VOLCANO. 



j^lowiftg lively red. The foilowiisg night the fiihtci raucous 

 fire made a terrible noife, aiid immediately after, a thoufand 

 Iheaves of fire blew up into the air, where breakinij and dif- 

 perllng, they fell like a ftiower of ftars upon the ifland, 

 which appeared all in a blaze, prefenting to the amazed 

 fpeftators at once a moll dreadful and beautiful illumination. 

 To ihefe natural fire -works fucceeded a kind of meteor, 

 which for fome time hung over the caftle of Scare, which 

 is fcated on a high rock in the ifland of Santorini, a meteor 

 not unlike a fiery fword, and which ferved to incieafe the 

 terror of the inhabitants. 



" On the 9th of September, the White and Black iflands 

 united, after which the wellcrn end of the ifland daily in- 

 creafed. There were now only four openings that emitted 

 flames, which ilTued forth with great impetuofity, fometimes 

 attended with noife like that of a large organ-pipe, and 

 fometimes hke the howling of wild beafts. On the 12th, the 

 fubterraneous noife became much augmented, having never 

 been fo frequent or fo dreadful as on that and the following 

 day. The burfts of this fubterranean thunder, like a gene- 

 ral difcharge of the artillery of an army, were repeated ten 

 or twelve times within twenty-four hours ; and immediately 

 after each clap, the large furnace threw up huge red-hot 

 Hones, which fell mto the fea at a great diftance. Thefe 

 claps were always followed by a thick fmoke, which fpread 

 clouds of arties over the fea and the neighbouring iflands. 

 " On the 1 8th of September an earthquake was felt at 

 Santorini, but did no great damage, though it confiderably 

 enlarged the burning ifland, and in feveral places gave vent 

 to the fire and fmoke. The claps were alfo more terrible 

 than ever, and in the midft of a thick fmoke, that appeared 

 like a mountain, large pieces of rock were thrown up with 

 as much noife and force as balls from the mouth of a cannon, 

 which afterwards fell upon the ifland, or into the fea. One 

 of the fmall neighbouring iflands was feveral times covered 

 with thefe fiery llones, which being thinly crutled over vvitli 

 fulphur, gave a bright light, and continued burning till that 

 waa confumed. 



" On the 21ft, after a dreadful clap of fubterraneous 

 thunder, very great lightnings cnfued, and at the fame in- 

 fant the new ifland was fo violently fliaken,that part of the 

 great furnace came tumbling down, and huge burning rocks 

 were thrown to the dillance of two miles and upwards. This 

 feemed to be the lafl effort of the volcano, and to have ex- 

 haufted the combullible matter, as all was quiet for feveral 

 days after. But on the 25th the fire broke out again, with 

 Hill greater fury, and among the claps was one fo terrible, that 

 the churches of Santorini were foon filled with crowds of 

 people, cxpefting every moment would be their lad ; and 

 the callle and town of Scaro fuffcrcd fuch a (hock, that the 

 doors and windows of the houfes flew open. The volcano 

 continued to rage during tlie remainder of the year ; and in 

 the month of January 1708, the large furnace without intcr- 

 miflion threw out llones and flames at lead once or twice, 

 but generally five or fix times a day. 



" On the loth of February, in the morning, a pretty 

 ftrong earthquake was felt at Santorini, which the inhabit- 

 ants confidered as a prelude to greater commotions in the 

 burning ifland : nor were they deceived ; for foon after, the 

 fire and fmoke iffucd in prodigious quantities ; the claps 

 like thunder were redoubled ; and nothing appeared but ob- 

 jcfts of horror and confufion. Rocks of an amazing fize 

 were raifed up to a great height above the water, and the 

 fea raged and boiled to fuch a degree, that it occafioncd 

 great conllernation. The fubterraneous bcllowings were 

 heard without intermiffion, and fometimes, in Icfs than a 

 quarter of an hour, there were fix or feveii eruptions from 



the large furnace. The noife of the repeated clapt, 

 the quantity of huge (tones that flew on every fide, the 

 houfes tottering to their very foundations, and the fire which 

 now appeared in open day, furpaffed all that had hitherto 

 happened, and formed a fcene allonifhing beyond defcription. 

 " The 15th of April was rendered remarkable by the 

 number and violence of the bellowings and eruptions, by 

 one of which near a hundred large ftones were thrown up 

 all together into the air, and fell again into the fea, at about 

 two miles diftance. From this time to the 23d of May, 

 which might be called the anniverfary of the birth of the 

 new ifland, things continued much in the fame ftate ; but 

 afterwards the fire and fmoke by degrees fubfided, and the 

 fubterraneous thunders became lefs terrible. 



" On the 15th of July, 1709, our author, accompanied 

 by the Romifh bifhop of Santorini and fome other eccle- 

 fiaftics, hired a boat to take a near view of the ifland. They 

 made direftly towards it, on that fide wfiere the fea did not 

 bubble, but where it fmoked very much. Being got into 

 this vapour, they felt a clofe fuffocating heat, and found 

 the water very hot and fultry. Having encompaffed the 

 ifland, and furveyed it carefully from an adjacent one, they 

 judged it to be two hundred feet above the fea, about a mile 

 broad, and five miles in circumference ; but not being 

 thoroughly fatisfied, they refolved to attempt to land, and 

 accordingly rowed toward that part of the ifland where they 

 perceived neither fire nor fmoke ; but when they got within 

 a hundred yards of it, the gre:^t furnace difcharged itfelf 

 with its ufual fury, and the wind blew upon them a thick 

 fmoke, and a ihower of aflies, which obliged them to quit 

 their defign. Having retired a little, they let down a plum- 

 met, with a line ninety-five fathoms long, but it was too 

 fliort to reach the bottom. On their return to Santorini, 

 they obferved that the heat of the water had melted moll of 

 the pitch from their boat, which was before grown very 

 leaky. For feveral years afterwards the ifland continued to 

 incrcafe, and the fire and fubterranean noifes abated." 



Another eruption, almoll equally violent, took place in 

 1767, in the month of June, and a new ifland was formed 

 between the Little Kamenoi and the ifland of Hiera. It 

 is named the Black ifland, and is twice as large as the 

 Little Kamenoi. There have been nine of thefe fubmarine 

 eruptions recorded in the fpace of twenty-one centuries, 

 and probably many others have occurred at great depths, 

 without raifing new iflands. Thevenot, a refpcftable tra- 

 veller, who vifited Santorini in 1655, ft'itcs that eighteen 

 years before his arrival in the ifland, a violent noiie was 

 heard there, and even at Chios, though diftant two hundred 

 miles, and was at firft fuppofed to be occafioned by an 

 aftion between the Venetian and Turkilh fleets. A (hort 

 time after, a vaft quantity of pumice-llone rofc from the 

 bottom of the fea, near the harbour, with fuch violence and 

 noife, as to refemble repeated difcharges of artillery, which 

 fo infefted the air, that feveral perfons died at Santorini, 

 and others loft their fight. The infedion extended to Chios 

 and Smyrna. The pumices thrown up covered the fea in 

 fuch a manner, that when certain winds prevailed, the h.ir- 

 bours were fo blocked up with them, that not even the 

 fmalleft vefltls could get out, till a way was made for them, 

 by removing the pumicea witli long poles ; and they were 

 ftill, in 1655, fcen fcattered over the whole Mediterranean. 

 Voyages de M. Thevenot, prem. part. 



Various fubmarine volcanoes have broken out near the 



. iflands called Azores or Terceras, and have raifed feveral 



new iflands. The phenomena attending their formation were 



fimilar to thofe which took place at Santorini. Tliefocnip- 



tioDs hive occurred fince lljc Azores were iirft vifited by 



Europeans. 



