BOTH AM ISLAND. 243 



doc, which lies between those mountains and the 

 sea, is alluvial, composed in many parts of sand, in 

 others of gravel and stones, and in others, again, of 

 shells, the whole giving the clearest evidence of 

 having been under the sea, or formed by the action 

 of its waters upon the shores. ' 



The farther part of Italy and the island of Sicily 

 are still volcanic countries. Vesuvius and Etna 

 burn continually, and often pour out eruptions of 

 melted matters ; the whole of Calabria is subject to 

 earthquakes ; and fires are continually burning in the 

 little islands which lie nearly in the line between 

 Vesuvius and Etna. 



One of the most recent displays of submarine 

 action, extending above the surface, which has ap- 

 peared in those seas, is 



HOTHAM ISLAND. 



That island, or rather the symptoms of its forma- 

 tion were first observed on the 10th of July, 1831 ; 

 though on the preceding day quantities of charred 

 sea plants and dead fish were observed floating on 

 the surface ; and sounds resembling that of thunder 



