CHAPTER XLV 



VOLCANOES 



' TT is not late yet, Uncle," said Jules; "you ought 

 JL to tell us about those terrible mountains, those 

 volcanoes that the showers of ashes come from." 



At the word "volcano," Emile, who was already 

 asleep, rubbed his eyes and became all attention. 

 He too wanted to hear the great story. As usual, 

 their uncle yielded to their entreaties. 



"A volcano is a mountain that throws up smoke, 

 calcined dust, red-hot stones, and melted matter 

 called lava. The summit is hollowed out in a great 

 excavation having the shape of a funnel, sometimes 

 several leagues in circumference. That is what wo 

 call the crater. The bottom of the crater communi- 

 cates with a tortuous conduit or chimney too deep to 

 estimate. The principal volcanoes of Europe are: 

 Vesuvius, near Naples; Etna in Sicily; Hecla in Ice- 

 land. Most of the time a volcano is either in repose 

 or throwing up a simple plume of smoke ; but from 

 time to time, with intervals that may be very long, 

 the mountain grumbles, trembles, and vomits tor- 

 rents of fiery substances. It is then said to be in 

 i-ruption. T<> <ri\e yon a general idea of the most iv 

 Tiinrkable phenomena attending volcanic eruption, I 

 will choose \Vsuvius, the l><>st known of the Euro- 

 pean volcanoes. 



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