327 
of Dust and Ashes . 
Sumbawa, in April, 1815, when the sound of the ex¬ 
plosions was distinctly heard in Sumatra, 970 miles one 
way, and in Ternate, 720 miles the other way,* ashes 
were carried 200 miles towards the Celebes, and 300 
miles to Java.*f The noise was mistaken for the discharge 
of musketry. 
In the year 1822, ashes were carried 400 miles along 
the Mediterranean from Vesuvius. 
On the 12th and 13tli November, 1834, a shower of ashes 
fell in great abundance upon the ice of the River Argonna 
and Awour, near Tsourou Koitou, on the frontiers of 
Russia and China. The nearest locality whence it could 
have come was Japan or Kamscliatka, 1600 or 1700 
miles off. The air was darkened ; and after it had been 
cleared by the north-east wind, the ashes were found to 
have been thickly accumulated. 
A similar occurrence took place from the 23rd to the 
26tli of January, 1835, at Jamaica. Ashes fell from the 
eastward over the ships, trees, and houses of St. Anne's. 
It was afterwards ascertained to have come from the 
eruption of a volcano close to San Salvador on the 
Pacific, during which many towns and villages were 
destroyed. The distance was nearly 900 miles from 
Jamaica. The dust fell thick at Truxillo, Omoa, and 
Sassodilla, on the main land. The noise of the explosion 
was heard distinctly at Balize, 90 leagues off; at 
Truxillo, Valladolid, Merida, and Bacular. At Balize 
it was supposed to be occasioned by the signals of a ship 
in distress, and guns were fired in reply: at Bacular 
troops were ordered out. An English packet ship was 
also got under weigh from a similar supposition. 
The dust fell also upon H.M.S. Conway in the Pacific, 
* See Lyell, ii. 200; and Raffles’ Java, i. 32. 
j Daubeny on Volcanoes, and Raffles. 
