156 Captain Tillard's Narrative of the Eruption 
after dark on the 16th, we witnessed one or two eruptions 
that, had the ship been near enough, would have been awfully 
grand. It appeared one continued blaze of lightning; but the 
distance which it was at from the ship, upwards of twenty 
miles, prevented our seeing it with effect. 
Returning again towards St. Michael’s on the 4th of July, I 
was obliged, by the state of the wind, to pass with the ship 
very close to the island, which was now completely formed 
by the volcano, being nearly the height of Matlock High Tor, 
about eighty yards above the sea. At this time it was per- 
fectly tranquil, which circumstance determined me to land, and 
explore it more narrowly. 
I left the ship in one of the boats, accompanied by some of 
the officers. As we approached, we perceived that it was still 
smoking in many parts, and upon our reaching the island 
found the surf on the beach very high. Rowing round to the 
lee side, with some little difficulty, by the aid of an oar, as a 
pole, I jumped on shore, and was followed by the other offi- 
cers. We found a narrow beach of black ashes, from which 
the side of the island rose in general too steep to admit of our 
ascending ; and where we could have clambered up, the mass 
of matter was much too hot to allow our proceeding more 
than a few yards in the ascent. 
The declivity below the surface of the sea was equally 
steep, having seven fathoms water, scarce the boat’s length 
from the shore, and at the distance of twenty or thirty yards, 
we sounded twenty-five fathoms. 
From walking round it, in about twelve minutes, I should 
judge that it was something less than a mile in circumference; 
but the most extraordinary part was the crater, the mouth of 
