m6 



AQ.UEOUS ERUPTIONS. 



well about the fort, as on the declivities of the mountain, alarmed 

 by this appearance, betook themselves to flight ; but before they 

 could all save themselves, the mountain began to give way, and the 

 greatest part of it actually /e// in, and disappeared in the earth. At 

 the same time a tremendous noise was heard, resembling the dis- 

 charge of the heaviest cannon. Immense quantities of volcanic sub- 

 stances, which were thrown out at the same time, and spread in every 

 direction, propagated the effects of the explosion, through the space 

 of many miles." 



" It is estimated that an extent of ground, of the mountairr itself, 

 and its immediate environs, fifteen miles long, and full six broad, was 

 by this commotion swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Sever- 

 al persons sent to examine the condition of the neighbourhood, made 

 report that they found it impossible to approach the place where the 

 mountain stood, on account of the heat of the substances which cov- 

 ered its circumference, and which were piled on each other ; al- 

 though this was the 24th of September, and thus full six weeks after 

 the catastrophe. It is also mentioned, that forty villages, partly swal- 

 lowed up by the ground, and partly covered by the substances thrown 

 out, were destroyed on this occasion, and that two thousand nine 

 hundred and fifty-seven of the inhabitants perished. A proportionate 

 number of cattle was also destroyed, and most of the plantations of 

 cotton, indigo, and coffee, in the adjacent districts, were buried under 

 the volcanic matter. The effects of this explosion are still very ap- 

 parent in the remains of this volcano." 



It has been already staled, that the volcanoes in the Andes more 

 frequently throw out water and mud than lava. The damage which 

 these aqueous and muddy eruptions occasion, is often prodigiously 

 great. Sometimes, the deluge of water attending a volcanic explo- 

 sion does not come from the interior of the earth, but from the snow 

 which covers the mountain being rapidly dissolved ; but, in other in- 

 stances, it proceeds from the crater.^ Interior cavities, of vast ex- 

 tent and depth, containing water, are opened during an eruption, and 

 the water coming into contact with ignited lava, is forcibly driven 

 out, and, according to Humboldt, carries along with it a great quan- 

 tity of small fishes, which he has denominated Pimelodes Cyclopvm, 

 These fishes are about four inches in length, and are of the same 

 species that inhabit the neighbouring brooks and lakes : the number 

 thrown out is sometimes so great, that their putrefaction contaminates 

 the air, and occasions serious maladies among the inhabitants of the 

 adjacent country. 



Though the water ejected from volcanoes may, in many instances, 

 be regarded as of accidental occurrence, I conceive it to be different 



* It ought to be stated, that the existence of internal cavities filled with watef 

 supplied Irom the melted snow, is an inference from volcanic phenomena, which,, 

 however reasonable.it may appear, it is impossible to prove. 



