240 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 



slowly as long as it is supplied from the 

 source, here and there breaking through the 

 crust which, as continually., re-forms in front. 

 Thus the terrible, inexorable river of fire 

 slowly descends, destroying everything in 

 its course. 



The stream of lava which burst from 

 Mouna Loa in 1885 had a length of 70 miles; 

 that of Skaptar-Jokul in Iceland in 1783 had 

 a length of 50 miles, and a maximum depth 

 of nearly 500 feet. It has been calculated that 

 the mass of lava equalled that of Mont Blanc. 



The stones, ashes, and mud ejected during 

 eruptions are even more destructive than the 

 rivers of lava. In 1851 Tomboro, a volcano 

 on the Island of Sumbava, cost more lives 

 than fell in the battle of Waterloo. The 

 earthquake of Lisbon in 1755 destroyed 

 60,000 persons. During the earthquake of 

 Riobamba and the mud eruption of Tungu- 

 ragua, and again in that of Krakatoa, it is 

 estimated that the number who perished was 

 between 30,000 and 40,000. At the earth- 

 quake of Antioch in 526 no less than 200,000 

 persons are said to have lost their lives. 



