370 On the Nezo Insular Volcano, named Hotham Island. 



of the steam reached the boat; it smelt a little of sulphur, and 

 the mud it left became a gritty sparkling dark brown powder 

 when dry. None of the stones or cinders thrown out appeared 

 more than half a foot in diameter, and most of them much 

 smaller. 



" From the time when the volcano was first seen till after I 

 left it, the barometer did not fall or rise; ihesympiesometcr ua- 

 derwent frequent but not important changes ; and the tempera- 

 ture of the sea did not bespeak any unusual influence. 



" After sunset, on the 18th, soundings were tried for every 

 hour, to the average depth of 80 fathoms ; no bottom. The 

 wind was NW., the weather was serene. 



" On the forenoon of the 19th, with the centre of the volcano 

 bearing by the compass S. by W. i W. one mile distant, good 

 sights, for the chronometer gave longitude 12° 41' E. ; and at 

 noon on the same day, when it bore W. by N. I N. by com- 

 pass, the meridian altitude of the sun gave the latitude 37° T 30'' 

 N. ; an amplitude of the sun the same morning gave the varia- 

 tion of IJ point westerly. It is xcorthy of remark, that on the 

 ^Sth of June last, at d^ 30" p. m. when passing- near the same 

 spot in companij rcith the Britannia, several shocks of an earth- 

 quake were felt in both ships. I have the honour to be, &c. 

 " C. H. Swinburne, Commander.'''' 



In a letter to Professor Daubeny of Oxford, from Captain 

 Ballingal of the Royal Marines, dated " H. M. S. St Vincent, 

 Malta, 27th July 1823," which the Professor had the goodness 

 to send to us, is the following account of the volcano : 



" The situation of the volcano is = Lat. 37° 10' N., Long. 12° 

 44' E. ; the crater of which above water is about 70 or 80 yards 

 in external diameter, and about 20 feet in height from the sur- 

 face of the sea, lying between the Island of Pantalleria and Cape 

 Granitula, on the south-west coast of Sicily. The eruption is 

 in a state of great activity. Large columns of fire, dust, and 

 dense smoke, are constantly emitted, accompanied every hour 

 and a half with an eruption of great velocity, throwing masses 

 of stone of several tons weight, with cinders and jets of mud and 

 water, to a height equal to the mast-head of a first rate man-of- 

 war. Prospero Schiffino, the master of the Santa Ai'ona, a 



