Scientific and General Memoranda, 231 



stantly shooting up a few yards, and falling into it again ; but the 

 great quantities of steam that constantly rose from it, prevented 

 my seeing the whole crater. 



"A considerable stream of muddy water flowed outward 

 through the opening, and mingled with that of the sea, caused 

 the discoloration that had been observed before. I could not ap- 

 proach near enough to observe its temperature, but that of the 

 sea, within ten or twelve yards of it, was only one degree higher 

 than the average, and to leeward of the island, in the direction 

 of the current (which ran to the eastward) no difference could 

 be perceived, even when the water wasf most discoloured ; how- 

 ever, as a * mirage' played above, near its source, it was probably 

 hot there. The dark objects on the surface of the sea proved to 

 be patches of small floating cinders. The island, or crater, ap- 

 peared to be seventy or eighty yards in its external diameter, 

 and the lip, as thin as it could be, consistent with its height, 

 which might be twenty feet above the sea in the highest, and 

 six feet in the lowest part, leaving the rest for the diameter of 

 the area within. These details could only be observed in the 

 intervals between the great eruptions, some of which I witnessed 

 from the boat. — No words can describe their sublime grandeur : 

 their progress was generally as follows : — After the volcano had 

 emitted for some time its usual quantities of white steam, sudden- 

 ly the whole aperture was filled with an enormous mass of hot 

 cinders and dust, rushing upwards to the height of some hundred 

 feet, with a loud roaring noise, then falling into the sea on all 

 sides with a still louder noise, arising, in part, perhaps, from the 

 formation of prodigious quantities of steam, which instantly took 

 place. This steam was at first of a brown colour, having embo- 

 died a great deal of dust ; as it rose gradually, recovered its pure 

 white colour, depositing the dust in the shape of a shower of 

 muddy rain. — While this was being accomplished, renewed erup- 

 tions of hot cinders and dust were quickly succeeding each other, 

 while forked lightning, accompanied by rattling thunder, darted 

 about in all directions, within the column, now darkened with 

 dust and greatly increased in volume, and distorted by sudden 

 gusts and whirlwinds. The latter were most frequent on the lee 

 sides, where they often made imperfect water spouts of curious 

 shapes. On one occasion, some of the steam reached the boat ; 

 it smelt a little of sulphur, and the mud it left, became a gritty 



