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ART. III.-The Volcanoes of India. By DR. BUIST.

VOLCANOES.

1. In touching in last year's Report on the subject of volcanoes and volcanic appearances, real or supposed, in India, I was led to the conclusion that there were in all likelihood not a few of these which wanted sufficient proof to satisfy us of their reality; and I instanced two cases as probably belonging to this category-that of the eruption in the Zebayer Islands, described by Captain Barker as seen in 1846, and the luminous appearance off the coast of Arracan, which, in my inability of lay my hands on the account of the matter which I knew had been published somewhere, I thought very likely to have been the result of some of those luminosities which are now known to be of such frequent occurence at sea. On both points I have since seen good reason to change my opinion, and the occasion of making the required correction seems to be a favourable one for the preparation of a short paper on volcanic phenomena in India. My own means of observation have been in this matter very limited-the only volcanic regions I have actually examined are those to the westward of Kurrachee, and on the South Arabian coast, and those of the Red Sea. Much of the most important information in existence on the snbject lies hid in the Reports of the Meetings of the Bengal Asiatic Society, which have unfortunately not been indexed, the Table of Contents and Index to the Papers affording no light as to what occurs at the meetings. The subject is the more important as it is obvious from the latest editions of the works of Sir C. Lyell and Mrs. Somerville that they have fallen in with only a small portion of what has been published on the volcanic phenomena of India.

The following letters will set the question as, to the Zebayer eruption completely at rest :

"SIR, With reference to an article which appeared in the Bombay Times of 9th ultimo, wherein you supopose I was misled by appearances, in mistaking the smoke issuing from the Hindostan steamer, for smoke issuing from the summit of

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Saddle Island, one of the Zebayer group,' I beg to forward the accompanying statement from Captain Lovell, of the P. and O. steamer Oriental (but at that time in command of the Hindostan,) by which you will perceive it to be impossible I could have made such a mistake; and it will also account for Captain Lovell not noticing the smoke issuing from the island, inasmuch as we must have been in a line with the island from the Hindostan at the time she saw us. I am perfectly convinced there was neither mistake nor delusion. The smoke was first pointed out to me by the Assistant Surgeon, Nicolson, and seeu by all on board the Victoria, not at one moment, but at different periods; and at the time it was first seen, the Hindostan was to N. N. W. of the Quoin Rock, the northernmost of the Zebayer group, and distant from the Victoria at least 16 or 18 miles, in a contrary direction. I should not have been justified in approaching nearer to the island as we were" dead to windward of it," and it was blowing violently. The vessel's speed being reduced from 7 to 43 knots per hour; force of the wind 9, height of waves 5.-I remain, dear Sir, yours faithfully,

J. W. BARKER, Commander, Indian Navy.

P. S. With regard to no notice having been taken of the explosion by the native craft, you must bear in mind that the island is quite out of their track, inasmuch as they always navigate the inner channel; and even supposing they had seen it, they would probably have viewed it with the same apathetic indifference our Arab pilot did-merely exclaiming, 'Verily, it is the work of evil spirits.'

14TH AUGUST, 1846.

8 A. M.-Passed Jibbel Teer all sail set, with a light breeze from Nd. 9.-A heavy black cloud, rising rapidly from the S. W., which in half an hour formed into about a dozen large water-spouts.

10. Saw the Quoin Rock.

10.30. The squall burst upon us with heavy rain and blowing furiously, with much lightning and a continuous roll of thunder, which had a very peculiar sound, as if close upon the water. Hauled out S. by W. Chip steering previously S. S. E. At 11.30 the rain abated a little saw the Zebayer Islands bearing easterly, distant about 7 miles-and a steamer between us and the islands, distant from us about 4 miles. The weather continued thick and squally, with much lightning, till we got as far as Mocha.

The Barometer was very slightly affected by it.

HENRY P. LOVELL,

Acting Commander Steamer Hindostan.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE 66 EOMBAY TIMES."

"SIR,-In your paper of the 14th September, under the head of Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, you give a long extract from a report furnished in 1846 by Commander Barker, of the Indian Navy, regarding a strange appearance presented by one of the Zebayer Islands in the Red Sea. This report is quoted by you with the view (as you suppose) of strikingly illustrating the fact, that men are apt to jump at strangely erroneous conclusions when they aliow more play to a fertile imagination than to the ordinary forms of observation That Commander Barker was not thus misled, and that his imaginative faculties did not afford him the slightest aid in making this report, but that he simply stated what he saw, is very soon and very easily proven. As I was on board the steamvessel Victoria at the time that Commander Barker alludes to, and as I believe I was the first person that noticed the singular appearance detailed in his

report, I consider myself called upon to prove that it was not an ocular delusion. I noted down, at the time, all the circumstances relating to this sudden outbreak of Saddle Island, and I can do nothing better than give you the substance of my notes, from which you will at once see that your explanation does not tally with the facts of the case 14th August 1846, off Sobayer Islands, lat 15° 7' long. 42° 12', on the voyage to Suez. The whole forenoon has been calm and excessively sultry. Skies overcast; particularly dark and threatening towards the N. W. Thermometer 95°. Sighted the Peninsular and Orient steamer bound for Aden: she passed about four miles to the west of us as we were closing in with the group of islands. Soon after she passed a violent squall from the N. W. burst upou us.* It was accompanied by a drenching shower of rain, heavy peals of thunder, and vivid flashes of lightning. Ship going about eight knots during the forenoonreduced to three knots when the squall came on; temperature brought down to 80 degrees. Passed along the western side of the Sobayer group of islands. When opposite to Saddle Island (one of the Sobayer group,) and only about three miles distant from it, observed a column of smoke issuing from the summit of one of its cones. The squall was then at its height. The column gradually increased in size, while, at the same time, distinct jets of smoke issued, as if from numerous small apertures round the outer margin of the cone. Before the squall burst, the summit of the island was perfectly clear. After passing the island, and while it continued in sight, we observed the smoke. This sudden change affected almost every one on board, less or more, with a feeling of languor and depression of spirits several individuals, and I myself was one of them, complained of great uneasiness and sickness at stomach.' This is the substance of my note, and it clearly shows that your mode of explaining away is without any foundation in fact, for both steamers passed along the same side of the Zebayers, and when we first observed the smoke issuing from Saddle Island, which was then due east of us, the Bengal steamer was well down nearly due south of us, while the wind blew very fresh from the N. West.

Suez, 6th November, 1850."

J. G. N."

This furnishes one more illustration to the hundreds we possess of the intimate connection betwixt earthquake, volcanic, and meteorological phenomena so well adverted to by Captain Baird Smith. During the Cleopatra's hurricane of the 19th April, 1847, and again at the period of the land squall on the 6th April, 1848, the magnetic instruments at Bombay continued in a state of great disturbance for upwards of two days.

The following note of the loss of polarity bythe needle during a whirlwind is given in a letter in the Bombay Times, May 30, 1846

"There is a class of magnetic local perturbations apparently confined to these seas, one of which was experienced by the Queen on her late voyage from Aden, which we do not remember to have seen noticed by magneticians. When about three hundred miles from Bombay the people on board the steamer observed the atmosphere get suddenly clouded all around with that strange luri appearance which indicates the approach of a burst of rain or hurricane. By and bye appeared overhead those strange and turbulent vapours commonly attendant on a whirlwind or waterspout, and a light whirlwind accordingly made its appearance. At this time the magnetic virtue of the compass appeared to vanish: the needle lost its polarity, and traversed equally in all directions. A state of matters so surprising was of short endurance: the sky cleared without a tempest, and all went well again. It is we think about two years since an accident of this sort was met in with by the H. C. schooner Mahi on her way from the Persian Gulf. She was surrounded by beautifnl groups of whirlwinds and waterspouts ranging about her in all directions, when suddenly the needle lost its polarity and continued for some time useless for the purposes of steering. We are unable to lay our hands on the account of the circumstance published at the time, but remember perfectly of its occurrence.' To these we may add many others. Dr Baddeby has clearly established the fact that our lesser whirlwinds at all events are either due to direct electrical agency, or, at all events, are characterised by the most striking electrical exhibitions. [

The occasion of making these corrections seems a most suitable one for throwing into a connected form the information that lies scattered up and down in a multitude of different quarters in reference to volcanoes in India, meaning by this general term within the region betwixt Burmah and the Red Sea, between the parallels of 10° and 30°. These consist of the group betwixt Barren Island and Chittagong, which terminate the vast Molucca band-of the band stretching westward, consisting mostly of hot springs and mud volcanoes betwixt the Nerbudda and the sea coast of Luz-a range of above 500 miles in length, and the magnificent region extending from Aden to near Ankobar, betwixt 10° 12° 45′ and N. lat. and 40° and 45° E. long.-a base of full 400 miles, and extending to Gibbel Teir, 15° 30′ N., a distance of 350 miles, with probably little diminution, in its breadth.

VOLCANOES IN THE BAY OF BENGAL.

"One of the most terrible active groups of volcanoes in the world," says Mrs. Somerville, "begins with the Banda group of islands, and extends through the Sunda group of Timor, Sumbawa, Bali, Java, and Sumatra, separated only by narrow channels, and altogether forming a gently curved line 2000 miles long; but as the volcanic zone is continued through Barren Island and Narcandam in the Bay of Bengal, (lat. 12° 15',) and northward along the entire coast of Arracan, the entire length of the volcanic range is a great deal more."* The band is not, as will presently be seen, limitted to Arracan, but extends northward to Chittagong, lat. 22, or 600 miles beyond Barren Island. The first description we posses of the volcano in question is that of Lieutenant Colebrook,† who visited it in 1787, when it was in a state of violent activity; he does not seem to have landed on it, and he quotes entire the account of it given by Captain Blair in his survey of the Andaman Islands. The cone, which springs from near the level of the sea, rises at an average of 32° 17', to 1800 feet nearly. Mr. Lyell gives the following account of it-he quotes Von Buch as his authority, a work I have not been able to consult :-" Barren Island, in the Bay of Bengal, is proposed as an illustration of the same phenomena" (that

Physical Geography, vol. i., p. 257, Ed. 1851.

† Asiatic Researches, vol. iii. p. 396.

Later authorities make it 500 feet, and this is probably its true altitude. Captain Blair gives no separate representation of it on his chart; he merely sets it down as a volcano.

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