246 ITS PROGRESS. 



temperature ; and the ascent and fall of the dark 

 solid matter was a direct confirmation of the other 

 two. 



The young island having thus attracted attention, 

 Vice-admiral Hotham directed Commander Swin- 

 burne, of the sloop Rapid, to examine it. The com- 

 mander discovered the island at four P. M. on the 

 18th of July. It was then about forty miles distant, 

 and had the appearance of a column of white smoke. 

 Advancing about thirty miles, he saw, at fifteen 

 minutes past eight, bright light mingling with the 

 smoke. The column then became black ; but im- 

 mediately " eruptions of lurid fire" shot up ; and 

 then the whiteness of the smoke returned. The 

 same succession of appearances continued till five in 

 the morning of the 19th, when they again steered 

 for the island. 



Whether Commander Swinburne did or did not 

 see the very first eruption, he must have been near 

 the time of the commencement, for early in the morn- 

 ing he saw, in the intervals of the eruptions, only a 

 small hillock, a few feet above the level of the sea ; 

 but as the discharges of dust, and stones, and steam 

 were frequent, the progress of the island could not 

 be seen. At the distance of one mile north the 

 depth was one hundred and thirty fathoms ; and 

 when the commander took his boat and rowed 

 towards it, twenty yards of the weather-side, there 

 were eighteen fathoms water. For two or three 

 miles round, the sea was discoloured with dust and 

 cinders ; but at the distance of only twelve yards, 

 the sea was but one degree above its ordinary tem- 

 perature. 



The island then appeared in the form of a crater 

 or cup, seventy or eighty yards in diameter, twenty 

 feet high in some places, six in others, and broken 

 on the south-west. Through the break was seen 

 muddy water in a state of violent agitation ; from 



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