﻿4334 DR. TEMPEST ANDERSON ON THE [Nov. I9IO, 



as was also a house near Saleaula belonging to Mr. Bartley. In 

 these three cases, although the interiors were burnt and gutted, 

 the lava was fluid enough to surround the structures and bury 

 them in various degrees without overthrowing the walls. Thus 

 the body of the church of Sataputu was entirely buried under 

 30 or 40 feet of lava, and the only part remaining visible is the 

 tower which still rears its head above the lava-field (PI. XLIX, 

 fig. 2). The walls were, in this case, substantial enough to cool 

 the lava where it touches them, and so far to solidify it that sub- 

 sequent flows were "kept hack, the upper part remaining uncovered 

 in the middle of a depression which almost simulates a subsidence. 



Mr. Bartley's house, though gutted, remains standing in the 

 midst of a similar depression. The lava in this case was not so 

 deep as in the first. 



The church of Saleaula was near the edge of the lava, which 

 was consequently of no great thickness ; the lava was fluid enough 

 to enter the building through the windows and cover the floor to 

 a depth of several feet, without overthrowing the walls. 



Damage to Vegetation. 



All vegetation overwhelmed by the lava was, of course, killed ; 

 but much more damage was done by the Ua Sami, or poisonous 

 .gases, discharged from the crater, or formed by the action of the 

 hot lava on the sea-water. The destruction of vegetation was 

 naturally greater in the vicinity of the crater, and was especially 

 severe on the high ground to the west, owing to the prevailing wind 

 being easterly and north-easterly. On the descent from the crater 

 in this direction the destruction of trees was complete, and to 

 nearly as far as Olonono, a distance of 2^ miles, their bleached 

 skeletons were all that remained. It was only in a few sheltered 

 situations that the low undergrowth was beginning to return 

 from the old roots, till this distance was reached, the trees having 

 suffered more than the undergrowth. I heard from credible 

 sources that the cocoa-nut palms had been killed as far as 5 miles 

 to the west of the crater. On the low ground, both at Saleaula on 

 the west, and Sataputu on the east, the damage was less. Trees 

 close to and actually in the lava were killed, and I noticed many 

 moulds where the lava had solidified round them, and the trunks 

 had subsequently decayed 1 or been burnt out ; but luxuriant tropical 

 growth had returned right up to the lava, and was beginning to 

 spread over it, especially near Sataputu. The plants that seem to 

 be the pioneers were especially the creeping vines like Ipornea; and 

 it is noticed that these were similar to, if not identical with, some 

 of the commonest pioneer plants on the Soufriere of St. Vincent. 



1 In Hawaii I have seen this process carried a stage further. The lava has 

 cooled and solidified so as to form a mould round a tree, but this solidification 

 has only extended to a distance of a foot or two, the surrounding lava still 

 remaining fluid. The flow has continued its course, and the still fluid part run 

 away, so that a tube of solidified lava like a chimney 10 or 12 feet high remains 

 standing and marks the position of the former tree. 



