A TRIP TO PROBOMNGGO. 4>&9 
lip the gulf of the Dassar which is the counterpart of Atrio del Ca- 
vallo, under the rim of Monte Somma; should they however, ever 
be stopped up effectually for any considerable length of time, then 
we may expect that it will cause the same effects as were realized in 
Vesuvius, when Ischia, Solfatara, Monte Barbara and Monte Nuova 
had long’ slumbered in quietness. The intervening periods of rest 
in these cases were for Vesuvius, from the remotest period of which 
we have any traditions till A. D. 79, during which time however, 
Ischia was much convulsed. Vesuvius was active in 203, and for 
the third time in 472 and again in 512,685 and 993, then in 1036, 
■when lava first appeared and 1049, and again in 1138, to which 
succeeded a repose of 168 years till 1306. Between this eruption 
and 1631, there was only one other (in 1500) and that a slight one. 
It has been remarked, that throughout this period, Etna was in a 
state of unusual activity, and in 1538, the new volcano of Monte 
Nuova came into existence. Since 1666 there has been a constant 
series of eruptions from Vesuvius, with rarely an interval of rest ex¬ 
ceeding ten years, but the rest of its district and neighbourhood has 
enjoyed tranquility.—(Lyell vol. 2. p. 78.) On the western con¬ 
fines of the volcanic debris, described as having issued from Suka- 
pura, is found a small lake, known to the Dutch as the <s Meer van 
Gratie,” and to the natives as “ Ranu Kalindungan”, the hidden 
lake. It is seen at about a good mile to the south of the main road, 
a little to the west of the Post station “ Asem Lawang,” buried 
within steep and high banks, which, in a state of nature, being co¬ 
vered with forest may have so far sequestered the lake as to lead the 
natives to call it the “ Hidden.” The people have a tradition that 
a village of the name of Kalindungan was once engulfed here, and 
the spot transformed into a lake. This is accounted for by a supers¬ 
titious legend, but is a circumstance not unlikely to occur in a volca¬ 
nic country, by a partial sinking in at the time of convulsion by 
earthquake. The lake covers a surface of 130,290 square Rhine¬ 
land roods, and receives a brownish tinge from some wells. It is 
only a trifle higher than the level of the sea. The village of Dawi, 
on its banks, is celebrated for its immense flocks of ducks, the eggs 
of which are salted and form an important article of native trade 
and consumption. A worm, called Cheret, found in the ground here 
and which is greedily picked lip by the ducks, is said to give to the 
yolk of the egg, its fine, red color and peculiar richness.—Java Cou- 
rant 27th November 1828, 
