, 1877-05-05
THE BOILING. LAKE OF
DOMINICA.
from the N, z. SUM-

MR. WILLIAM GlFFORD PALGRAvE, the
Arabian traveller, British Consul, and
Eng lish novelist, always finds something
interesting TO write about, in Whatever
part Of the void lie may be. His nara
tive Of the journey irfo Central Arabia.
which made him famous. is, perhaps, the
very best OF modern books of travel. He
has not only the spirit IF an explorer. a
g%eographer, aud a man Of ,%cience, bul also
the romantic imagination which could rive
Us such q story as Herman Agha, where
the glow aud tcrvor If lite ia lie East a,e
so wonderfully mingled Win is traoic
realities. Ills observations while Consul
at IrebIzond@, on the classic. southern shore
OF the Black Sea, gave him the material
Tor his valuable essays on The Eastern
Question. More recently. he has held he
British Consulate at ST. Thomas. in n,
West Indies, aud he is now on hi, ,rov
thence, hulf around the worll. f. TO
Philippine Islands, where he is TO rpnr5.
sent the QaOen's Government as Consul If
MlanlIa. While in the West Indies he dill
rot cease to travel, and to learn oII he
could, consistently with his official duties:
and among the places which he CHANGED 10
visit was one OF the most singular and re-.
markab!e lakes on The surface Of the
earth.
an the summer Of 1875 The scientific
world was surprised and interested 10 hear
that a lake OF constantly boiling wafer bad
neen discovered upon Or uear the sunmit
u ne mouotalnous West Indian island of
Dominica. Bat where was Dominica :
Ii IS not to be wondered at that this oues.
non was asked both in England and
America The fact that the negro nation
which occupies the eastern portion of the
great island OF Sun Domingo or Uavti
calls Itself the Dominican Republic paIu.
rally led to the Fupposition that this might
be the Island meant. It was in reality.
however, another and very different one,
the Hottest OF The Lesser Antilles, a British
colony lying brtwesn The French islands
OF Guodeloupe and Martinique, and which,
instead Ct being as large as Ireland, con-
talns only about three hundred SQUARE
miles. Here, we were told, Law a boiling
lake high amoug the mountains, and hi her
to unknown to man. 1t was not a mere
collection OF geysers or hot sprirgs, but
en expanse OF water large enough to de-
serve the name Of a lake, and its presence
explained the cloud OF white vOpor so often
seen floating over the higher parts Of the
island.
Last summer this lake was visited by
Mr.. Palgrave, and he has now contributed
to Macmilan's Magazine the first detailed
description of it given to the general pub
lie. It seems certain that the Lake was
never seen by any European prior to the
month OF January, 1875, aud probably it
had never been seen by any native.
Traditions pointed to its existence, but
these appear to have been based upon
the fact that a stream of warm and
milky water, known as the Sulphur river,
PUSHES headlong from the highlands down
TO the sea, and a boiling source seemed
necessary to account for the heat of its
waves. This, however, might heve had
its origin in one of the 80 called soufrieres,
SO abundant in the volcanic islands of the
West Indies, consisting of the floor of
aOms dying crater. where tepid, hot. or