458 
DRS. T. ANDERSON AND J. S. FLETT ON THE ERUPTIONS OF THE 
the air at its rising up; that it \ras not only blown up, but blown out of the very sea with a dreadful 
force, as it were torn up by the roots, or blown up from the foundations of the earth. 
“ That the terror was inexpressible, and cannot be represented by words; that the noise of the biusting 
of the earth at first is not possible to be described, that the force of the blow or blast is such, and the 
whole body of the island was raised so furiously that the earth was entirely separated into small particles 
like (lust; and as it rose to an immense height so it spread itself to an incredible distance, and fell light 
and gradually, like a small but thick mist. This part, we suppose, must be occasioned by the force of the 
blow, effectually separating the parts, otherwise they would have fallen with a violence of motion 
proportioned to the weight of the whole, the particles j^ressing one another, whereas now every grain was 
loose and independent in the air, and fell no faster than it was pressed by its own weight, as in a shower 
of snow or rain. 
“ The more solid parts of this land, which were lifted u^i by this blast, and supposed to be of stone, slate, 
or clay, or such solid matter as would not dissijDate or separate in the air like the rest, being lifted also to 
an immense height, and their plunging by a mighty force received by their own weight into the sea, must 
of necessity make a noise or blow equal to that of the loudest cannon, and perhaps to thunder itself; and 
these we think to be the several reports or blows which were heard even to St. Christopher’s Island (which 
is a vast distance from that of St. Vincent), and of which the people in these islands, as well as in the 
ships, heard about a thousand or twelve hundred distinct blows or reports, and supposed it to be the 
noise of guns. 
“ As soon as it was understood by the inhabitants in the other islands what it was, fliat is to say, that it 
was an eruption of the earth at the island of St. Vincent or thereabouts, sloops, barks, and other small 
vessels came from all parts to see how it was, to encpiire into the damage suffered, and to get an account 
of the particulars; but how astonished must these enquirers be, when meeting from all parts upon the 
same errand, they maybe supposed to go cruising about to find the island; some examining up thejr 
books to cast up the length they had sailed, some lilaming their own negligence for not keeping a right 
reckoning, some their men for mistaking their distance, others taking observations to know the latitude 
they were in ; at last all concluding, as it really was, to their great confusion, that the said island was no 
more, that there appeared no remains except three little rocks, no, not any tokens that such an island 
had been there, but that, on the contrary, in the place of it the sea was excessive deep, and no bottom to 
found at 200 fathoms. 
“ As this is an event so wonderful as no history can give us an account of the like, so it cannot be 
unpleasant to our readers to consider briefly some natural causes which may be assigned for it.” 
The writer tlieii proceeds to discuss the j'ossible theoi'etical explanations of this 
reinarkahle phenomenon. He rejects the suggestion that it was due to an eartht|nake, 
owing to the fact that the island was blown into the air. Two other causes are 
considered, the sudden admission of air through cracks produced by earthquakes to 
vast bodies of sul^diurous and nitrous gases in the caverns and hollows of the earth, 
producing a violent explosion, and the ingress of water through fissures to the 
subterranean fires. He is rather inclined to adopt the latter hypothesis. 
The writer of this article was probably no other than Daniel Deeoe, the author 
of “ llohinson Crusoe,” who was at that time editor of this Journal, and the hand 
of that master of I'omance may be traced in the paragraph which suggests that 
“sloops, barques, and other vessels came from all parts to see how it was,” and joined 
in a futile search for the remains of the island vdiich was now sunk “ lull-fathom 
deep.” This embellishment of the narrative apparently evoked protest^ and contra- 
* ‘ Daniel Defoe ; bis Life and Miscellaneous Writings.’ By AVilliam Lee, vol. 1, p. 280, 
