Eruption of the Volcano ofJoruMo. 51 



ter on the 19th September 1803. The great catastrophe in 

 which this mountain rose from the earth, and by which a con- 

 siderable extent of ground totally changed its appearance, is, 

 perhaps, one of the most extraordinary physical revolutions in 

 the annals of the history of our planet. Geology gives us no 

 example of the formation, from the centre of a thousand 

 small burning cones, of a mountain of scoria and ashes 517 

 metres (1695 feet) in height, comparing it only with the level 

 of the old adjoining plains in the interior of a continent, 36 

 leagues distant from the coast, and more than 42 leagues 

 from every other active volcano. 



A vast plain extends from the hills of Aguasarco to near 

 the villages of Teipa and Petatlan, both equally celebrated 

 for their fine plantations of cotton. This plain, between the 

 Picachos del Mortero, the Cerros de las Cuevas, y de Cuiche, 

 is only from 750 to 800 metres (from 2460 to 2624 feet) 

 above the level of the sea. In the middle of a tract of ground 

 in which porphyry, with a base of greenstone predominates, 

 basaltic cones appear, the summits of which are crowned with 

 evergreen oaks of a laurel and olive foliage, intermingled with 

 small palm trees with flabelliform leaves. This beautiful ve- 

 getation forms a singular contrast with the aridity of the plain, 

 which was laid waste by volcanic fire. 



Till the middle of the 18th century, fields cultivated with 

 sugar-cane and indigo occupied the extent of ground between 

 the two brooks called Cuitamba and San Pedro. They were 

 bounded by basaltic mountains, of which the structure seems 

 to indicate that all this country, at a very remote period, had 

 been already several times convulsed by volcanoes. These 

 fields, watered by artificial means, belonged to the plantation 

 (hacienda) of San Pedro de Jorullo, one of the greatest and 

 richest of the country. In the month of June 1759, a sub- 

 terraneous noise was heard. Hollow noises of a most alarming 

 nature (bramidos,) were accompanied by frequent earth- 

 quakes, which succeeded one another for from 50 to 60 days, 

 to the great consternation of the inhabitants of the hacienda. 

 From the beginning of September every thing seemed to an- 

 nounce the complete re-establishment of tranquillity, when, in 

 the night between the 28th and 29th, the horrible subterranc- 



