Aet. VIII. — Experience of the Barque " W. H. Besse" in 



th e J a va Ea rth q u alee, A u gust, 1883. 



By Me. G. H. Ridge. 



[Bead 12th .June, 1884.] 



Some days ago Captain Gibbs, of the American barque 

 " W. H. Besse/' spoke to me of his experience in the Java 

 earthquake (he being at that time chief officer). The vessel 

 was on a voyage from Manila to Boston. I thought that 

 any information I could obtain of such a terrible disaster 

 would be of interest to the members of the Royal Society, 

 and I requested permission to look at the chart and make 

 extracts from the log-book, which was readily granted. On 

 looking at the chart of Sunda Straits, although they had only 

 been partially re-surveyed at the time the "W. H. Besse" 

 left Boston for Melbourne, I found that a large portion of 

 Krakatoa Island had been submerged : two new islands and a 

 large reef have appeared where deep water was previously 

 indicated. During the time of the earthquake the shower 

 of ashes was so heavy that they covered the deck to a depth 

 of five or six inches, and the darkness so intense it was 

 almost impossible to distinguish an object a few inches 

 distant. The day following the crew were engaged most of 

 the day in throwing the ashes overboard. The captain 

 filled a small cask out of those that had fallen on the sails. 

 The present chief officer, not knowing that the captain 

 desired to bring them to Melbourne to distribute amongst 

 his friends, used most of them when scrubbing paint-work. 

 However, I am pleased to say I obtained a small quantity 

 and handed them to our worthy president for microscopical 

 examination and analysis. I shall now proceed to read the 

 extracts taken from the log-book : — 



Friday, 2tth August. 



" Off Amsterdam Island. Moderate winds and cloudy 

 weather; barometer 30*14, thermometer 9-5/' 



