22 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



[Ma r. 



by the laudable activity of tb.e 

 Stockport police, and partly by the 

 alertness of the military force ; 

 and were in the course of the day 

 dispatched under escort to the 

 New Bailey Prison at Manchester. 

 The persons apprehended might be 

 200 in number : one individual 

 was so severely woup.ded that his 

 Hfe is despaired of. Not more 

 than 500, out of the many thou- 

 sands assembled in the morning;, 

 penetrated so far as Macclesfield, 

 where a troop of the yeomanry liad 

 remained to provide against such a 

 contingency; and we have autho- 

 rity, on which we can rely, for 

 positively stating, that no more 

 than ^O persons proceeded from 

 Macclesfield into tlie adjoining 

 county of StaiTordshire. 



Notliing could be more wretched 

 and j)itiable than the appearance 

 of the few Avho reached this town ; 

 eome actually fainting from wea- 

 riness; and all of them without 

 baggage, oi- any apparent resource, 

 with which to proceed 20 miles 

 further towaids London. 



15. Bataina. — According to ac- 

 counts of three weeks' date received 

 from Banjoeuangie, the mountain 

 of Idjeng, about '24 leagues from 

 that place, has been burning since 

 the middle of January, and its 

 effects have spread alarm and dis- 

 tress among tlie inhabitants of tiie 



surrounding countrv. 



During the 



night of the '23d of January a vio- 

 lent explosion took place. Vast 

 columns of fire, smoke, and burn- 

 ing matter, then b^gan unceas- 

 ingly to ascend, accompanied with 

 noise like thunder or the tiring of 

 heavy artillery. From the moun- 

 tain all the way to Banjoewangie, 

 an iamiense quantity of ashes, 

 Stones, and sulphur, cover the sur- 



rounding country, destroying the 

 vegetation, and laying waste a 

 great number of rice-fields, the 

 crops on which were some in a 

 most promising state, and others 

 tpiite ripe. The explosions shook 

 the ground all the way to lian- 

 joewangie. The atmosphere vjss 

 so filled with ashes and the vapour 

 of sulphur, that respiiation was 

 extremely difficult, and for some 

 days there was scarcely any day- 

 light at Banjoewangie. Thegreater 

 ])art of the birds have died; and it 

 is said that the fish in the rivers 

 are also all dead. Large trees and 

 pieces of rock detached from the 

 mountain lolled down with a 

 dreadful noise, and destroyed cot- 

 tages, bridges, and every tiling 

 that stood in theiv way ; occa- 

 sioning also such inundations that 

 in some places the liver rose 14 

 feet above the usual height. The 

 roads are consecjuently covered 

 with water, and rendered im- 

 passable. The unfortunate inha- 

 bitants fled from all quarters to- 

 wards the coast and towards Ban- 

 joewangie. 



Accounts of a posterior date are 

 more tranquillizing. for some 

 days the people of Banjoewangie 

 had observed no more fire from 

 the mountain, but still saw an im- 

 mense quantity of smoke ascend- 

 ing, and the atmosphere continued 

 loaded with sulphurous vapovir 

 and fine ashes. The inundations 

 also continued, and fears are en- 

 tertained that a great scarcity must 

 follow. Many of the inhabitants 

 suifer from indisposition, occa- 

 sioned, it is thought, by drinking 

 the impure water, which is every 

 where filled with ashes. Severe 

 coughing is also a general com- 

 plaint, in consequence of the strong 



sul- 



