VOLCANIC ISLAND. 253 



succeeded by a cloud of steam, and at length, on his return, the 

 l?th of July, he found a small island about twelve feet high, with 

 a crater in its centre, ejecting scoriae, ashes, and volumes of va- 

 por; and the sea around was covered with floating cinders, and 

 dead fish. This island continued increasing in dimensions until 

 it reached an elevation of 200 feet, and was about three miles in 

 circumference, having a circular basin full of hot water, of a din- 

 gy red color. The eruption continued with great violence nearly 

 a month, and the island attained its greatest dimensions about 

 the 4th of August, after which it began to decrease by the action 

 of the waves, and on the 29th of September, its circumference 

 Was reduced to about 700 yards. Its appearance at this Jime is 

 represented in the accompanying wood cat, which is from a sketch 





by M. .Toinville, who visited this island in September 1831. It 

 has now entirely disappeared, and a dangerous shoal remains 

 about eleven feet underwater. This is not the only volcanic island 

 of recent formation, for in the year 1812, off the coast of St. 

 Michael's one of the Azores, an immense volume of smoke, 

 thick with ashes and stones, was observed to burst forth, by Capt. 

 Tillard, of the Royal British Navy, at a spot where before, the 



