The record-union., 1893-02-27


| world four times, as recorded by tide
| gauges. The sun turned green and blue
and Tor several years sunsets and sunrise:
all over the globe were made lurid by the
volcanic dust of Krakatau still hanging
In the air. In all, twenty-one new islands
were created by this tremendous convul
sion In its immediate neighborhood.
In the Egean Sea is one of the most re-
markable volcanic groups known. This
| circular archipelago of Santorin is the re-
mains of an enormous crater thirty miles
in circumference. In l707 mass of lava
two miles long emerged from within this
ring OF islands, forming the island o.
| Neo- -kaimeni. In February, 1866 another
lava mass rose slowly from the bottom
near Neo-kaimeni, and, growing gradu-
ally In size, became united to N eo-kai-
| lnenl. Four days later a similar island
was uplitted to the southwark, and con-
nected itself with Neo- -kaimeni, forming
a promonotory. These changes were ac-
| companled by volcanic eruptions, the sea
in the neighborhood becoming by turns
red, green, milk white and chemical blue.
Mariners kept at respectful distance, 1oI
fear that the pitch between the planks OF
| their vessels would melt in the water,
which had attained temperature Of LIT
degrees Fahrenheit.
In 1878 the Falcon Island was thrown
| up in night in the middle of Blanche
Bay, New Britain, being formed out oi
| mud and debris shot from craters opened
i'll the sea floor. Mariners in the neigh
borhood saw huge columns of volcanic
matter rising to hight of several thou
sand feet, each upthroW carrying hun
| dreds OF tons of material, which took
from twelve TO sixteen seconds to reach
| Its greatest altitude. On the next day the
bay was 1ull of boiling water and covered
with boiled fish. the island is being
gradually washed away, but its lava base
may serve for coral polyps to build solid
superstructure upon, thus making per-
manent piece OF land, just as many isles
| in the Pacific have been formed. In lS7l
! Captains Luzen and Mack discovered to
the north of Nova Zembla group OF
islets just above the sea, in the very spot
where Soundlngs in 1854 had failed to find
bottom. These are likely to be perma-
nent. The islands that are composed OF
solid lava usually remain. while the vol
canlc ash-heaps thrust up from the bot
tom OF the ocean are soon washed away,
as was the island of Noyve, which APP
| peared OIL the coast of Iceland in 1888.
/ But even the level of portions of solid
continents is sometimes changed by vol
canlc agency. In 1852 an area of sixty
square miles along the coast OF Bengal,
near Chittagong, suddenly sank beneath
the sea, leaving only the tops of the high
est hills above water.
Volcanic eruptlons are very common at
the bottom OF the oceans. During the
past century crews OF vessels have lre-
quently reported seeing sulphurous
smoke, flames and jets OF steam rising
out OF the mid-Atlantic. Dr. Darwin ana
other scientists have expressed the opin-
ION that an archipelago is in process OF
formation i'll the middle of that great
Watery eXpanse. 1t would be difficult to
estimate too highly the political and
commercial importance which group OF
Islands might acquire il in the next ,, coo
or 5000 years they should rise between
81. Helena and Ascension. The Atlantic
Is already dotted with islands when are,
like the Bermudas, simply the green tops
OF volcanic peaks rising precipitouSly
from the tloOr OF the sea and projecting
| above the surface. Many such mount
aims there are which are unknown be-
cause they are not tail enough to emerge
out OF the water. There is a drowned
mountain of this sort not far from the
coast of California. Though it is two
miles high, the waves fiow Il mile above
it.
However, the Pacific is the great region
of volcanic islands. The southern mart of
| that ocean is one vast archipelago, mainly
of lava. Some of the isles are of peculiar
form, being in the shape of rings sur
rounding bodies OF water. The biggest
of these ''atolls," as they are called, is
that of Hogolen. at the east end of the
Caroline group. 1t is a strip of land from
six 10 eight miles wide ami in the form OF
a circle, varied by hills and valleys and
covered with tropical vegetation. 1t in
! closes body of water on whose broad
eXpanse all the navies of the world might
ride together at safe anchorage These
atolls are an important feature OF the geo
logical formation in that part of the
world. They are scattered all over the
great watery waste of the South Sea,
looking like the last outposts of a sunken
continent. AT one time they were ordi-
nary islands with mountainous centers,
but in each case the central portion has
sunk, leaving the fringe OF solid coral
reefs built by patient polyps. There are
usually from one to four deep-water en-
frances through which ships can reach
snug harborS in bad weather.
The celebrated Easter Island. ahout
which there is so much mystery, is a
lonely volcanic rock in the midst of the
Pacific. Though its area is only thirty
two square miles, it is believed 10 have
supported for centuries population of at
least 10000 souls. 1t is literally honey
combed with caves which were originally
formed by bubbles of expanding gases
during volcanic action. In these caverns
the inhabitants formerly dwelt, and in
them they placed the bones of their dead.
Hundreds OF such cavities in the lava
have been found crowded with innumer-
able skeletons, like the caves of Kor de-
scribed by Rider Haggard. There are
only few hundred people on the island
now, but the gigantic stone images and
other works of art lett behind by their
ancestors remain an enduring evidence
| OF wonderful standardization.
1t is believed that once upon a time
there were many more islands in the
| aud ~,
| numbers OF them have disappeared
through volcanic causes. Real estate in
that part of the world would not seem tc
be held on the most secure terms. 1t is
always going down or coming up. A
new volcano $50 feet high was reported in
1884 by the United States steamer Alert
$50 miles south OF Japan. 1t has since
vanished. The Samoan group was nm
lifted by volcanic forces, and masses of
coral are found to-day imbedded in lava
| 1900 feet above the sea. AS has been
said, the Hawaiian Islands are merelv
the tops OF mighty volcanoes. After they
had risen out Of the ocean the lava OF
which they are mainly composed becan- G
disintegrated. Such black lava makes the
richest of all soils. Seeds fetched bv
ocean currents and by birds soon covered
the islands with rich tropical vegetation
rendering them fit for human beings and
other animals to live upon. No large
mammals are native to the isolated islands
of the Pacific. because they could not
reach them, but hogs overrun most of
them, thanks to Captain Cook, who made
it a rule to leave pair of pigs on every
isle he visited.
Iceland is wholly of volcanic formation.
The volcanoes of that country are the
most terrible in the world. large part
of its interior is unknown and unex-
plored. In this untrodden desert. cover
ing three thousand square miles, stand
some of the most destructive craters on
the face of the globe. out of this soli-
tude seas of molten lava have at various
times flowed over the pastures and fields
OF the natives. One such stream was