The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1851-05-02
from the Philadelphia Saturday Express.
THE NATURAL SCHEMES.
THE EARTH'S CRUST AND ITs
REVELATIONS.
(Coucluded,)

Coucluded.)
"The existence of these conical craiers
led us to conclude that The b"iling caldrnn
of lava did not form the focus of ihe
volcano; that this mass of lava was com,
paraiirely shallow; and thai the baslr
which contained it was seperatrd by u
stratum Of solid matter from Tue grea
volcanic abyss. which constantly poured
out lis melted contents, through Aibese
numerous cra,ers, into this upper eser.
voir. We were farther inclined 10 sihis
opinion from the vast colu.nns Of vapor
continually ascending from The chasm
in the vicinity Of the sulphur banks and
pools of water, for they must have been
produced by other fire than tha, whicI,
caused,he ebultion in The lava, at the
bottom of the great crater; and also By
noticing number Of small cra,ers in
vigorous action, high up the sides OF
the great, and apparently qui,e detached
from it.
"The streams Of lava which they emit.
ted rolled down into the lake, and min
gled with the melted mass, which, though
thrown up by different apertures, had
perhaps been originally fused into one
vast furnace. The sides Of the gulf be-
fore us, although composed Of different
strata Of ancient lava, were perpendicular
for about 400 feet, and rose from a wide
horizontal ledge Of solid black lava, Of
irregular width, but extending complete
ly round. Beneath this ledge, the sides
sloped gradually towards the burning
lake, which was, as nearly as we could
Judge, 3 or 400 feet lower. II was evi
dent that lbe large crater had been recent
ly filled with liquid lava up to this black
ledge, and had, by some subterranean
canal, emp'ied itself into The sea, or upon
the low land on the shore; and. in all
probability, this evacuation had caused
the inundation of The Kapapala coss'.
which took place as we aferw lrds learned
for about three weeks prior to our visit
The grey. and in some places apparent.
calcined, sides OF the great crater before
us; the fissures which in:ersected the
surface Of The plain on which we were
standing; the long banks of sulphur IN
the opposite sides OF the abyss; the Wig,
'ers on op ii afd he aase essoIu
of vapor and smoke that rose out of it,
at the north and south ends of the plain +,
together with the ridge of steep rocks b,
which il was surrounded. rising 3 or 400
feet in perpendicular height, presented
an immense volcanic panorama, the eff
ect Of which was greatly augmented by
The constant roaring Of the vast furnaces
below.n
"The following account Of this volcano
and of The eruption in October lS4o, is
contained in letter to Professor Silliman.
lit is an immense pit, 1000 feet deep and
6 miles in circuit, with perpendicular
walls, except at points where it is reached
by a steep descent: and the whole of 'hls
vas, caldron, full of boiling bubling
and spou,ing lava. The surface al
one moment black az ink, and the
next exhibiting rivers and pools, and jets
Of hideous blood.red fluid, that was
sometimes thrown up 10 Il height Of 50
or 60 feet, and fell back with sudden
plashing that was indescrbably awful
The aspect Of the whole was helIish,-
no other tenn can express it. BY night
i, was grand beyond description. The
rrequen, hgbtings, the hissings and deer
muiterrings explosions, reminding me oI
some great city in flames, where were
magazines Of eunpowper or mines con
tinually exploding. vesuvus is foo
to il. Just previous to my visit the lava
had burs, out at a new place, about six
miles northeast of the crater, and flowed
down to the sea in a stream 40 miles in
length by from one TO seven in breadh,-
saw the light 100 miles off. 1t reached
the sea in FIVE days, threw up three hill.
of from 90 to $50 feet high, gained 200C
feet seaward from the old line of coast
by I of mile in width, and heated the
water for Is miles either side 10 sucl
an extent. tba, the fishes we're heaped
up in myriads on shore, ,scalded 10 death
It's falling into the sea, was accompanied
with Tremendous, and detonations like
constan, discharges OF heavy artillery
distinctly heard a, Hello, twenty miles
distant. Among the Intermittent vol
canoes, we may mention Tomboro, in
island ofSumbawa, one of the Molucca
group. An eruption took place in 1915
the explosions Of which we're heard 97C
miles. Large tracts Of country were
covered with lava; and out Of 1900 in
habi,ants on the island, only 26 survived
Ashes from this eruption occasioned Q
darkness greater than that Of night, al
Java, 800 miles off. So heavy was tle
fall Of ashes, that at the distance Of 4(
miles, houses were crushed beneath
them.
The situation Of Vesnvius and Etn'
has made their history better known thar
tha, Of most volcanoes. 81 eruptions o
The latter are on record siuce the days o
rhucy dides; and 81 ofthe former since
the Christian era. That Of Vesuvius be
fore referred TOY, A. D. 70, buried three