sufficient force to carry the volcanic dust to 

 various points along the shores of Java and Sumatra. After this 

 sudden outburst there was a rapid and marked decline in violence, and 

 then a gradual increase till June 24, when a second crater had opened 

 in the center of the island. The eruptive force still increasing, a third 

 crater made its appearance, and innumerable smaller vents were 

 originated all over the surface of the filled-up crater of the great vol- 

 cano. From this time the activity seemed constantly to increase till 

 its grand culmination on the 27th of August." 



On that afternoon and through the succeeding night the forces 

 Krakatoa had so long imprisoned broke loose with a violence un- 

 equaled in the records of volcanic activity, and caused the scientific 



