JV£JV AMSTERDAM AND ST. PAUL 
221 
The Island of St. Paul, lying about one degree of 
latitude farther south, is far smaller than Amsterdam 
island, for its surface is only 2\ square miles. Its vol¬ 
canic nature strikes the eye at once, for it forms in 
reality an eruptive cone, into the opening of whose crater 
the sea has forced its way. This crater is a complete 
circular enclosure and lies on the north-eastern side, form¬ 
ing a natural harbour, which is not indeed accessible for 
ships of any size. This is due to the fact that the outer 
rim of the crater forms a barrier which at only one 
narrow place is submerged to the depth of a fathom and 
a half, thus enabling only a small vessel to enter. The 
crater harbour is filled with water to the depth of 25 
fathoms and has a diameter of 1200 yards; the steep 
walls surrounding the crater are on an average 800 
feet high. 
The barrier had not been broken through by the 
middle of last century, for in 1754 it still rose 23 feet 
above the surface of the sea. The breach did not take 
place till towards 1780. The destruction of the island 
is constantly proceeding; in time only a flat horse-shoe 
will remain, as the breakers work upon the volcanic 
rock with extraordinary rapidity. 
The shore line is greatly worn away by the waves. 
Near the entrance to the harbour isolated blocks ol 
basalt project above the surface of the sea. There is 
no good anchorage on the western side. 
The emergence of the volcanic island of St. Paul, 
which is somewhat older than New Amsterdam, took 
place probably in pliocene times. The crater was appar¬ 
ently active for a long time, then the eruptions decreased 
in violence, but they seem to have occurred in certain 
places as late as the end of the last century. At present 
the volcano is quite extinct, though there are warm places 
where in 1874 Velain, one of the members of the French 
expedition, observed the thermometer rise to 140° and 
