34 
S U M A T R A^^ 
of a mountain, about twenty miles inland of Bencoolen, one fourth way 
ffTom its top, as nearly as I can judge. It fcarcely ever failed to emit 
finoke, but the column was only vifible for rwo or tkree hours in the 
morning, feldom rifmg and preferving its form, abo?e the upper edge 
of the hill, ivhich is not of a conical fhape, but extending with a gradu- 
al flope. The high trees wiih which the country thereabout is covered, 
prevent the crater frora being difcernible at a diftance i and this proves, 
that the fpot is not confidcrably railed or otherwiie affe^^ed by the erup- 
tions. I could never perceive that It had any connection with the earth- 
Eartiiiuakes, quakcs, which are very frequently felt there. Sometimes it has emitted 
fmoke upon thefe occafioiis, and in other ioftances, noL Yet during a 
finart earthquake which happened a few years before my arrival, it was 
remarked to fend forth flame, which it is rarely known to do. The ap- 
pri^henfion of the European inhabitants howp.ver. U r^irk*,* more excited, 
when It continues any length of time without a tendency to an eruption, 
f as they conceive it to be the vent by which the inflammable matter 
cfcapes, that would other wife produce thcfc commotions of the earth. 
Comparatively with the defcriptions I have read of earthquakes in South 
America and other countries^ thofe which happen in Sumatra, arc ge- 
nerally very flight J and the ufual znannei of buildings renders them but 
little formidable to the nadves. The mofl fevere that I have known^ 
was chiefly experienced in the diftrid of Manna, in the year 1770, A 
village was deftroyed by the houfes falling down and taking £re^ and fe* 
vcral lives were loft,* The ground was in one place rent, a quarter 
of a mile, the width of two fathoms, and four or A bitu- 
minous matter is delcribed to have fwcHed over the fides of the cavity, 
and the earth, for a long tong time after the fhocks, was obferved to con- 
tract and dilate alternately* Many parts of the brills /a^p inland, could 
be diflinguifl>ed to have given way, and a confequ<aice of this was, 
that during three weeks. Manna river was fo much impregnated with 
particles of clay, that the natives could nxjt bathe in it. At this time 
^ I am informed iltat I Q 1763, w entire viUftgeSvis fw^ikwed up by an caiibqiiftke 
Himsy one of die ifkinda wjilch lie off* the vvoAcfn coaQ of Sum at rat 
t 
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