The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1857-12-03

kRuPr1oH oR,A voIcAaos--M. H. pssrev. pres.nt
cd 20 Chs French Academy 81 scisnes lev a. ),
sincs. ~ interesting account Of thas terrific phe
nemsnon, ~ witnessed in the larger Of the sanruI,
lslanas, situated near the Ceisbes Islands. mot S,
from Bornso ~ Mr.. A. r. Jansen. the Dutch rssi
dent ss Manads, who has ssntan ofasiai account :,
Il to his government.
For several years past the volcano Av,e had
gwen no signs Of ~ approaching eruption, except
slight shock OF earthquake oecasionsliy. the n
habitauts had therefore come TO the cons,ussor
tnat thsrs was nothing mere 10 be feared and had
extended their rice fields to the very slopes OF Tho
mountain. On the night of the "a Of March how.
sssr, : violent dstonesion announced an Impending
eruption, and Immediately Afterwards torrents oi
iava came rolling downths sleeps destroying every
thing In their way, and causing the waters of tbs
sea TO boil wherever they touched them Sprinss
NOT water broke out in several places, scorching
and destroying whatever the Lara had spared. A..
itated ~ II BY . submarine earthquake the vays,
OF the sea rose to an enormous height. and A.
ieRgsn, oversteppping the shore, partly quenched
'ns names occasioned by the lava.
meanwhile violent claps Of thunder rent the
sky; black column OF stones and ashes vas xo,n
.ted from the crater, and fell in dense shower on
sleiie OF the mountain. The darkness was inn,
Penetraoie, save when broken by vivid flashes of
hgntning. The dwellings and crops that had e.
caPeo the uames were buried under the stones and
sshes, while the lava, arrested here and there bv
local obstacles, spread itself out in lakes Of re
until, breaking through the natural dams which
opposed its progress, il contisued its work of de-
VISITATION with renewed impetus. Alter few
hours this tunult of the essments subsided but
only 70 be renewed on the following day when
.he snower OF ashes became so dense as to be i'm.
penetrabie even to the rays of the sun Ashes and
stones were carried over by violent southwest
hurricane to the island of Mindanao, distance Of
two degrees Q38 miies)
ABOUT fortnight after, on the 18th, fresh
srupsion TOOK place, causing farther damage on
another side, and the volcano then subsided-
Inc villages Of Taroena and kandhar escaped with
comparatively little damage, owing to q series of
eminences that formed barrier to the lava but
the village OF kalougan was completely DESTROYED.
and the rich plantations and forests extepdinr
along the slope Of the Awoe, running between Ia
roena and ksndhar, have been turned into de.-
ert, covered with seven large streams fIava. Had
the Inhabitants Of those two villages STAYED in
their houses, their lives would have been spared AS
u was most of them, seized with panic. had
ned to the gardens and fields, thinking themselves
safer there, but the lava soon encrcled. overlook
those who attempted to fee, and DESTROYED every
soul. The number of dead belonging to the Taro-
ena was 7Z2 men, women and children. to Kand
har 45 to Taboekan 2,039. Total of the three pro.
vinces, Z,S0o men, women and children. OF the
fugitves most of these who did not lose their lives
lost their senses, and fell into state Of idiotism.