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Dr. Tempest Anderson and Dr. J. S. Flett. 



longer distinct and separate, each following the other after an interval, 

 but arose in such rapid succession that they were blended in a con- 

 tinuous emission. A thick cloud of steam streamed away before the 

 wind so laden with dust that all the leeward side of the hill, and the 

 sea for 6 miles from the shore, was covered with a dense pall of fine 

 falling ash. (See Plate 13.) The sun setting behind this cloud lost all 

 its brightness, and became a pale yellowish-green disc, easily observable 

 with the naked eye. Darkness followed the short twilight of the 

 tropics, but a 4 days' old moon shed sufficient light to enable us to see 

 what was happening on the hill-side. 



Just before darkness closed in, we noticed a cloud which had in it 

 something peculiar hanging over the lip of the fissure. At first glance 

 it resembled the globular cauliflower masses of steam. It was, how- 

 ever, darker in colour, and did not ascend in the air or float away, but 

 retained its shape, and slowly got larger and larger. After observing 

 it for a short time, we concluded that it was travelling straight down 

 the hill towards us, expanding somewhat as it came, but not rising in 

 the air, only rolling over the surface of the ground. It was so totally 

 distinct in its behaviour from the ascending steam clouds that our 

 attention was riveted on it, and we were not without apprehension as 

 to its character. It seemed to take some time to reach the sea (several 

 minutes at least), and as it rolled over the bay we could see that 

 through it there played innumerable lightnings. We weighed anchor 

 and hoisted the sails, and in a few minutes we were slipping southward 

 along the coast with a slight easterly wind and a favourable tide. We 

 had, however, scarcely got under way when it became clear that an 

 eruption was impending. As the darkness deepened, a dull red reflec- 

 tion was seen in the trade-wind cloud which covered the mountain 

 summit. This became brighter and brighter, and soon we saw red-hot 

 stones projected from the crater, bowling down the mountain slopes, 

 and giving off glowing sparks. Suddenly the whole cloud was brightly 

 illuminated, and the sailors cried, " The mountain bursts ! " In an 

 incredibly short space of time a red-hot avalanche swept down to the 

 sea. We could not see the summit owing to the intervening veil of 

 cloud, but the fissure and the lower parts of the mountain were clear, 

 and the glowing cataract poured over them right down to the shores 

 of the bay. It was dull red, with a billowy surface, reminding one of a 

 snow avalanche. In it there were larger stones which stood out as 

 streaks of bright red, tumbling down and emitting showers of sparks. 

 In a few minutes it was over. A loud angry growl had burst from 

 the mountain when this avalanche was launched from the crater. It is 

 difficult to say how long an interval elapsed between the time when 

 the great glare shone on the summit and the incandescent avalanche 

 reached the sea. Possibly it occupied a couple of minutes : it could 

 not have been much more. Undoubtedly the velocity was terrific- 



