Geographic Notes 



161 



set in flames. About four hours from the 

 lava boiling over the crater it reached 

 the sea, as we could observe from the 

 reflection of the fire and the electric 

 flashes which attended it. 



About half-past one another stream 

 of lava was seen descending to the east- 

 ward towards Rabacca. The thunder- 

 ing noise of the mountain and the vibra- 

 tion of sound that had been so formid- 

 able hitherto now mingled in the sullen 

 monotonous roar of the rolling lava, be- 

 came so terrible that dismay was almost 

 turned into despair. At this time the 

 first earthquake was felt. This was fol- 

 lowed by showers of cinders that fell 

 with the hissing noise of hail during 

 two hours. At three o'clock a rolling 

 on the roofs of the houses indicated a 

 fall of stones, which soon thickened 

 and at length descended in a rain of in- 

 termingled fire that threatened at once 

 the fate of Pompeii and Herculaneum. 

 The crackling and coruscations from 

 the crater at this period exceeded all 

 that had yet passed. The eyes were 

 struck with momentary blindness, and 

 the ears stunned with the glomeration 

 of sounds. People sought shelter in 

 cellars, under rocks, or anywhere, for 

 everywhere was nearly the same, and 

 the miserable negroes, flying from their 

 huts, were knocked down or wounded 

 and many killed in the open air. Sev- 



eral houses were set on fire. The es- 

 tates situated in the immediate vicinity 

 seemed doomed to destruction. Had 

 the stones that fell been proportionally 

 heavy to the size, not a living creature 

 could have escaped without death. 

 These having undergone a thorough 

 fusion, they were divested of their natu- 

 ral gravity, and fell almost as light as 

 pumex, though in some places as large 

 as a man's head. This dreadful rain of 

 stones and fire lasted upwards of an hour, 

 and was again succeeded by cinders 

 from three till six o'clock in the morn- 

 ing. Earthquake followed earthquake 

 almost momentarily, or rather the whole 

 of this part of this island was in a state 

 of continued oscillation, not agitated 

 by shocks vertical or horizontal, but 

 undulated like water shaken in a bowl. 

 The break of day, if such it would be 

 called, was truly terrific. Darkness was 

 only visible at eight o'clock, and the 

 birth of May dawned like the day of 

 judgment. A chaotic gloom enveloped 

 the mountain and an impenetrable haze 

 hung over the sea, with black sluggish 

 clouds of a sulphureous cast. The whole 

 island was covered with favilla, cinders, 

 scoria, and broken masses of volcanic 

 matter. It was not until the afternoon 

 the muttering noise of the mountain 

 sunk gradually into a solemn yet sus- 

 picious silence. 



GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 



EXPLORATIONS AMONG THE WRAN- 

 GELL MOUNTAINS, ALASKA 



MESSRS T. G. Gerdine and D. C. 

 Witherspoon, of the U. S. Geo- 

 logical Survey, as one of the results of 

 their topographic work in the Copper 

 River basin, Alaska, during the seasons 

 of 1900 and 1902, have developed some 

 most interesting facts concerning a great 

 group of peaks called the Wrangell 



Mountains, whose slopes are drained by 

 tributaries of the Copper, the Tanana, 

 and the White rivers. The western 

 end of this group was located roughly 

 by Lieut. Allen in 1885, in connection 

 with his reconnaissance through central 

 Alaska, and his descriptions gave the 

 first conception of the altitude and im- 

 portance of the group. 



Messrs Gerdine and Witherspoon , how- 

 ever, have mapped accurately and in 



