5 



f 



b. XXIIL] 



OF VOLCANIC REGIONS. 



591 



in the Sandwich Islands, which have been admirably treated 



Mr 



fi 



Another 



oreat region of subterranean disturbance is that which has 

 been imagined to extend through a large part of Central Asia 

 to the Azores, that is to say, from China and Tartary through 

 Lake Aral and the Caspian to the Caucasus and the countries 

 bordering the Black Sea, then again through part of Asia 

 Minor to Syria, and westward to the Grecian Islands, Greece, 

 Naples, Sicily, the southern part of Spain, Portugal, and the 

 Azores. The breaks in this supposed continuous series of 

 volcanic disturbances are of such extent that the connection 



* 



as a linear group cannot be insisted on, but it may be useful 

 in helping us to remember the geographical limits within 

 which certain volcanos and earthquakes of historical date 

 have been witnessed. Respecting the eastern extremity of 

 this line in China, we have little information, but many 



known 



The 



volcano said to have been in eruption in the seventh century 

 in Central Tartary is situated on the northern declivity of 

 the Celestial Mountains, not far distant from the large lake 

 called Issikoul; and Humboldt mentions other vents and 

 solfataras in the same quarter, which are all worthy of notice, 

 as being far more distant from the ocean (260 geographical 

 miles) than any other known points of eruption. 



We find on the western shores of the Caspian, in the 

 country round Baku, a tract called the Field of Fire, which 

 continually emits inflammable gas, while springs of naphtha 



petroleum 



in the same vicinity, as also mud 



volcanos. Syria and Palestine abound in volcanic appear- 

 ances, and very extensive areas have been shaken, at different 

 periods, with great destruction of cities and loss of lives. 

 Continual mention is made in history of the ravages com- 

 fitted by earthquakes in Sidon, Tyre, Berytus, Laodicea, 

 and Antioch, and in the Island of Cyprus. The country 

 around the Dead Sea exhibits in some spots layers of sulphur 

 and bitumen, forming a superficial deposit, supposed by Mr. 



Geology of the American Exploring Expedition. See also Ly ell's Elements 

 °f Geology, ' Sandwich I. Volcanos '—Index. 



