BY H. I. JENSEN. 057 



near the point of eruption, but nevertheless registered by the 

 seismograph at Apia. The moon was early in the first quarter. 



The Rev. Pere Mennel of Safotu has kindly given me informa- 

 tion regarding the earty history of the volcano. This occupies 

 a position which before was a small stony plain about 

 1600 feet above sea-level. In the centre of this plain there stood 

 a small stony hill, which might have been piled up by a previous 

 eruption, but there was no evidence of a crater. To the east of 

 the active cone there is a high mountain (about 2000 feet), which 

 is a remnant of a very old crater ring This mountain is 

 connected by a ridge with another mountain, one mile south-west 

 of the cone between it and Olenono. This mountain also consists 

 of old volcanic rock. To the south the ground gradually rises to 

 Mt. Pule (crater lake) on the backbone of Savaii, over 4000 feet 

 high. 



In the beginning there were three vents, out of each of which 

 ashes, sand, and stones were hurled. By the ejections three 

 little cones were built up. On September 1st two of them, the 

 most southerly and the most easterly, had united to form one. 

 Later, in the end of September, the third coalesced with them, 

 and a crater formed in the middle. The lava commenced to flow 

 in the same month. The first flow, on September 3rd, was 

 toM'ards the north-west; the second was towards the south. The 

 latter was soon stopped by the high ground. On December 3rd, 

 a long lava stream came down to the sea, running in a north-east 

 direction, and destroyed Toapaipai. The great flows in February 

 and March of the present year were still more destructive. All 

 the lava flows cooled quickly on the surface. A few hours after 

 a stream came down, it was possible to walk on it; and messengers 

 crossed the lava every day between Matauto and Satapatu. 



Pere Mennel tells me that large pieces of sulphur and common 

 salt were ejected from the volcano in the early stages. At the 

 time of my visits sulphur and crystals of common salt (NaCl) 

 were the most common encrustations met with lining the fissures 

 on the volcano and lava flows. 



