110 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



from Macassar to tlie scene of this terrible phenome- 

 non states : " On approaching the coast, I passed 

 through great quantities of pumice-stone floating on 

 the sea, which had at first the appearance of shoals, 

 so much so that I sent a boat to examine one, which, 

 at the distance of less than a mile, I took for a dry 

 sand-bank, upward of three miles in length, with 

 black rocks in several parts of it." This is the kind 

 of stones I saw floating over the sea as we were ap- 

 proaching the Strait of Sunda. Besides the quanti- 

 ties of this porous, foam-like lava, that are thrown 

 directly into the sea by such eruptions, great quan- 

 tities remain on the sides of the volcano, and on the 

 surrounding mountains, and much of that is conveyed, 

 during the rainy monsoon, by the rivers to the ocean. 

 The land at the southeast extremity of Sumbawa 

 appears to be comj)osed of a light-colored clay, the 

 strata of which have been greatly plicated. 



Several ugly rocks rise in this strait. The largest 

 is named, in the native tongue, "The Eye of the 

 Devil," and it winked at us most wickedly out of 

 the white surf as we passed. While in the Java Sea, 

 before entering the strait, we had only light winds ; 

 but, as we came into the Indian Ocean, we expe- 

 rienced a strong breeze from the southeast. The 

 current, which had been with us and against the 



it. In that part of the district of Sangir adjoining Tomboro, its effects 

 were much more violent, tearing up by the roots the largest trees, and 

 carrying them into the air, together with men, houses, cattle, and what- 

 ever else came within its influence. The sea rose nearly twelve feet 

 liigher than it had ever been known to do before, and completely spoiled 

 the only small spots of rice-lands in Sangir, sweeping away houses and 

 every thing witliin its reach." 



