1S60.] Account of a visit to Barren Island. 7 



boldt's Cosmos, both apparently derived from the same source, must 

 be rectified. The narrator states (in "Lyell") that the sea filled the 

 circular valley round the cone. 



Horsburgh states that in 1803 the volcano was observed to ex- 

 plode regularly every 10 minutes, projecting each time a column of 

 black smoke, perpendicularly, to a great height, " and in the night a 

 fire of considerable size continued to burn on the east side of the 

 crater, which was then in view." 



The oldest account on record is that of Captain Blair, already 

 quoted, taken from his Report of the survey of the Andaman Islands. 

 He must have visited the Island about 1790, as far as I am able to 

 conclude from the publication in the researches and the date of his 

 chart of the Andamans which is 1790. He approached nearly to the 

 base of the cone, which he describes as the lowest part of the Island, 

 very little higher than the level of the sea, but he does not men- 

 tion the black stream of lava. The acclivity of the cone he states 

 to be 32° 17', and its height 1,800 feet nearly, which, says he, is 

 also the elevation of the other parts of the Island. On the other hand 

 he remarks that the cone is visible in clear weather at a distance of 

 twelve leagues, which would require a height of not more than from 

 900 to 1,000 feet. I think therefore that Captain Blair could have 

 taken no accurate measurements, contenting himself with a rough 

 estimate. If it could be proved otherwise, the Island would have 

 subsided 820 feet since he visited it. 



From the description in some of these accounts it would. appear 

 that the high vegetation which we found on the external slope of 

 the Island, is of quite recent origin. 



Mr. Adam's authority (1831) states as follows : — 



" The summits to the N. E. were completely smooth and covered 

 with ashes ; those to the S. W., although partly covered with ashes, 

 also have a good many small shrubs over them, with dry and parched 

 grass growing on the surface." 



He conjectures from this that the eruptions would take place only 

 in the S. W. Monsoon or rainy season, at which time the S. W. 

 wind would blow the dust and ashes on the hills in the opposite di - 

 rection, or N. E. ; such a conjecture is hardly admissible on the 

 ground given, it being easier to account for the vegetation on the 



