﻿n 
  

  

  MALLET 
  : 
  VOLCANOES 
  OF 
  BARREN 
  ISLAND 
  AND 
  NARCONDAM. 
  

  

  1789 
  by 
  Captain 
  Blair, 
  1 
  who 
  says 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  cone 
  is 
  the 
  lowest 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  island, 
  and 
  very 
  little 
  higher 
  than 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  sea," 
  a 
  

   sentence 
  which 
  is 
  perhaps 
  open 
  to 
  the 
  construction 
  that 
  the 
  sea 
  extended 
  

   nearly 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  cone. 
  That 
  this 
  was 
  not 
  his 
  meaning, 
  

   however, 
  is 
  clear 
  from 
  the 
  original 
  manuscript 
  copy 
  of 
  his 
  " 
  Chart 
  of 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  Coast 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Andaman 
  and 
  Adjacent 
  Islands 
  " 
  (1 
  degree 
  

   of 
  latitude 
  = 
  15 
  J 
  inches), 
  drawn 
  by 
  William 
  Test 
  in 
  1789, 
  which 
  is 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  charts 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  Library, 
  to 
  which 
  

   I 
  have 
  already 
  alluded. 
  Not 
  only 
  does 
  the 
  sea, 
  as 
  represented 
  on 
  this 
  

   chart, 
  not 
  surround 
  the 
  cone, 
  but 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  approach 
  it 
  more 
  nearly 
  

   than 
  at 
  present 
  ; 
  that 
  is 
  to 
  say, 
  the 
  bay 
  at 
  the 
  landing-place 
  does 
  extend 
  

   appreciably 
  further 
  eastward 
  than 
  its 
  present 
  limit. 
  

  

  But 
  there 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  past 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  volcano 
  

   when 
  the 
  feature, 
  erroneously 
  ascribed 
  to 
  it 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day, 
  was 
  a 
  

   reality. 
  After 
  the 
  explosive 
  eruption, 
  by 
  which, 
  probably, 
  the 
  upper 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  mountain 
  was 
  blown 
  away, 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  crater 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  

   far 
  below 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  sea, 
  and 
  the 
  western 
  wall 
  either 
  entirely 
  breached, 
  

   or 
  so 
  weakened 
  as 
  to 
  have 
  subsequently 
  given 
  way 
  to 
  marine 
  and 
  pluvial 
  

   erosion. 
  An 
  illustration 
  of 
  the 
  appearance 
  which, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  inferred, 
  the 
  

   island 
  presented 
  at 
  that 
  time, 
  with 
  the 
  crater 
  filled 
  by, 
  and 
  open 
  to, 
  the 
  

   sea, 
  is 
  offered 
  in 
  the 
  volcano 
  of 
  St. 
  Paul, 
  in 
  the 
  South 
  Indian 
  Ocean, 
  which, 
  

  

  1 
  In 
  the 
  extract 
  from 
  his 
  report, 
  given 
  in 
  Vol. 
  IV 
  of 
  the 
  Asiatic 
  Researches 
  (1795), 
  Captain 
  

   Blair 
  says 
  he 
  landed 
  on 
  the 
  24th 
  of 
  March, 
  without 
  mentioning 
  the 
  year. 
  Test's 
  sketch, 
  

   however, 
  (p. 
  12) 
  taken 
  off 
  the 
  coast, 
  was 
  made 
  on 
  the 
  23rd 
  March, 
  1789. 
  As 
  Test 
  was 
  evidently 
  

   draughtsman 
  to 
  the 
  survey, 
  there 
  can 
  scarcely 
  be 
  much 
  doubt, 
  I 
  think, 
  that 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  his 
  

   sketch 
  fixes 
  that 
  of 
  Blair's 
  visit. 
  When 
  recently 
  in 
  England, 
  I 
  examined 
  all 
  the 
  maps 
  and 
  

   charts 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  region, 
  dating 
  before 
  the 
  commencement 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  century, 
  that 
  

   were 
  available 
  in 
  the 
  libraries 
  of 
  the 
  Royal 
  Geographical 
  Society 
  and 
  the 
  British 
  Museum. 
  

   With 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  a 
  map 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Presqu' 
  Isle 
  de 
  l'lnde 
  au-dela 
  du 
  Gange 
  " 
  par 
  le 
  Sr. 
  

   Sanson 
  d' 
  Abb, 
  1652, 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  charts 
  previously 
  alluded 
  to 
  (p. 
  12), 
  and 
  on 
  

   which 
  an 
  island 
  is 
  marked 
  about 
  in 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  Barren 
  Island, 
  but 
  with 
  no 
  name 
  given 
  

   to 
  it, 
  the 
  earliest 
  map 
  containing 
  Barren 
  Island 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Andaman, 
  Nicobar, 
  and 
  adja- 
  

   cent 
  Islands, 
  dated 
  1778, 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  " 
  East 
  India 
  Pilot" 
  (British 
  Museum). 
  The 
  names 
  

   given 
  are 
  " 
  Monday 
  or 
  Barren 
  Island, 
  called 
  also 
  High 
  island." 
  It 
  would 
  seem 
  probable, 
  there- 
  

   fore, 
  that 
  the 
  island 
  was 
  not 
  distinctly 
  recognised, 
  and 
  named, 
  until 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  century. 
  

   Possibly 
  there 
  may 
  be 
  some 
  account 
  of 
  it 
  in 
  existence 
  by 
  the 
  first 
  discoverer. 
  (I 
  have 
  been 
  

   informed 
  by 
  Colonel 
  H. 
  Yule 
  that 
  on 
  a 
  map 
  contained 
  in 
  Linschsten's 
  Voyages, 
  1598, 
  an 
  

   island, 
  without 
  name, 
  is 
  marked 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  "Nacondaon." 
  See 
  foot-note, 
  p. 
  35.) 
  

  

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