FARMERS' REGISTER— NEW VOLCANIC ISLAND. 



267 



my communication adurcGsed to the committee of 

 the last year, which has been transmitted to you, 

 1 detailed my process of I'aising and ploughing in 

 a crop of buckwheat for manure, on an acre of 

 land. The last spring the ground was so well 

 pulverized that it was ploughed with facility, and 

 after harrowing and furrowmgitwas planted with 

 Indian corn, in hills, the same quantity and kind of 

 manure being used, and the same method of cul- 

 tivation pursued as in other pieces of corn grow- 

 ing in the same field. 



The operations of planting and hoeing, on this 

 expermiental acre, have been easier than on the 

 other land which had not been once planted, and 

 the crop has better sustained the severity of the 

 drought, to which all lands, in this vicinity, the 

 present summer, have been exposed. The ground 

 will be as mellow, and as well prepared for laying 

 down with grass seedasitiscommonly after plant- 

 ing for two yeai-s. I submit my experiment for 

 your consideration. On viewing the field (to 

 which I invite your attention) you vv-ill determine 

 whether my process has been in any degree satis- 

 factory, and whether a green crop may, under such 

 circumstances be advantageously employed for 

 manure." 



Pursuant to the request, contained in IMr. King's 

 last communication, your committee on the 27th 

 of August last, viewed the ground upon which 

 Mr. King's experiment had been made. 



They found it remarkably well pulverized, and 

 the growing crop of corn thereon was in a much 

 more proiuising and flourishing state, and much 

 better sustained the severity of the drought, to 

 which all lands in that vicinity were then exposed, 

 than the crops of corn which were then growing 

 on the contiguous ground of Mr. King, of" a sim- 

 ilar soil, and which had been cultivated and ma- 

 nured in the ordinary manner. 



The committee award to Mr. King, who was 

 the only applicant to them lor a premium, the sum 

 of twenty dollars. 



D. CUMMINS, Chairman. 



VOLCAKIC ISLAXIJ OFF THE SOUTH COAST OF 

 SICILY. 



From tlie [Tjondoii] Peinsy IMagazine. 



Most of our readers u'ill probably remember the 

 accounts published in the newspapers some time 

 since, of a volcano that suddenly rose from the 

 bosom of the sea, opi)osite to Sicily, and which, 

 after having atuuned the size of a considerable 

 island, was rapidly washed away by the v/aves of 

 the sea from which it rose, and at length totally 

 obliterated. 



Through the kindness of John Wright, Esq., 

 an intelligent merchant of Glasgow, who has re- 

 sided long in Sicily and Naples, we are enabled to 

 five a description of this extraordinary island. 

 Ir. Wright happened to be in Sicily at the time 

 the sub-marine eruption tooli place, (on the 12th 

 of July, 1S31,) and with laudable curiosity deter- 

 mmed to repair to the spot. To this end he hired 

 a boat on the 24th of August, (forty-three days 

 after the first appearance of the island,) at Sciac- 

 ca, on the southern coast of Sicily, which was the 

 town nearest to the volcano, and with an artist, 

 who made drawings on the spot, a i)hysician, and 

 some other Sicilian gentleman, Avent in (luest of 



the object that uas then exciting so much aston- 

 ishment and terror. 



The party left the shore of Sciacca at nine 

 o'clock in the evening. There was a beautiiUl 

 bright moon, and they were turllier favored by a 

 gentle breeze blowing from laud in the direction of 

 the island. After some hours Mr. Wright and 

 his companions Avent to slee[), leaving the easy 

 care of the boat to the sailors. They Avere awaken- 

 ed a Ultle beibre sunrise by explosions that warned 

 them they were near the volcano, and rising, they 

 saw, at a short distance, two hills surmounted by a 

 column of smoke. The curious island of Pantel- 

 laria, which has evidently been thrown up in the 

 same manner by a sub-marine eruption, though it 

 is now inhabited and partially cultivated, Avas seen 

 in the distance to the west. They calculated that 

 they had sailed about thirty-six nules, and that the 

 new island was about equi-distant fiom Sciacca 

 and Pantellaria. It had arisen from a sand bank, 

 which Avas previously covered (though not Avith 

 deep Avater) by the sea, and well known to mari- 

 ners by the name of "Nerita." This sand bank 

 itself, Avhich extends for some distance, is probably 

 the result of some anterior volcanic convulsion. 



Mr. Wright and his friends proceeded eagerly 

 toAvards the island, Avhen, just as they Avere Avithin 

 a feAv oars' length of it, the sun rose in all his glo- 

 ry behind the dark crater, revealing its form, and 

 shining through the dense smoke Avith singular 

 etiect. They began their examination at the 

 north Avest of the volcano, Avhere it ]iresented the 

 form of a round hill, rising about 120 feet aboA"e 

 the level of the sea. They AA'ere deterred from a 

 close aj)proach by a thick cloud of Avliite smoke 

 Avhich issued fiom the side of the hill on a level 

 with the sea. They roAved the boat round the 

 island, keeping about tAventy feet from it, until 

 they came to the north east point, where they 

 found that the island Avas some feet higher than at 

 the part previously examined, and that there Avas 

 a piece of Hat sandy shore Avhicli seemed to afford 

 a good landing place. As, hoAA'ever, nobody had 

 hitherto set foot on this nevv" production of nature, 

 some apprcliensioiiTj as to the safety of so doing, 

 or whether they Avould not be svvalloAved up, Avere 

 entertained by "the Sicilians. After some minutes 

 of hesitation one of the sailors, encouraged by 

 P*Ir. Wright, leajjed ashore and found tolerably 

 firm footing. Mr. Wright immediately folloAved 

 him. The sailor, Avho had proved himself the 

 most adventurous of his comi-ades, Avas yet reluc- 

 tant to go to any distance from the boat, or to as- 

 cend the side of the Aoicano. JNIr. Wright ad- 

 vanced a fcAV steps alone, and perceiving some 

 bright yellow stones that had very much the ap- 

 pearance of gold, he picked up some of them, and 

 cried out, "run! run! my fiiends! here is gold! herer 

 is gold!" This temptation AA'as irresistible — CA^eiy 

 man left the boat; or, to use the Avords of one of 

 the Sicilian gentlemen of4lie party, AA'hose memo- 

 randa are beibre us, they "all leaped on shore, like 

 so many devils careless of lite, through the avidity 

 to obtain jjartof the treasure." (Here AA-emay as 

 Avell remind our readers that the Sicilians and Nea- 

 politans are commonly inclined to believe the vol- 

 canoes sometimes throAV out gold. In No. 2 of 

 the 'Penny JMagazine,' a communication from a 

 correspondent, Avho Avas at Naples at the time, in- 

 forms us that the Neapolitans collected some of 

 the matter ejected by Mount VcsuA-ius during the 



