Constitutional Whig

MISCELLANEOUS.

VOLCANO IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.

Copy of a letter from the Vice Admiral to Major General the Hon. Sir F. C. Ponsonby, Lieutenant Governor of Malta, &c.

"The St. Vincent, at Malta, July 25, 1831

"Sir—I have the honour of communicating to your Excellency reports which I have received from Commander Swinburne of the Rapid, and Commander Smith of the Philomel, of the existence of a Volcano, which has lately arisen on the south west coast of Sicily, and of its position and appearance, during several days of minute examination. I have the honor to be, &c.

(Signed) H. HOTHAM. Vice Admiral."

"His Majesty's sloop Rapid, at Malta, July 28.

"Sir—I have the honour to inform you that on the 18th of July, 1831, at 4 P. M. the town of Marsala bearing by compass E. half N. 9 miles, I observed from on board his Majesty's sloop Rapid, under my command, a high irregular column of very white smoke or steam, bearing S. by E. I steered for it, and continued to do so till 8, 15, P. M., when having gone about 30 miles by the reckoning, I saw flashes of brilliant light mingled with the smoke, which was still distinctly visible by the light of the moon.

"In a few minutes the whole column became black and larger; almost immediately afterwards several successive eruptions of lurid fire rose up amidst the smoke; they subsided, and the column then became gradually white again. As we seemed to near it fast, I shortened sail and hove to till day light, that I might ascertain its nature and exact position. During the night the changes from white to black with flashes, and the eruption of fire, continued at irregular intervals, varying from half an hour to an hour. At day light, I again steered towards it, and about 5 A. M., when the smoke had for a moment cleared away at the base, I saw a small hillock of a dark colour a few feet above the sea. This was soon hidden again, and was only visible through the smoke, at the intervals between the more violent eruptions.

"The volcano was in a constant state of activity, and appeared to be discharging dust and stones with vast volumes of steam. At 7, 30, the rushing noise of the eruptions was heard. At nine, being distant from it about two miles, and the water being much discoloured with dark objects at the surface in various places, I hove to and went in a boat to sound round and examine it. I rowed towards it, keeping on the weather side and sounding, but got no bottom, till within twenty yards of the western side, where I had eighteen fathoms soft bottom; this was the only sounding obtained, except from the brig, one mile true north from the centre of the island, where the depth was 130 fathoms soft dark brown mud. The crater, (for it was now evident that such was its form) seemed to be composed of fine cinders and mud of a dark brown color; within it was to be seen in the intervals between the eruptions a mixture of muddy water, steam, and cinders dashing up and down, and occasionally running into the sea over the edge of the crater which I found on rowing round to be broken down to the level of the sea, on the W. S. W. side for the space of ten or twelve yards. Here I obtained a better view of the interior, which appeared to be filled with muddy water violently agitated, from which, showers of hot stones or cinders were constantly shooting up a few yards, and falling into it again, but the great quantities of steam that constantly rose from it prevented my seeing the whole crater.

"A considerable stream of muddy water flowed outward through the opening, and mingling with that of the sea, caused the discoloration that had been observed before. I could not approach near enough to observe its temperature, but that of the sea, within ten or twelve yards of it, was only one degree higher than the average, and to leeward of the island, in the direction of the current (which ran to the eastward,) no difference could be perceived, even where the water was most discolored; however, as a 'mirage' played above it near its source, it was probably hot there. The dark objects on the surface of the sea proved to be patches of small floating cinders. The island or crater appeared to be seventy or eighty yards in its external diameter, and the lip as thin as it could be, consistently with its height, which might be twenty feet above the sea in the highest, and six feet in the lowest part, leaving the rest for the diameter of the area within. These details could only be observed in the intervals between the great eruptions, some of which I witnessed from the boat.

No words can describe their sublime grandeur: their progress was generally as follows:—After the volcano had emitted for some time its usual quantities of white steam, suddenly the whole aperture was filled with an enormous mass of hot cinders and dust, rushing upwards to the height of some hundred feet, with a loud roaring noise, then falling into the sea on all sides, with a still louder noise, arising in part, perhaps, from the formation of prodigious quantities of steam, which instantly took place. This steam was at first of a brown color, having embodied a great deal of dust; as it rose it gradually recovered its pure white color, depositing the dust in the shape of a shower of muddy rain. While this was being accomplished, renewed eruptions of hot cinders and dust were constantly succeeding each other, while forked lightning, accompanied by rattling thunder, darted about in all directions within the column, now darkened with dust and greatly increased in volume, and distorted by sudden gusts and whirlwinds. The latter were most frequent on the lee side, where they often made imperfect water-spouts of curious shapes. On one occasion some of the steam reached the boat; it smelt a little of sulphur, and the mud it left, became a gritty sparkling dark powder, when dry. None of the stones or cinders thrown out, appeared more than half a foot in diameter, and most of them much smaller.

"From the time when the volcano was first seen till after I left it, the barometer did not fall or rise, the sympiesometer underwent frequent but not important changes, and the temperature of the sea did not bespeak any unusual influence.

"After sunset on the 18th, soundings were tried for every hour, to the average depth of eighty fathoms—no bottom. The wind was N. W.; the weather serene.

"On the forenoon of the 19th, with the centre of the volcano bearing by compass S. by W. W. one mile distant, good sights, for the chronometer gave the long. 12 deg. 41, E.; and at noon on the same day, when it bore W. by N. N. by compass, the meridian altitude of the sun gave the latitude 37 deg. 7 min. 30 sec. N.; an amplitude of the sun the same morning gave the variation of 1 point westerly. It is worthy of remark, that on the 28th of June last, at 9, 30 P. M., when passing near the same spot, in company with the Britannia, several shocks of an earthquake were felt in both ships. I have the honor to be, &c.

"C. H. SWINBURNE, Commander."