208 
Heconls of the Geological Survey of India. 
Fvol. xitt 
From Captain H. IIopkinson, Officiating Senior Assistant Commissioner, Sandoway, to 
the Commissioner of Arakan, Akyab,—dated 25th November 1843. 
Having, in compliance with the instrnotions contained in your letter to my address 
No. 838 of the 21st ultimo, pi'oceecled to Rekoong or Flat Island for the purpose of making 
enquiries into the volcanic eruption which has recently been observed at the southern 
extremity of that island, 1 now beg to submit to yon the I'esult of my enquiries with all 
the information I have been able to collect in the matter. 
2. Before I give the .auhatanco of the Thoogyee’s deposition, I will endeavour to state 
what I saw myself, pi-einising shortly that whatiwer island niav h.avo been formed by the sub¬ 
marine volcano has either sunk or perhaps, being merely composed of mud and loo.se volcanic 
fragments, has boon washed away during the sonth-we.st monsoon, leaving no trace of its 
existence, and not even having distui’bed the reef of rocks among which it is said to have 
ari.sen. I lament exceedingly my total ignorance of geological science which would most 
probably have led me to pass over mucli which was really valuable whilst I noted down objects 
of trivial importance, and which also pi'e vents me from communicating any useful observation 
I might have made in such language as would be nndei-stood by a scientific person. 
3. I arrived at Rngjmung on the third daj^ after my departure from Sandoway, and 
immediately put myself in communication with the Thoogyee of the place, wh( se attendance 
to depose what he knew about the volcanic eruption and also to act as my guide to the site 
of their occurrence I procured for the following day. We started early in the morning 
•and arrived near the small island in the vicinity of which the eruptions were remarked at 
8 p.m. I was obliged to proceed for upwai'ds of a mile from the island itself in the jolly- 
boat ; reefs of sunken rocks running out in every direction preventing a nearer approach for 
the schooner, though otherwi.se the water was of a consideralile depth, being from two to 
three fathoms within a boat's length of the little island itself. My office h.as not been 
furnished with a general chait of the province, and I do not know whether the island 
lias been noted or not, but it may be easily identified, as I was careful to take Us 
exact bearings to known points on the coast. I also made a rough survey' of it by cir- 
enmferenter and enclose a sketch thereof, showing the bearings, site of volcanic eruption, &c.,Ao. 
The rocks which formed the b.asis of the island were chiefly the common sandstone of 
Arakan, interspersed with large masses of rock, of which No. 1 of the specimens I had the 
honour to forward in the Swallow is a fragment. I could obtain no distinct traces of strati¬ 
fication on any part of the island, the action of the sea having broken np its .surface into a 
confused mass of rocks. I have marked on the map the site of the volcanic eruption ns 
given by the Soogree, but further than the mere direction goes, I do not think much 
dependence can he placed on its accuracy. The Soogree never visited the volcanic island ; 
the eruption occurred during the height of the rains, when it is seldom clear for even a few 
hours, and the Soogree’s nearest point of [observation was, I should say, at least 4 miles 
distant. I should infer that the eruption must have been on a small scale, since from the 
testimony of the natives it {ipipears that none of the numerous rooks near which they were 
observed liave been altered in position, neither ea.st down nor upraised. I have marked on the 
sketch the situations from whence I took the different spieciniens before alluded to ; the trap 
rock which I labelled Iiornblende was broken off a large rock about 12 feet square at top. 
Tlie piece I have called fekspar was from an adjacent rock, but smaller. I could only find the 
iron pyrites on the side neai'est the volcano; there it was most plentiful, and I might have 
collected it by the mannd ; one specimen which I have called quartz is, I believe, limestone ; 
its appearance at first misled me. On the sand mound I found large quantities of sponge of 
diflerent kinds. I saw no cor.al on the island, nor any formation of it among the rooks, an 
unusual eircum.stanoe in Arakan. 1 looked for pnmiee, but did not find any. 
