THOUGHTS ABOUT KRAKATOA. 323 



catastrophe. For many hours the adjacent shores were 

 wrapped in profound darkness, while the tremendous 

 agitation of the volcano originated great sea waves which 

 swept away entire towns and villages, and in a great 

 measure destroyed their populations. 



It was one o'clock in the afternoon of Sunday, August 

 26, 1883, when Krakatoa commenced a series of gigantic 

 volcanic efforts. Detonations were heard which succeeded 

 each other at intervals of about ten minutes. These were 

 loud enough to penetrate as far as Batavia and Buitenzorg, 

 distant 96 and 100 miles respectively from the volcano. 

 A vast column of steam, smoke, and ashes ascended to a 

 prodigious elevation. It was measured at 2 P.M. from a 

 ship 76 miles away, and was then judged to be 17 miles 

 high that is, three times the height of the loftiest moun- 

 tain in the world. As the Sunday afternoon wore on, the 

 volcanic manifestations became ever fiercer. At 3 P.M. 

 the sounds were loudly heard in a town 150 miles away. 

 At 5 P.M. every ear in the island of Java was engaged in 

 listening to volcanic explosions, which were considered to 

 be of quite unusual intensity even in that part of the 

 world. These phenomena were, however, only introduc- 

 tory. Krakatoa was gathering strength. Between 5 and 

 6 P.M. the British ship Charles Bal, commanded by Cap- 

 tain Watson, was about ten miles south of the volcano. 

 The ship had to shorten sail in the darkness, and a rain of 

 pumice, in large pieces and quite warm, fell upon her 

 decks. At 7 P.M. the mighty column of smoke is described 

 as having the shape of a pine-tree, and as being brilliantly 

 illuminated by electric flashes. The sulphurous air is 

 laden with fine dust, while the lead dropped from a ship 



