PART 4.] 
Ball: Barren Island and Narkondam. 
83 
regarding the sea inside still remains. In the 10th Edition (1868) Captain Miller’s estimate 
of 500 feet, as the height in 1834, is retained ; but it is stated that according to Yon Liehig 
in 1857, both the cone and outer crater were about 1,000 feet high, and in reference to the sea 
we find the following : “ In some of the older accounts the sea is described as entering the 
inner basin, but Von Liebig says it was excluded at the time of his visit.” I believe this 
statement regarding the sea to have arisen solely in the way I have pointed out. It is 
important that there should be a clear representation of the ease, as otherwise it might bo 
concluded that we have evidence of the rising of the island within the historical period. 
The next account to that by Blair is by Horsburgb, about which there is nothing parti¬ 
cular to remark here, save that he asserts that in 1803 the volcano was very active (see 
table). 
Dr. J. Adam’s account is derived from information and specimens received from a 
friend who had landed on the island in 1832. He speaks of the stones on shore hissing and 
smoking, and the water bubbling all round them. The statement has apparently been under¬ 
stood by one writer to indicate that the lava had not then cooled down. But the hot spring 
was probably quite sufficient to account for the phenomena observed. This is the first 
mention made of the hot spring. The author supposes that the volcano is only active in 
the south-west monsoon, i. e., requires water to bring it into a state of activity. Apart 
from other considerations, it is Only necessai'y to say that the only authentic account of it in 
a really violent state of eruption is by Blair, who saw it on the 21st of March, and therefore 
not in the south-west monsoon. Captain Miller’s account is very inaccurate in several respects. 
He has given the height at 500, and the angle at which the cone rises at 45° or even more. 
If the elevation of the cone in his time were only so much, then, since he states that this 
was also the elevation of the outer walls or amphitheatre, both must have increased pari 
passu. This view is of course untenable, and we are forced to believe that Captain Miller 
only gave a rough guess. His remarks on the vegetation are quite inconsistent with one 
another, for he says,—“there is no vegetation of any kind within the amphitheatre, but 
a few small trees are found on other parts of the island, which, however barren it may 
have been at one time, is now well wooded." 
Dr. Daubeny, in his description of Barren Island, though quoting from Lieutenant 
Colebrooke, gives the elevation of the cone at 4,000’, which must have been due to a clerical 
error. A somewhat modified reproduction of the original sketch is given. 
Mr. Scrope, in his work on Volcanos (2nd Edition, Land., 1862), writes regarding 
Barren Island: “ This permanently active volcairo is a cone about 4,000 feet high, rising 
in the centre of a circular cliff range, which entirely surrounds it except at one point 
where the sea has broken in.” Though the authority is not given, it is evident that this 
account is derived from Dr. Daubeny's, as the elevation is not given at 4,000' in any 
other work. 
In 1846 the island appears to have been visited by the Danish corvette Galatliea, but 
the only record of the fact which I know of is an inscription on a rock on the island— 
“ GALATHEA, 1846.” 
In the Bombay Times for July 1852, on the authority of Dr. Buist, it is stated that 
the volcano was very active, but I have not been as yet able to refer to the original 
account. 
The chief points in the accounts subsequent to the above will be found incorporated 
below. Dr. Playfair, Yon Liebig, and the Andaman Committee agree in estimating the 
angle of the cone at 40° to 45°, and the elevation at from 975—980 feet. 
