Jan. lo, 1884] 



NATURE 



243 



thick cloud of smoke arose (from Mount r4erapi o' 20' S. 

 lat., 100° 28' E. long. Greenwich) drove directly away ; now 

 smoke arose from a point at some distan:e from the crater, 

 uncertain whether it originated in ejeete I matters, or 

 whether there were fumaroles. After five minutes the 

 same phenomena were observed ; afterwards it was per- 

 fectly quiet. At 10.50 a.m. hollow groaning; another 

 column of smo'<e arose ; ashes falling eastward ; two 

 columns of smoke During all this time a fearful noise 

 was heard from afar, which became stronger after 11 am. 



Dr. B. Hagen wrote to the editor of the Ausland 

 {Atisland, No. 46) fromTandjong Morawa(Deli, Sumatra, 

 almost 1000 kin. distant from Krakatoa) : In the after- 

 noon (27th) thick white clouds were seen coining from 

 the volcano Sipaiak (or Guming Balerang), more than 

 30 km. distant to south-west. 



From Menggala (130 km. from Telok Belong to the 

 north-west) is reported : Slight concussion of the air, rain 

 of ashes, darkness. From Sukadana (105 km. from 

 Telok Betong to the north-east) is reported : Much 

 damage done by falling ashes and stones. 



During the eruption there were still two vessels near 

 the Sunda Straits the reports of which are to be men- 

 tioned. The Anncslcy (Tiiiies, weekly edition, Oct. 12), 

 Capt. Strachan, from Singapore, August 27, for Mauritius : 

 At 10 a.m. it was so dark that they had to light all the 

 lights. Barometer rising and falling j inch to i inch in 

 the minute. Ashes and pumice-stones Vailing. Towards 

 the night ashes stopped, but it was as black as night. 

 August 2S, they passed the Sunda Straits, and heard 

 from the liglithouse-keeper (Java's First Point) that he 

 had had fearful weather. Had some of the ashes as far 

 as 100 miles clear of Java Head. 



The hopper barge 7V^(?/ made from Batavia for Merak, 

 August 27, early in the morning. On the way they met 

 with ashes and stones pouring down ; it became quite 

 dark, sea rough ; came to anchor by 12 o'clock ; dreadful 

 weather ; she dragged her anchor. Towards 3 o'clock 

 the sky cleared up, then went on till 5 p m. In the night 

 they saw a biight light in the south and west, many 

 flashes of lightning, and balls of fire ; several sea-quakes ; 

 at once sea like glass. In the morning (.August 28), when 

 It dawned, the Tet^a/ was off St. Nicholas Point ; now 

 she entered the straits ; they saw the devastation. At 

 Dwars-in-dcn-Weg the sea had still deepened the deep 

 places which were there before ; Saleier and Tempora 

 had disappeared ; the height of the waves at Merak was 

 estimated from 30 m. to 40 m. by the chief of the works 

 at Merak {Xicuws van den Dag, October 10). 



The Prins Hendrik, a Dutch man-of-war (2000 tons, 

 400 h.p„ 5-5 m. draft, Sguns, 229 Europeans, 53 natives) 

 was sent to the Sunda Straits for the safety of the vessels 

 arriving there f A'/W/rcj van den Dag, November 17). She 

 first went to Vlakke Hoek, but could not communicate on 

 account of the pumice-stone ; another vessel succeeded 

 in communicating (September 3), and found of the men 

 of the lighthouse (5 Europeans, 14 coolies) 10 natives 

 dead, 3 Europeans and 4 natives wounded. The base 

 of the lighthouse is 2-5 m. above the level of the sea ; the 

 first (iron) floor was broken, the lodgings near the light- 

 house swept away. The Heiidtik observed that the north 

 part of Krakatoa had disappeared ; from the part which 

 remained, from Verlaten and Lang Island, and the new 

 ones (Calmeyer and Seers), smoke continually arose ; 

 now and then, by night, a flame was seen. September 16, 

 the Hcndrik tried to enter Semungka Bay. They found 

 a place where the sea was not covered with pumice-stone, 

 but landing was impossible, the breakers being too 

 strong ; next day a boat was sent again, which was beset in 

 the floating masses. The pumice-stone around the Hcndrik 

 was now 5 feet thick, and one could stand on it. The 

 boat had at last to be given up, the crew (being one 

 lieutenant, Dutch Navy, two boatswains, fourteen sailors) 

 went on shore. The Hendrik tried to leave the bay, but 



could hardly turn round ; a condenser exploded, and they 

 had to come to anchor. As far as they could see, the sea 

 was covered with pumice-stone. After thirty hours t^^e 

 engine had been repaired and cleared, and after much 

 trouble the steamer got out of the bay. 



Though the reports which I have mentioned are far 

 from being complete (I shnll try to complete them), I 

 think they are sufficient to draw some conclusions : — 



I. As to the height of the wave, we have seen that the 

 first waves at Anjer were more than 10 metres high 

 (August 27, 6 a m.). At Merak the height of the most 

 destructive wave (by 9 o'clock) is estimated at 30-40 

 metres by the engineer himself, and Mr. McCoU (the 

 Scotsman, November 24) estimated it to be 135 feet 

 (about 41 metres). At Telok Betong (Talang hills) it was 

 about 23 or 24 metres, but here it was not properly speak- 

 ing a wave, but it seems that the water in Lampong Bay 

 was dammed up as it were. I suppose that the bay by 

 the first waves was filled, and the mass of water broke 

 here the force of the explosion, and the wave bywhi:h 

 the latter was followed was turned to the east (fro 11 

 Merak the wave came from west). In general 1 do not 



suppose that we may speak about ''waves" in the ordi- 

 nary sense. Besides the previous commotions, which 

 were of course very strong, I suppose that by the explo- 

 sion (let us say August 27, 9.30) an immense mass of 

 water was driven to the north, and escaped as far as it 

 could into the Java Sea ; probably other concussions 

 followed, and afterwards the mass flew back (this was th^i 

 wave the Bcrbicc met with at 3 o'clock), and went intu 

 the Indian Ocean. If this supposition be true, I think 

 \'lakke Hoek lighthouse was also struck by the wave in 

 the afternoon (which, of course, I do not know). That 

 the water was really dammed up, we learn also — though 

 the effect was not so strong — from the report from Telok 

 Betong about August 26. The men, being on the pier, 

 had to make their way home through the water, which at 

 the time was rather high, and they coidd never have done 

 it if there had at that moment been a flowing off of the 

 wave. From different reports it results that the waves 

 produced their effect in a certain direction, and not 

 around (e.g. destruction in the night 26th to 27th, 

 Sirah, south of Anjer; 26th, in the evening, destruction 

 at Merak, only slight commotion at Anjei). 



2. The barometer. From the Bcibice it is reported: 

 28 to 30 inches, violently agitated. Annestey : rising 



