66 
Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
The seismic forces of nature are much in 
evidence in the New Hebrides group. On 
Tanna there is a volcano on the south-east 
end of the island that is frequently in a state of 
commotion. Viewed from seaward on a dark 
night it presents a weird and awe-inspiring 
spectacle. Rumblings, groanings, and dull 
roaring sounds emanate from its interior, and 
the noise of its restless convulsions can be 
heard at Aneityum, nearly fifty miles distant. 
The volcano itself presents an impressive sight 
even in daylight, rising as it does to a thousand 
feet, the grim reddish-brown of its perfect cone 
affording in its barren sides a startling contrast 
to the amazing wealth of verdure that, despite 
its fierce eruptions, prevails everywhere around 
it. The mighty forces that lie in its heart are 
seldom quiet; and at short intervals a straight 
column of smoke, dark, heavy, and pall-like, 
shoots upward, till, as it ascends, a canopy is 
formed. This, in the course of half an hour or 
so, expands and unfolds itself till it resembles 
a gigantic aerial mushroom. Then it gradually 
disperses ; hollow groanings and deep rumblings 
follow, and then, as the black sulphurous smoke 
changes to a pale blue, there again comes a 
