﻿BARREN 
  ISLAND. 
  15 
  

  

  however, 
  has 
  suffered 
  more 
  from 
  denudation, 
  on 
  the 
  breached 
  side, 
  than 
  

   Barren 
  Island, 
  even 
  in 
  its 
  present 
  state. 
  In 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  after-ages 
  

   the 
  central 
  cone 
  was 
  built 
  up, 
  until, 
  when 
  it 
  appeared 
  above 
  the 
  water, 
  a 
  

   state 
  of 
  things 
  may 
  be 
  inferred 
  to 
  have 
  originated 
  somewhat 
  resembling 
  

   that 
  now 
  observable 
  at 
  Santorin. 
  Finally, 
  the 
  cone 
  must 
  have 
  encroached 
  

   more 
  and 
  more 
  on 
  the 
  surrounding 
  aqueous 
  ring 
  until 
  the 
  latter 
  dis- 
  

   appeared 
  altogether 
  and 
  the 
  island 
  assumed 
  its 
  present 
  form. 
  

  

  The 
  central 
  cone 
  is 
  almost 
  identical 
  in 
  size 
  with 
  " 
  the 
  present 
  cone 
  

   of 
  Vesuvius, 
  which, 
  rising 
  within 
  the 
  great 
  encircling 
  crater-ring 
  of 
  

   Somma, 
  has 
  a 
  height 
  of 
  about 
  1,000 
  feet. 
  But 
  there 
  is 
  undoubted 
  evidence 
  

   that 
  this 
  cone 
  has 
  been 
  entirely 
  built 
  up 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  1,800 
  years, 
  

   and, 
  what 
  is 
  more, 
  that 
  during 
  this 
  period 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  many 
  times 
  

   almost 
  wholly 
  destroyed 
  and 
  reconstructed. 
  " 
  1 
  Monte 
  Nuovo, 
  which 
  was 
  

   built 
  up 
  to 
  a 
  height 
  of 
  440 
  feet 
  in 
  about 
  a 
  week, 
  furnishes 
  an 
  instance 
  

   of 
  still 
  more 
  rapid 
  growth. 
  It 
  is, 
  therefore, 
  quite 
  conceivable 
  that 
  

   Barren 
  Island 
  has 
  been 
  seen 
  by 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  Indian 
  navigators 
  with 
  

   the 
  central 
  cone 
  surrounded 
  by 
  water, 
  and 
  it 
  may 
  be, 
  even, 
  that 
  some 
  

   faint 
  tradition 
  to 
  that 
  effect 
  is 
  still 
  extant. 
  2 
  

  

  Sir 
  C. 
  Lyell, 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  edition 
  of 
  his 
  'Principles/ 
  seems 
  to 
  suggest 
  that 
  

  

  No 
  evidence 
  of 
  recent 
  ^ 
  ne 
  non-existence 
  of 
  water 
  round 
  the 
  cone 
  now 
  is 
  

  

  elevation 
  of 
  the 
  island. 
  due 
  to 
  a 
  modern 
  upheaval 
  of 
  the 
  island, 
  evidenced 
  

  

  " 
  by 
  a 
  stratum 
  of 
  rounded 
  stones, 
  like 
  large 
  pebbles, 
  cemented 
  by 
  tufa, 
  

   " 
  exactly 
  like 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  beach, 
  but 
  at 
  a 
  considerable 
  elevation 
  

   " 
  (about 
  20 
  feet) 
  above 
  the 
  high- 
  water 
  mark, 
  showing 
  that 
  the 
  sub-marine 
  

   " 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  island 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  raised 
  since 
  those 
  pebbles 
  had 
  been 
  

   " 
  washed 
  by 
  the 
  sea/' 
  described 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Liebig, 
  3 
  whose 
  observations 
  were 
  

   made 
  in 
  1858. 
  The 
  Rev. 
  Charles 
  Parish, 
  however, 
  who 
  landed 
  on 
  

  

  1 
  « 
  Volcanoes,' 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Judd, 
  p. 
  83. 
  

  

  2 
  It 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  the 
  cone 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  built 
  up 
  with 
  such 
  rapidity 
  as 
  to 
  have 
  

   filled 
  up 
  the 
  water 
  ring 
  very 
  soon 
  after 
  the 
  cone 
  first 
  appeared 
  above 
  sea-level, 
  and 
  

   again 
  there 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  such 
  a 
  long 
  period 
  of 
  quiescence, 
  after 
  the 
  explosive 
  eruption 
  by 
  

   which 
  the 
  old 
  crater 
  was 
  formed, 
  that 
  the 
  tarn 
  filling 
  the 
  latter 
  was 
  quite 
  filled 
  up, 
  through 
  

   pluvial 
  wash, 
  before 
  the 
  new 
  cone 
  was 
  commenced. 
  

  

  8 
  Selections, 
  Records, 
  Govt, 
  of 
  India 
  (Home 
  Dept.), 
  No. 
  XXV, 
  p. 
  127; 
  also 
  J. 
  A. 
  S. 
  B. 
  

   XXIX, 
  p. 
  1. 
  

  

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