﻿12 
  MALLET 
  : 
  VOLCANOES 
  OF 
  BARREN 
  ISLAND 
  AND 
  NARCONDAM. 
  

  

  or 
  fine 
  ash. 
  A 
  similar 
  rock 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  sea-face 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  

   the 
  recent 
  lava. 
  It 
  looks 
  very 
  like 
  an 
  aqueous 
  deposit, 
  but 
  air-sorted 
  

   volcanic 
  materials 
  at 
  times 
  simulate 
  so 
  closely 
  those 
  sorted 
  by 
  water, 
  that 
  

   the_origin 
  of 
  the 
  rock 
  is 
  open 
  to 
  considerable 
  doubt. 
  1 
  

  

  As 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  from 
  the 
  map, 
  a 
  considerable 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  cone, 
  

   Recent 
  ash 
  on 
  ancient 
  including 
  both 
  the 
  walls 
  of 
  the 
  crater 
  and 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   terior 
  slopes, 
  are 
  covered 
  with 
  ash 
  ejected 
  from 
  

   the 
  central 
  cone. 
  The 
  greater 
  proportion 
  occurring 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  north- 
  

   east 
  may 
  be 
  ascribed, 
  partly 
  to 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  south-west 
  monsoon, 
  

   partly 
  to 
  the 
  crater 
  rim 
  being 
  lower 
  there, 
  and 
  partly 
  to 
  the 
  walls 
  of 
  the 
  

   crater 
  towards 
  the 
  south-east 
  being 
  too 
  precipitous 
  for 
  much 
  ash 
  to 
  lie 
  on 
  

   them. 
  2 
  The 
  newer 
  ash 
  differs 
  from 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  older 
  in 
  being 
  nearly 
  or 
  

   quite 
  black, 
  instead 
  of 
  dull 
  red, 
  the 
  iron 
  in 
  it 
  not 
  having 
  as 
  yet 
  under- 
  

   gone 
  much 
  alteration 
  to 
  sesquioxide. 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  been 
  suggested, 
  by 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  writer, 
  that 
  the 
  luxuriant 
  

   Vegetation 
  on 
  outer 
  vegetation 
  which 
  clothes 
  the 
  exterior 
  slopes 
  is 
  of 
  

   slopes 
  of 
  island. 
  ^^ 
  recent 
  origin, 
  3 
  an 
  idea 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  

  

  sprung, 
  partly 
  from 
  the 
  name 
  ' 
  Barren 
  Island/ 
  and 
  partly 
  from 
  the 
  

   account 
  left 
  by 
  Captain 
  A. 
  Blair, 
  whose 
  visit 
  in 
  1789 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  

   the 
  earliest 
  on 
  record. 
  His 
  remark, 
  however, 
  that 
  "those 
  parts 
  of 
  

   the 
  island 
  that 
  are 
  distant 
  from 
  the 
  volcano, 
  are 
  thinly 
  covered 
  with 
  

   withered 
  shrubs 
  and 
  blasted 
  trees," 
  4 
  must 
  have 
  referred 
  to 
  the 
  in- 
  

   terior 
  of 
  the 
  amphitheatre 
  only. 
  When 
  recently 
  at 
  home 
  on 
  fur- 
  

   lough, 
  I 
  found, 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  library, 
  a 
  bound 
  collection 
  5 
  of 
  

   charts, 
  &c, 
  containing, 
  inter 
  alia, 
  "a 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  volcano 
  on 
  Barren 
  

   Island, 
  bearing 
  East, 
  about 
  one 
  mile 
  off, 
  Taken 
  on 
  Board 
  the 
  Honorable 
  

  

  1 
  Vide 
  p. 
  15. 
  This 
  deposit 
  may 
  be 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  that 
  noticed 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  

   paragraph. 
  

  

  2 
  The 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  ash 
  within 
  the 
  crater, 
  where 
  the 
  vegetation 
  is 
  scanty 
  and 
  a 
  bird's-eye 
  

   view 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  can 
  be 
  obtained 
  from 
  the 
  recent 
  cone, 
  are 
  indicated 
  on 
  the 
  map 
  with 
  some 
  

   degree 
  of 
  exactness, 
  but 
  those 
  on 
  the 
  exterior 
  slopes 
  are 
  to 
  a 
  large 
  extent 
  conjectural, 
  the 
  

   vegetation 
  there 
  being 
  so 
  dense 
  that 
  the 
  rocks 
  are 
  very 
  imperfectly 
  seen, 
  both 
  from 
  the 
  

   crater 
  rim, 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  sea 
  below. 
  

  

  Calcutta 
  Jour. 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  Vol. 
  Ill, 
  p. 
  423 
  ; 
  Selections, 
  Records, 
  Government 
  of 
  India, 
  

   No. 
  XXV, 
  p. 
  129. 
  

  

  4 
  Asiatic 
  Researches, 
  Vol. 
  IV, 
  p. 
  398. 
  

  

  5 
  King's 
  Library 
  ; 
  press 
  mark 
  "® 
  or 
  }*$ 
  t 
  

  

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