204 M. Arago on the [March, 



columns of smoke arose every three or four minutes to the height 

 of 4 or 5,000 feet. 



Islands near the Continent of Africa. 



No volcano, strictly so called, is with certainty known to exist 

 in Africa ; but the islands which geographers consider as the 

 dependancies of that continent, contain several volcanos. 



El Pico. — Island of El Pico, Azores. 



Peak of Teneriffe. — Island of Teneriffe. 



Fuego. — Island of Fuego, Archipelago of Cape Verd. 



Les Trois Salasses. — Isle of Bourbon. 



Zibbel-Teir. — Island of this name, Red Sea. 



Ascension Island. 



El Pico. — This mountain is the only one of the Azores which 

 rises in the form of a cone ; the only one entirely composed of 

 trachyte, and the only one in which there is a vent always open. 

 Geologists are agreed in the opinion, that the great currents of lava 

 which flowed in 1812 in the Isle of St. George were the results 

 of a lateral eruption of the volcano of El Pico. They explain in 

 the same way the sudden formation of an isle in the neighbour- 

 hood of St. Michael in 1811. This isle was taken possession of 

 in the name ef the King of England, by the Captain of the 

 Sabrina, who witnessed the event ; it has since totally disap- 

 peared. The part of the sea in which this isle arose is not less 

 than 80 fathoms deep. 



Peak of Teneriffe. — This volcano appears to be much more 

 agitated on its sides than at its summit. Neither flames 

 nor lava have issued from it from time immemorial, nor any 

 smoke which could be seen at a distance. The last erup- 

 tion, that of 1798, took place laterally in the mountain of Cha- 

 horra. It continued for more than three months. Various 

 fragments of rocks, of very considerable size, which the volcano 

 projected from time to time into the air, occupied, according to 

 the observations of M. Cologuan, from 12 to 15 seconds in fall- 

 ing. Teneriffe had suffered no eruption for 92 years, until that 

 of 1798, which began suddenly on the 9th of June. 



Immense torrents of lava flowed upon the island of Palma, 

 25 leagues distant from the Peak, through new volcanic open- 

 ings which were formed in 1558, 1646, and 1677. The isle of 

 Lancerote was also destroyed by an eruption in 1 730. 



Fuego. — Scarcely any details are known respecting the isle of 

 Fuego. It would appear, in opposition to an opinion formerly 

 adopted, that no other active volcanos exist in all the Archipe- 

 lago of Cape Verd. 



Volcano of Bourbon. — There are few volcanos which are in a 

 state of greater activity than that of Bourbon. Its last eruption 

 occurred on the 27th of Feb. 1821. It formed three currents of 

 lava, which opened a passage in the summit of the mountain, a 



