239 



FARMERS' REGISTER— VOLCANIC ISLAND. 



great eruption of 1822, expecting to find gold in 

 it.) Mr. Wright's companions were soon unde- 

 ceived; but finding that they nowhere sank much 

 deeper than the ankle in the sandy soil, they read- 

 ily ibllowed his example, and cliniVted up to the 

 jfidge of the island at the part where it wnwlowest. 

 Having reached this point with some difficulty, 

 they stood on the edge of a crater that was flanked 

 on either side by a cone or peak of superior eleva- 

 tion. The form of the crater was ver}' irregular — 

 \vithin it, and Ibrty-five feet below its lip or edge 

 on which they stood, and nearly on a Icv^el with 

 the surface ot" the sea, ihcy saw two small lakes of 

 boiling water. One of these lakes was about one 

 hundred and fitly feet in circumlerence, the other 

 not more than thirty. In the first the color of the 

 water was a light yellow, in the second a reddish 

 yellow; they bubbled here and there and emitted 

 vapor. 



The master of tte hoa;t (a Maltese) boldly 

 climbed to the top of the highest cone — an exploit 

 not perfbnr>ed without danger, as on that part the 

 island descended almost perpendicularly to the sea, 

 wliose waves had already begun to destroy it, and 

 occasionally earned away large masses at a time. 



Mr. Wright and his party returned to the strip 

 of beach where the boat was secured, and were 

 amusing themselves by examining and collecting 

 the curious ashes, lapille, and stones which were 

 there deposited, when a rumbling noise and smoke, 

 accompanied by a most pungent sulphureous smell, 

 arose from the crater, and compelled them to em- 

 bark. They rowed round to the south eastern 

 point of the island, where- they found a strip of 

 beach like that which they had left, and lying on 

 it, half dead and stupefied, a fine ]avge pesc'e-spada, 

 m sword fish. This they secured and carried back 

 with them to Sciacca, where they found it weighed 

 upwards of sixty pounds English. The fa?e of 

 the fish nmst have arisen from its coming too near 

 the hot and contaminated water which on all sides 

 surrounded the island to a greater or less distance. 

 Indeed, when the party started from this point to 

 continue the circumnavigation of the island, they 

 were obliged to keep nearly a mile at sea, to steer 

 clear of a new sub-marine crater Avhicli was form- 

 ing there, the eruptions fr-om which had changed 

 Che color of the waves from blue to deep yellow, 

 and, for the space of half a mde, made thern foam 

 and roar in a fearllii manner. Even at the distance 

 at which they kept their boat, the air was so 

 charged, with sulphur that it almost suffocated 

 them. As they doubled this, the south west ex- 

 tremity, they saw immense clouds of smoke, now 

 black, now white, rising as it were from a rent in 

 the bosom of the sea, and attaining an elevation 

 of 2000 feet. 



Having gone entirely round the island, they as- 

 certained that its form was circular, andthat it was 

 then about two miles in circumference, but evi- 

 dently diminishing every day. Besides exciting 

 their curiosity, it should seem that the novel ap"^ 

 pearance of this volcano had attracted the curiosi- 

 ty of a turtle dove, for as they landed to examine 

 one point, a bird of that gentle species saluted 

 them from the summit of the island Avith its mel- 

 ancholy note, and then disappeared. 



On the 27th of October, 1831, the sfeam-packet 

 "Franceso Primo" left Naples expressly to visit 

 this volcano, which the Neapolitans had named j 

 "L'Isola Fcrdinandea.' Among the passcno-ers - 



was an English gentleman, who made some draw- 

 ings and measurements, and described the island 

 as it then was. From an examinatiofi of these, 

 it results that during only two months which had 

 elapsed since Mr. AV right's visit, the island had 

 been reduced, to one-seventh of its circumference 

 as measured at that visit. Peaks and elevations 

 had sunk into the sea, — there only remained one, 

 which Avas much lowered, and no longer retained 

 the appearance of a volcanic crater. This rose in 

 the centre of the island; it was anirregidarconein 

 shape, and composed of fine, heavy, black sand, 

 and very friable scoriae. All the rest of the island 

 was a plane aWtosc level scarcely surmounted the 

 superficies of the sea. With the least wind the 

 waves washed over all this level part, which, like 

 the hill, was composed of black sand and scoria?, 

 mixed here and there with fragments of lava that 

 seemed to contain a good deal of iron. No smoke 

 then issued from any part of the island, but wher- 

 ever the visiters dug a little in the plain, a strong 

 heat Avith smoke escaped. There remained, how- 

 ever,, a small lake, the waters of which seemed, 

 from the steajQ resting on their surface, to be still 

 boiling. These Avaters had changed their color 

 fi"om yelloAV to a broAvnish black. They Avere as- 

 certained to be sea-Avaters, mixed with sulphur 

 and other A^olcanic components, from Avhich they 

 Avere easily diseng-aged. In a direction opposite to 

 this small lake, and at the distance of a few feet 

 from the shore of the island as it then was, the sea 

 for a certain space Avas covered A\ath a bright blue 

 oleous fluid, which produced precisely the same 

 tranquillizing effect that oif does Avhen throAvn up- 

 on the Avav^es. This fluid Avas, in all probability, 

 petroleum, like thatAvhich is found floating on the 

 surface of the Bay of Naples, near the roots of 

 Mount Vesuvius, and in the neighborhood of most 

 volcanoes. 



The Avestem side of the central mount was co- 

 vered Avith volcanic ashes and saline efflorescence, 

 the Avhite color of Avhich contrasted in a curious 

 masiner Avith the dingy black hue of all the rest of 

 the cone. As the party from the steam-boat as- 

 cended the mount, they found tAvo Avcoden boards 

 stuck deeply in the sand. On the first of these 

 AA'ere recorded the names of two members of the 

 French Academy, Messrs. Jonville and Constant 

 Prevot; and on the second the name of an Aus- 

 trian brig and the name of her commander, who 

 had all A-isitedthe island since Mr. Wright's expe- 

 dition. It Avas evident to CA-ery body that the flat 

 part of the island Avas rapidly disappearing, and 

 that Avhen the sea had destroyed this, the mount 

 remaining exposed to the direct fur}' of the AA'aves 

 could not, from the lightness and friability of the 

 materials Avhich composed it, long resist their at- 

 tack. It Avas therefore concluded that in a feAV 

 months the island Avould no longer exist; and in 

 fact, a A'ery feAA' months aflerwards, Avhen Mr. 

 Wright sailed across this part of the Mediterra- 

 nean, the sea betAA'een Sciacca and PantellariaAvas 

 perfectly clear, .and there remained not the least 

 vestige of the island. He, hoAA'CA'er, had not the 

 opportunity of examining to what degree the de- 

 trition of the A'olcano had afliccted the sandbank 

 beneath. 



WhicheA'cr Avay the traveller turns on the coasts 

 of Sicily he meets Avith melancholy evidences of 

 the tremendous efiects of A'olcanic action. The 

 city of Sciacca itself, from Avhich Mr. Wright set 



