Daily Kennebec journal., 1883-08-31
FOREIGN NEWS.
THE JAVA HORROR.
Fifty Square Miles Of Land With Sew.
enty.fve Thousand Souls Disappear
A Whole Mountain Range Re.
placed by a Sea-Sixteen
New Volcanoes
Appear.

LONDON. Aug oU
Details of the volcanic eruption in Java
state that on the northeast corner OF the Is
land, the waves rushed up on the shore to an
unprecedented height When daylight came
II was seen that an enormous tract of land
had disappeared, extending from Point Capu-
Gin on the south. to Negary Pafsoerang on
the north. and west to low point, covering
an extent of territory of about fifty miles
square.
In this were situated the villages of Negery
and Negery Bauawang. None of the people
inhabiting these places or of the natives scat
tered sparsely through the forests and on the
plains escaped death. This section of the
island was not densely populated as the
other portions, and the loss of life is cOmpar-
atively small, although it must aggregate
nearly Is. 900 souls. The entire Mandang
range of mountains, extending along the
coast in semi circle for about 65 miles, has
gone out of sight. The waters of Welcome
Bay. Sunda Straits and Pepper Bay. east of
the Indian Ocean on the south, have rushed
in and formed sea of turbulent waters.
Here and there the peak of a crater was eX-
posed for moment by the receding of the
great waves, and occasionally a puff of
brownish gray smoke or slight shower of
rocks showed that the volcano still continued
in active subaqueous eruption. Debris of
submerged and destroyed buildings tossed
hlther and thither on the waters was the only
sign left that there had once been an inhab-
tied land there.
The town of Taneraug, within % miles Of
the city of Batavia, was swept away By lava
stream. and fully half the population, mostly
Javanese, numbering 1900, perished. At
Speedwick, near Point Salcis. red hot rocks
set fire to the houses and swept away all the
fhicklv saftle1 porfipn nt the AbOuf
ten bazaars belonging to Europeans were de-
stroyed The loss of property is very large
but no lives are known to be lost.
The river Jaeatra, on the banks of which
Batavia is situated, is completely damned
by lava and debris. Its course 10 changed
and from Tanier Baston it followed down
through Tygers street and Joined the waters
of the river Emerades, swelling that stream
to such an extent that it rose high on Castor
batteries.
Figelenkuig is almost totally destroyed,
and large numbers of lives have been lost
there. The island of Oneus, five miles from
the mouth of Taragereng river, and twenty
miles east of Batavia, is completely inundat-
ed, and the floating dock there is completely
destroyed, Cuataye. Claps and Fronwers
islands, off the portion of Java which disap-
peared, are out of sight and not a vestage of
them is left
In Batavia the loss has largely increased
since former reports. The roof of the gov
ernment house was crushed in by mass of
mud, and three of the retainers of the bridge
were destroyed. Diamond and pearl bOstiOns
were badly damaged and the Burrian redoubt
was destroyed. In Caymound. Malabar and
Lion streets, the principal avenues of the
city, the damage was very great Ft Aatysi
was severely shaken and but few buildings
are left standing.
A violent shock was felt on the Island of
Sumatra, Monday, and it was feared other
disturbances might follow Midaa island,
ten miles off the Javanese coast and half way
between the extreme point of Java and Su-
matra is almost engulted by the sea. The
small island of Singkel, probably originally
the only cone blown up by the eruption, has
entirely disappeared. 1t was uninhabited
The aggregate loss OF life must be fully 75,-
900, but the number of those who persisted
can never of course be actually known
LONDON, Aug. 80.
A despatch to the Lloyds from Batavia
says the condition of the Straits of Sunda is
dangerous to navigation. New islands have
arisen therein, and the coast line is altered.
The government is preparing to obtain new
soundings of the strait. Sixteen volcanoes
have appeared between the site where the
Island of krokatoa formerly stood and Tibisi.
The island portion of Bantum is an ashy des-
ert.
The cattle are starving and the population
are in despair. The Soengepan volcano has
split in five portions. Seven hundred and
four bodies, victims of the disaster, have
been buried in the district of Tavara, and
300 in the coast village of Kramat