The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1841-07-20
MISCELLANEOUS.
From Stephens Incidents Of Trarel.
A VOLCANIC ERUPTION,

| woke with the pilots legs resting on my
boulder. Ii was rather an undignfed position
but no one sawlt. Before me was the Volcano
Of CosaguIna, with its field of lava and its DESC
late ehore, and not living being was in sight
except my sleeping bnatmen. Five years before
on the shores of the Mediterranean, and at the
foot of Mount Etna, read in a newspaper an
account of the eruption of the volcano. Little
cid then ever expect to see il !; the most awful
in the history of volcanic eruptions, the noise Of
which started The people of Guatemala four hun
lred miles off and al Kingston, Jamaica, eight
hundred miles. distant, was supposed To be signal
guns OF dIst,ess from some vessel at sea.-The
face OF natn.e was changed; the cone of the
volcano was gone; mountain and field of lava
ran TO t sea forest old as creation had ell
tirely disappeared and Two islands were formed
10 the sea; sioals were discovered in one of
which large tree was fxrd upside down: one
river was completely choked up, and another
formed, running in an opposite direction seven
men in the employ Of my bungo proprietor ran
down to the water, pushed off in bungo, and
were never heard Of more; wild beasts bowling,
lett their caves in the mountains, and ounces.
leoPards, and snakes fed for shelter TO the abodes
of men.
This eruption took place on the 2oth of Janua-
ry, 1885. Mr.. Savage was on that day on The
side Of the Volrano of San Miguel, distant one
e,
At eight O'Clock he saw dense cloud rising in
the south in a pyramidal form and heard noise
which sounded like the roaring of the SEA. Very
soon tie thick clouds were lighted up by vivid
flshes, rose colored and forked, shooting and
disappearing. whirh he supposed 10 be some
electrical phenomenon. These appearances in
creased So fast thai his men became frightened.
and said il was ruina, and that the end of he
world was nigh. Very soon he himself was salts
fed that il was the eIupiion OF volcano; and
as Cosaguina was al that time quiet mountain
not suspected to contain snbleiranean fires he
supposed it 10 proceed from the Volcano of
7 girls. He returned to the town of San Miguel
and in riding three blocks felt three severe shocks
of earthquake. The inhabitants Were distracted
with terror. Birds few wildly through the
streets, and blinded by the DUST fell dead on the
ground. AT four o'c OK il was so dark that, as
MIR. S. says, he held up his hand before his eyes
and could not ste it. Nobody moved without
candle which gave dim and misty light, ex-
lending only few feet. Al his time the church
was luli, and could not contain halt who wished
10 enter The figure of the Virgin was BROUGHT
out INTO the PIAZZA and horne through the streets
| followed by Tie lnhabiiant, with candles and
torches, IN peniIen ial procession. CRYING unon
the Lord 10 pardon their sins. Bells tolled. and
during the procession, there was another earh-
quake so violent and long tina; it threw to the
ground many people walking in the procession.
The darkness continued till eleven o'clock the
next day when the sun was partially visible, but
dim and lazy, and without any brightness. The
dust CD the ground was tour inches thick; the
branches Of the trees broke with its weight, and