The Virunga Volcanoes 



gongo is on record, but when visited in the year 1894 by 

 Count Gotzen, it was described by him as in full activity. 



With reference to the foregoing data it is interesting to 

 note that the missionaries at Bobandana and Njundo, at the 

 north end of Lake Kivu, put the cycle of severe eruptions 

 at eight or nine years. As earth tremors have become fre- 

 quent of late in the neighbourhood and as the volcano of 

 Ninagongo is now reported (June, 1920) to have returned to 

 unwonted activity, another eruption is perhaps imminent. 



The north-west corner of Lake Kivu and the country 

 directly north of it, which lies in the shadow of the western 

 wall of the Great Rift, being in close proximity to the volcanic 

 outbursts of 1904 and 1913, are of considerable interest. 



The last eruption in this region which began about 

 December 8th, 1912, and lasted well into April, 1913, was 

 of a severe description. The red-hot lava flowing down into 

 the lake towards the point of the Mbusi Peninsula, at first 

 completely filled up an extensive lagoon there and thence 

 flowing onwards has all but sealed up the channel into the 

 Mbusi Bay. Until quite recently these new lava beds were 

 too hot to walk upon and even now are still moving or rather 

 subsiding. The vicinity of the channel is always covered 

 with flecks of foam, telling of the heat beneath. Geysers 

 also are frequently seen in this part of the lake. 



At the time of the eruption many natives were killed, 

 being suffocated by fumes or their boats cracked and burnt 

 by the heat in their efforts to retrieve the dead fish, which 

 lay scattered about on the water in great numbers. Others 

 died from starvation owing to the destruction of their crops, 

 whilst others again, refusing to leave their villages, were 

 overwhelmed as they crouched within their huts. 



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