ECUADOR. 



287 



away by the waves. Tjiringin, south of Anjer, 

 on the coast, was destroyed by the waters. 

 Bantam, formerly a prosperous city, but sub- 

 sequently abandoned by its European and most 

 of its native inhabitants, was entirely sub- 

 merged, and from 1,200 to 1,500 persons were 

 drowned. The waters covered the island of 

 Serang, on which not a soul was left alive. 

 At Oheribon the falling of stones and flow of 

 lava caused considerable lossss of life and prop- 

 erty. Buitzenborg, Samarang, Jogjakerta, Sou- 

 rakerta, Sourabaya, and all the smaller towns 

 were partially destroyed. Some of the u thou- 

 sand temples " of Brambaman were destroyed, 

 and a number of the domes of the famous tem- 

 ple of Borobodo were crushed by falling rocks. 



The volcanic disturbance altered the geo- 

 graphical features of the Straits of Sunda. The 

 great island of Krakatoa disappeared. Between 

 the sunken island and Sebesie emerged sixteen 

 new volcanic peaks. The Soengepan volcano 

 split into five. The mountain of Kramatan, a 

 high peak which formed the southeasterly 

 promontory of Sumatra, sank into the sea. 

 The changes were confined to the portion of 

 the strait lying between this point and Kraka- 

 toa, the upheaval in the center of this strip 

 producing a depression at both ends. 



Alaskan Volcanoes. Mount Augustin, near 

 Cook's Inlet, burst into activity in October, 

 and the eruption extended to two volcanoes, 

 lying westward of Mount Iliamua, which were 

 before considered extinct. Flames and smoke, 

 preceded by an explosion, began to issue from 

 the summit of Mount Augustin on the morning 

 of Oct. 6th. The sky was obscured, and pumice 

 ashes fell at the entrance of Cook's Inlet to 

 the depth of five inches. A tidal wave 30 

 feet high washed upon the shore in the mid- 

 dle of the afternoon, followed by two others 18 

 feet high. The sky was brilliantly illuminated 

 at night. The northern part of Mount Augustin 

 was torn away by the eruption and leveled to 

 the height of the surrounding cliffs. A new 

 island, 75 feet high and 1| mile lung, appeared 

 between Chernaboura Island and the mainland. 



Earthquake in Anatolia. Severe shocks of earth- 

 quake were felt on the 15th of October along 

 the coast of Asiatic Turkey, and on the island 

 of Chios. The town of Aivalik, in Anatolia, 

 was partly destroyed. Great damage was done 

 to the villages between Tchesme and Vourla, 

 and a large number of people were left roofless 

 and without means. The city of Smyrna suf- 

 fered injury to a slight extent, and the shock 

 was felt also at Syra on the Dardanelles. In 

 Chios a number of buildings were shattered 

 and people wounded. In Vourla, Alateuki, 

 Ovadere, and eight other villages near Tchesme, 

 57 persons were killed, 150 injure 1, and 14,678 

 rendered homeless. 



ECUADOR. The modification of the territo- 

 rial division of this republic, alluded to in the 

 "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1882, proves not to 

 be permanent, as since then the revolution has 

 triumphed, and the dictator, Ignacio de Vein- 



temilla, after whom the new province was 

 named, has fled the country. 



The provisional President of Ecuador is Sefior 

 Jose Maria Placido Caamaflo ; the provisional 

 Vice-President is Seftor Rafael Perez Pereja. 



The new Cabinet at the close of 1883 was 

 composed of the following ministers : Interior 

 and Foreign Affairs, Setter Pablo Herrera; 

 Finance and Public Works, Seflor V. Lucio 

 Salazar ; War and Navy, Seflor Agustin Guer- 

 rera. 



During the recent civil war and since its ter- 

 mination no later official returns relating to the 

 finances of Ecuador have been published, nor 

 has anything transpired with reference to the 

 foreign debt. 



Events of 1883. After some desultory war- 

 fare following the opening campaign and the 

 various engagements between the insurgent 

 forces and those of the Government, from Oc- 

 tober, 1882, to January, 1883, chronicled in the 

 "Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1882, the former 

 had gradually repelled the latter and ejected 

 them from Guayaquil, and in April, 1883, had 

 gathered at Guaranda, Babahoyo, Machala, 

 Santa Rosa, and Manabi, thus forming a vast 

 semicircle hemming in Guayaquil. Meanwhile 

 the provisional Government at Quito declared 

 Machala, south of Guayaquil, a port of entry, 

 reducing the import duties there by 25 per 

 cent, and the export duty by 50 per cent. 



Early in May the combined insurgent or con- 

 stitutional forces made a forward movement on 

 Guayaquil, Gen. Alfaro's besieging army press- 

 ing from the west, while Generals Barona and 

 Flores came forward from the north, Generals 

 Salazar, Sarasti, and Landazuri from the east, 

 and Generals Secundino, Darguea, and Medina 

 moving onward from the south. A concentra- 

 tion for siege operations took place at Mapa- 

 singue. 



On May 3d the Italian war-steamer Vittor 

 Pisani approached the insurgents' camp, and 

 the commander requested its captain to pro- 

 tect the lives of Italians and other foreigners 

 in the event of an assault on the besieged city, 

 which was promised him. 



Representatives of Veintemilla under a mili- 

 tary escort took, on May 8l.h, forcible possession 

 of $320,000 on deposit in the vaults of the Bank 

 of Ecuador, Guayaquil, despite the protests of 

 foreign consuls and the commanders of British 

 and Italian men-of-war. 



On May 15th Sefior Antonio Flores, son of 

 the first President of Ecuador, arrived at Guaya- 

 quil. He had been exiled by Veintemilla, and 

 on his arrival the latter proceeded to arrest 

 him, but was prevented by the commander of 

 the British sloop of war in the harbor, who 

 sent some boats with crews to protect Flores. 



Being foiled in this attempt, Veintemilla 

 made offers to Flores to resign into his hands 

 the dictatorship, provided Flores would con- 

 tinue to oppose the Constitutionals and assist 

 Veintemilla in pacifying the country. These 

 offers were declined by Flores, who, on the 



