Rev. 31. Frater — Volcanic Eruption, Ambry m Island. 501 



source in a fissure eruption in the centre of the island. It is not 

 easy to describe the kind of cauldron that was formed when this 

 huge mass of molten metal reached the sea; it plunged into it with 

 loud detonations ; the r-ed-hot lava was shivered like melted glass 

 into millions of particles; gigantic blisters were formed, exploding 

 like miniature volcanoes, The crackling noise was deafening, and to 

 such a height was the column of steam and ash shot up that the 

 spectators on a neighbouring island, twenty miles away, imagined 

 that a new volcano had burst out on the sea-shore. The sky was 

 darkened and, for miles around, the sea was covered with dead fish 

 and debris of all sorts. Enormous quantities of pumice-stone floated 

 on the water and covered the sea for miles. 



By the time H.M.S. Sealarh arrived in the islands the surface of 

 the lava streams had solidified and it was possible for the Survey 

 party to trace the flows from the shore to their sources in the interior 

 of the island. A belt of fracture, marking the line of volcanic 

 activity which runs through the island, was discovered, and on this 

 line of weakness all the old and new volcanoes are placed. At the 

 opposite end of the island, where volcanic action has become almost 

 extinct, a considerable amount of vapour rises to the surface through 

 fissures in the ground. From some of the fissures flows water hot 

 enough for the natives to cook their yams. In their journeys across 

 the island the natives use these places as camping-grounds where 

 they can procure hot water without the labour of kindling fires. 

 But of recent years, due possibly to the exhaustion of volcanic energy 

 in the south-east part of Ambrym, the number, as well as the heat, 

 of these hot springs is diminishing. Standing on an elevation near one 

 of the volcanoes on the ash plain it is possible for the eye to follow 

 the belt of fracture to the other end of the island, and then with an 

 intervening channel of ten miles rises the lofty cone of the Lopevi 

 volcano, indicating that it lay in the same line of weakness on the 

 earth's crust. 



During the visit of the Survey party, Mount Benbow was in 

 violent eruption, and presented a beautiful sight. Every few 

 minutes, and sometimes almost continuously, eruptions took place, 

 and, with every explosion, gigantic clouds of dust and ash of crebri- 

 form shape were shot up to a great height. From the anchorage of 

 H.M.S. Sealark, at the north end of the island, the officers measured 

 the height of the column and found it to be 12,000 feet above the lip 

 of the crater. 



The mouth of the crater was one mile long and three-quarters of 

 a mile broad. Standing on the lip of the crater it was possible to 

 watch operations. With bellowing noise showers of hot stones 

 were ejected, some of which fell uncomfortably near to members 

 of the party who approached the danger zone. Blocks of rock, 

 torn from the walls of the vent, were hurled into the air. The 

 heavier rocks fell back into the crater, and the smaller and lighter, 

 carried by the winds, were piled around the crater with more or less 

 regularity, according to the direction of the prevailing wind. The 

 fragmental materials thus accumulated were of all shapes and sizes, 

 from the finest powdered stone to large blocks blown out of the 



