﻿Vol. 66.~] THE VOLCANO OF MATAVANTJ IN SAVAII. 621 



25. The Volcano of Matavantt in Savaii. By Tempest Anderson, 



M.D., D.Sc, F.G.S. (Read April 13th, 1910.) 



[Plates XLV-LII.] 



The Samoa or Navigator Islands are a group in the Western 

 Pacific, lying in 13|° to 14° S. lat. and 168° to 173° W. long. 

 They are some 350 miles north of Tonga, and between 400 and 

 500 miles north-east of Eiji. From Auckland (New Zealand) the 

 sailing distance is 1560 miles, and from San Francisco about 4400. 



The group consists of nine islands, in addition to rocks and 

 islets, but only four are of any notable size, namely : Upolu, Savaii, 

 Tutuila, and Manua. The two first-named belong to Germany and 

 the two last-named to the United States. They are mountainous, 

 but at the same time well wooded, and are all, with the exception 

 of Eose Island, volcanic, and for the most part surrounded with 

 coral-reefs. They are disposed in a linear direction from north- 

 west to south-east, and a line drawn from the volcanic region of 

 New Zealand and thence through White Island, Pylstaart, the 

 Kermadecs, and the Tonga Islands, all of which contain volcanoes 

 active or extinct, would pass through the group. It is probable 

 that each of these lines marks a fold-fissure or line of weakness 

 of the earth's crust. It is noteworthy that a volcanic eruption took 

 place in the Tonga Group at the same time as the great eruption 

 of Tarawera in New Zealand, in June 1886. 



Savaii is the westernmost and also the largest of the group. It 

 is 48 miles long and at least 25 miles wide, but the interior has- 

 never been surveyed. It has a backbone of volcanic mountains, all 

 formed of different varieties of basalt. 



One of these, Mauga Loa, rises to a height of 5600 feet. Another, 

 7 or 8 miles to the west, has the suggestive name of Mauga Afi 

 (mountain of fire), and from it and its parasitic craters most of 

 the extensive lava-streams in the west of the island appear to 

 have proceeded. An eruption which destroyed Aopo, a town in 

 this district, probably took place about 150 or 200 years ago, 

 judging from information given to Mr. Williams * by an old man, 



1 For most of the information about the commencement and progress of 

 the eruption, and for many other kindnesses, I am indebted to Mr. Richard 

 Williams, Amtmann of Savaii. He allowed me access to his copious manu- 

 script notes and official reports, and furnished me with a copy of a map of his 

 own making, which shows the position of the volcano, and the extent of the 

 lava-flows at various epochs. 



The following papers and. articles have also been consulted, but are 

 unfortunately not very accessible to English readers: — 



H. I. Jensen. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. W. vol. xxxi (1906) p. 641. This contains- 

 an early copy of Mr. Williams's map and some remarkable photographs by 

 Capt. Allen, who in the ordinary course of his voyages regularly passes the 

 volcano. It also contains a description of the petrology of the lavas. 



W. von Bclow. ' Vulkanische Tatigkeit auf Savaii' Globus, July 12th, 1906. 



R. Deeken. ' Neuer Vulkan im Stillen Ozean ' Deutsche Kolonial-Zeitung, 

 1906, p. 273. 



Karl Sapper. Zeitschr. f. Erdkunde, Berlin, 1906, p. 686. (A good compilation.) 



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