DeSoto times. (Hernando, Miss.) 1879-1898, 1890-07-10

perfect water-spouts of curious sbanes
on one occasion, some of the steam
reached the boat; it smelt q little Of
sulphur, and the mud it loft became a
gritty, sparkling, dark-brown powder
when dry. None Of the stones or cinders
thrown out appeared more than half 9
loot1n diameter, and most of them were
much smaller
AT this time the island was from fifty
to ninety feet in height, and abou
three-quarters of mile in circumfer
ence. 1t attracted great attention as
soon as the fact became known, and
Captain Swinburne was dispatched in q
cutter to ascertain the exact position OF
the island. This commander effected O
landing on the Sd of August, hoisted the
British ensign, and called it Graham
Island. We subjoiu a description of the
volcano in nearly HIS own words:
Selling favorable moment we
gave way with our oars. Our distance
was rather greater than we could have
wished, but we proceeded as quickly as
the sea would allow. As we approached,
some occasional jets were thrown up, but
OF little consequence, and current was
discovered running to the westward,
and setting us farther to the right than
| we desired.
within twenty yards of the shore,
tho water appeared shoal, and The sea
broke; but as there was no appearance
of surf on the beach, we kept steadily
on till the boat struck the ground. Tho
union jack was then planted; such OBJ
servations were made as the pressure Of
circumstances and the imminent danger
OF fresh eruption every moment would
admit of; bucketful of the materials Of
which the island seemed chiefly com
posed was collected, and we re-em-
barKed. The form of the crater is near
ly a perfect circle, and complete along
its whole circumference, excepting for
about two hundred and fifty yards on
the southeast side, which are broken
and low, not apparently above three feet
high.
hp HClk llu VI tllc llS uSSJ EJdl bu p
posed by the eye to be about one hun
dred and eighty feet The outer diam,
eter is, think, almost six hundred and
forty yards, and the inner about four
hunol lUas Tlu unolvHs vilo,,iV-- Ut NJ
island conceive to be from mile and
q quarter to a mile and third, Tho
fragments brought away are compact
and heavy, and the whole surface of the
island is dense and perfectly hard undnr
the feet. No variety of stones was pro-
cured, nor any lava; neither did I SEQ
any jets or streams of lava while on the
island. All the fragments were very
hot when collected, and l thought the
temperature of the sea close to the shore
somewhat higher than farther out, al
though of this was not very certain.
The latitude of the island is thirty
seven degrees eleven minutes north the
longitude twelve degrees forty-four
minutes east of Greenwich"
The island went on increasing in size,
and, according to some accounts was, IN
a few days, more than two hundred feet
in height and three miles in circumfer-
ence. After attaining this, its maximum
magnitude, it appears to have been
gradually reduced by the action of the
waves, for on the 25th of August it was
only two miles round, and on the Sd OF
September 1t was no more than three
ffths of mile in circumference, while
its greatest height did not exceed one
hundred and seven feet.
1t appears that the volcano matter,
during its election, had found second
vent at no great distance from the sur
face, for, in the month of August,
great ebullition and agitation Of the
sea occurred, accompanied by the con-
stant ascension of column OF dense,
light-colored steam. BY the end of Oc-
tober, not vestige of the crater re-
NAMED, and, with the exception of
small heap of sand and scori9, the
whole island was nearly on level with
the sea. In short, it at length entirely
disappeared, and dangerous reefof oval
shape occupied the submarine site OF
Graham Island.
There are some remarkable facts con-
nected with this phenomenon. About
a fortnight before the eruption was vlsl-
BILE, Sir Pultcney Malcolm, in passing
over the position of the volcano to his
ship, experienced several severe shocks,
as if he had struck on sandbanK, ana
which no attributed to an earthquake
The same shocks we're felt on the west
coast of Sicily. A circumstance stlll
more worthy of notice is that there Is
tradition at Malta of a volcano existing
on the same spot about the commence
ment of the last century; and there Is
extant an old chart of the Mediter-
ranean, which lays down shoal WIN
only four fathoms Of water on IL, anu
called Larmour's Breakers, within
mile of the same latitude and longltuue'
Not long before the event took place, a
naval officer, in surveying this part Oh
the Mediterranean, found depth OF
more than one hundred fathoms Oh
water on the spot, whore there Is no"
only about ton feet.
There are other modern instances OF
toe formation of islands by submarine
eruptions, as that of Sabrina III the year
1911. off st. Michaels, one of the group
of islands called the Azores; but no oc-
currence of the kind has attracted SO
much attention or been so minutely ae-
scribed as the appearance and disappear
80 ofGrabam island. Captain Marvin