﻿Barken 
  island. 
  13 
  

  

  Company's 
  Snow 
  Viper, 
  March 
  23rd, 
  1789, 
  William 
  Test 
  Belt" 
  Test 
  

   was 
  evidently 
  the 
  draughtsman 
  to 
  Blair's 
  survey. 
  On 
  this 
  water-color 
  

   sketch 
  the 
  exterior 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  island 
  are 
  represented 
  as 
  being 
  mostly 
  

   well-wooded, 
  although 
  bare, 
  or 
  grass-covered, 
  in 
  part, 
  1 
  in 
  fact 
  not 
  

   markedly 
  different 
  in 
  any 
  way 
  from 
  what 
  they 
  are 
  at 
  present. 
  There 
  

   is 
  not 
  a 
  shadow 
  of 
  evidence 
  that 
  any 
  eruption 
  has 
  taken 
  place 
  since 
  

   then 
  on 
  such 
  a 
  scale 
  as 
  to 
  destroy 
  the 
  vegetation, 
  even 
  if 
  it 
  were 
  

   possible 
  for 
  the 
  latter 
  to 
  have 
  recovered 
  itself 
  by 
  1843, 
  when 
  Captain 
  

   Miller 
  found 
  the 
  outer 
  slopes 
  well 
  wooded. 
  2 
  

  

  As 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  from 
  Captain 
  Hobday's 
  map, 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  

   Valley 
  around 
  the 
  cen. 
  val 
  %, 
  between 
  the 
  walls 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  crater 
  and 
  the 
  

   tral 
  cone. 
  newer 
  cone, 
  has 
  an 
  elevation, 
  at 
  the 
  point 
  furthest 
  

  

  from 
  the 
  sea, 
  of 
  about 
  320 
  feet. 
  From 
  this 
  watershed, 
  the 
  valley, 
  both 
  

   round 
  the 
  north, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  south, 
  of 
  the 
  cone, 
  slopes 
  downwards 
  by 
  

   degrees 
  to 
  the 
  sea. 
  The 
  slope 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  influenced 
  in 
  some 
  degree 
  

   by 
  an 
  unequal 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  ejecta 
  from 
  the 
  central 
  cone, 
  but 
  

   it 
  is 
  caused 
  in 
  the 
  main, 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  any 
  ordinary 
  valley 
  of 
  erosion, 
  

   by 
  the 
  pluvial 
  wash 
  of 
  material 
  towards 
  and 
  into 
  the 
  sea. 
  At 
  times, 
  

   when 
  the 
  latest 
  ejecta 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  have 
  been 
  scoriae 
  and 
  ash, 
  the 
  

   denudation 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  very 
  rapid 
  during 
  heavy 
  rains, 
  but 
  since 
  the 
  

   pouring 
  forth 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  recent 
  lava 
  streams 
  the 
  erosion 
  has 
  doubtless 
  

   been 
  greatly 
  diminished. 
  The 
  streams, 
  indeed, 
  by 
  damming 
  up 
  the 
  

   valleys, 
  and 
  forcing 
  the 
  drainage 
  into 
  a 
  subterranean 
  course, 
  through 
  

   the 
  scoriaceous 
  layers 
  at 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  lava, 
  have 
  probably 
  stopped 
  

   rapid 
  erosion 
  almost 
  entirely. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  understand 
  how 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  sea 
  flows 
  round 
  the 
  

  

  inner 
  cone, 
  as 
  stated 
  in 
  many 
  standard 
  works 
  on 
  

   Erroneous 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  

   sea 
  surrounds 
  the 
  central 
  geology, 
  can 
  have 
  originated. 
  The 
  earliest 
  visit 
  

  

  of 
  which 
  any 
  record 
  is 
  extant 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  that 
  in 
  

  

  1 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  perfectly 
  clear 
  whether, 
  hare 
  rock 
  or 
  grass 
  (dry 
  and 
  yellowish, 
  as 
  it 
  would 
  

   he 
  in 
  the 
  hot 
  weather), 
  is 
  meant, 
  hut 
  I 
  think 
  the 
  latter. 
  Ash 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  given 
  a 
  much 
  

   darker 
  shade. 
  

  

  2 
  Calcutta 
  Jour., 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  Vol. 
  III., 
  p. 
  423. 
  

  

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  263 
  ) 
  

  

  