THE PACIFIC OCEAN, 
*35 
thick. The air, at the fame time, continued loaded and i 779 . 
darkened with this fob fiance; and, toward the volcano , ^ une * 
mountain, fituated to the North of the harbour, it was fo 
thick and black, that we could not diflinguifh the body of 
the hill. About twelve o’clock, and during the after¬ 
noon, the explofions became louder, and were followed 
by fhowers of cinders, which were, in general, about the 
fize of peas ; though many were picked up from the deck 
larger than a hazel nut. Along with the cinders fell fe¬ 
ver al fmall flones, which had undergone no change from 
the addon of fire. In the evening we had dreadful thun¬ 
der and lightning, which, with the darknefs of the atmo- 
fphere, and the fulpliureous fmell of the air, produced all 
together a moft awful and terrifying effedl. We were, 
at this time, about eight leagues from the foot of the 
mountain. 
On the 16 th, at day-light, we again weighed anchor, and Wednef. 16. 
flood out of the bay ; but the ebb tide fetting acrofs the paf- 
fage upon the Eaftern fliore, and the wind falling, we were 
driven very near the Three Needle Rocks, which lie on that 
fide of the entrance, and obliged to hoift out the boats, in 
order to tow the fliips clear of them. At noon we were 
two leagues from the land, and had foundings with forty- 
three fathoms of line, over a bottom of fmall flones, of the 
fame kind with thofe which fell on our decks after the 
eruption of the volcano ; but whether they had been left 
there by the lafl, or by fome former eruptions, we were not 
able to determine. 
The afpedl of the country was now very different from 
what it had been on our firfl arrival. The fnow, excepting 
what remained on the tops of fome very high mountains, 
had difappeared; and the fides of the hills, which, in many 
H h 2 parts. 
