Jen. 24, 1889] 



NA TURE 



0^0 



height and size of the eruptive cone, making its slope ex- 

 ceedingly steep. So rapid was its growth, that the most 

 casual observers noticed it from Naples, and discussed it. 

 In fact, from November i to January 6 at least 20 metres 

 was added to the height of Vesuvius, whilst the size 

 of the base of the cone of eruption was proportionally 

 increased. 



On January i, 1889, the eruptive cone burst on the 

 north side, allowing the lava to issue and flow down, 

 turning east and west so as to fill up, in part, the cres- 

 centic depression between the annulus or crater ring of 

 July and August 1886, and the cone of eruption which is 

 situated eccentrically to the former. As I have shown 

 elsewhere, outflows of lava from the cone of eruption are 

 always very limited, the violence of the outburst being 

 generally proportional to the distance of the lateral 

 opening below the summit. 



After this relief the activity fell to the first degree, but 

 soon again rose to the third. On Sunday, the 6th, I was 

 standing at the summit of the mountam on the 1872 

 crater plain, preparing my apparatus for a photograph of 

 the cone of eruption, when suddenly (about 3 p.m.), at 

 about half-way down the side of the eruptive cone, and 

 facing me, a slight puff of dust occurred, followed by the 

 oozing forth of some lava. This rapidly increased in 

 quantity as it carried forward the fragments forming the 

 sides of the aperture. I immediately changed my lens 

 to an instantaneous one, and took two negatives. The 

 explosive activity increased, so that 1 was standing in a 

 constant hail of red-hot lava fragments. These it re- 

 quired constant vigilance to avoid, and my face and hands 

 were scalded by the radiant heat from the rapidly ad- 

 vancing lava,and tormented by the whirlwinds that always 

 occur under such conditions. My two porters abandoned 

 me, so that I had just time to remove my apparatus 

 two minutes before lava flowed over the spot where I 

 stood. In consequence of these unfavourable con- 

 ditions, I lost some of my coolness, and allowed my 

 camera-cloth to partly hide the lens. I was there- 

 fore greatly disappointed to find only part of this 

 splendid scene registered for the eyes of others who 

 had not had the good fortune to see that interesting 

 spectacle. 



The point of rupture was a few degrees east of south, 

 and nearly opposite the cleft of January i. The opening at 

 beginning could not have been more than lo metres from 

 the top of the vent, showing the great height of the lava 

 in the volcanic chimney. The outflow was very rapid, 

 for, half an hour after, the place where I took the photo- 

 graphs could not be approached by 40 or 50 metres, having 

 been all inundated with lava. Part of the fluid rock 

 rapidly reached the edge oi the 1872 crater plain, and 

 flowed some distance down the slope of the great cone in 

 the direction of Torre Annunziata, and another portion 

 flowed out by another gap a little farther east in the 

 remaining edge of the 1872 crater ring. The supply, 

 however, soon stopped, and late in the evening had 

 already become consolidated. After this, the activity, as 

 seen from Naples, slightly diminished, but the next 

 evening it was again at the third degree. Cloud-cap 

 somewhat interrupted the view up till last night (January 

 12), when it was again observed to be at the third degree, 

 and the light emanating from the lava was very white, 

 showing the high temperature. 



So far, the great cone has resisted fracture, but the 

 south-west fissure, to which I have already drawn atten- 

 tion, is more active, and from this side of the crater plain 

 there is very great fumarolic activity. When, therefore, 

 the hydrostatic pressure overcomes the resistance, it will 

 probably be in this direction that a lateral outburst 

 will take place. 



H. J. Johnston-Lavis. 



Naples, January 13. 



VOLCANIC SEA JVA VE. 



'X'HE following account from the Berlin Annalcn der 

 -*• Hydrographie, 1888, p. 518, with reference to the 

 wave observed in the regions about the north-east of 

 New Guinea, already briefly noticed in Nature (vol. 

 xxxviii. p. 491), is of interest. 



The data given are too vague to permit of definite 

 conclusions as to the probabilities of the disturbances felt 

 at Sydney and Arica having originated in a volcanic 

 eruption in New Guinea, but it may be observed that, 

 assuming that the volcanic centre was from 200 to 400 

 miles north of Hatzfeldt Harbour, in which direction 

 sounds were heard at 6 a.m. on the 13th, followed in forty 

 minutes by a wave, the disturbance recorded at Arica at 

 5 p.m. on the 14th would have travelled the intervening 

 distance of 10,000 geographical miles at a speed of 416 

 miles an hour, a velocity which agrees very fairly with the 

 probable mean depth of ocean traversed. 



To Sydney, on the other hand, assuming the first dis- 

 turbance to have occurred at 6 a.m. on the 15th, the speed 

 would only have been about 60 miles an hour, which is 

 much too low a velocity for the depth. 



It will be observed that the waves both at New Guinea 

 and Arica were of short period, and in this respect quite 

 unlike the long-distance waves emanating from Krakata'b 

 in 1883. 



W. J. L. Wharton. 



" With regard to the extraordinary tidal wave that 

 was observed m the Bismarck Archipelago, and on the 

 coast of New Guinea, on the 13th of March, Heft iii. of 

 the ' Notices of Kaiser Wilhelm's Land and the Bis- 

 marck Archipelago' relites as follows : — 



" After the Expedition which had been undertaken for 

 the discovery of Herren von Below and Hunstein, who had 

 attempted an exploration to the west coast of New Pome- 

 rania (New Britain), had returned without finding any 

 trace of them, a second Expedition, consisting of seven 

 officers and fourteen Miocese, under command of the 

 surveyor, V. Brixen, was despatched on the 17th of March 

 from Finsch Hafen to the west coast of the above-men- 

 tioned island. This discovered, on the i8th of March, the 

 spot where Below's Expedition had landed, which was 

 easily recognized by the objects lying there partly covered 

 with sand — a tent, torn pieces of clothing, and bent bits 

 of metal. A part of the Expedition th^n repaired to a 

 ruined village near the place where the missing persons 

 (according to the account of the two Miocese who had 

 been saved) had encamped during the night of the 12th- 

 13th of March on the shore. At this place the land falls 

 very steeply, about 25 metres, to the sea, and there is only 

 a narrow strip of flat coast between the declivity and 

 the sea. The tidal wave had even occasioned a landslip, 

 large stones and trees being torn away from the slope, 

 so that here escape could have been scarcely possible, 

 and, according to the two Miocese, the catastrophe 

 happened before daybreak. With the exception of a few 

 bamboos cut by a knife, no trace of an encampment was per- 

 ceptible. An excavation, attempted on the 19th of March, 

 led to no result. Sea-sand, stones, and things washed up 

 by the sea, covered the former level of the shore for more 

 than 4 feet. On the 20th of March parties were despatched 

 into the interior in a north-easterly and southerly direc- 

 tion, who came upon the encampment of the natives who 

 had escaped from the above-named village. As these 

 confirmed, by gestures and signs, the accounts of the 

 Miocese, hardly any doubt can remain that Below and 

 Hunstein had fallen victims to the tidal wave. On the 

 2 1st of March a large cross, therefore, was erected at the 

 place of the misfortune, and, to provide for necessity, 

 two boxes with provisions and drink were buried under a 



