COTOPAXI.
This volcano is situated in the Andes, and it is certainly the loftiest in the world, being upwards of 19,000 feet high. Its flames rise to the height of 3000 feet above the brink of the crater, and its bellowings are heard at the distance of several hundred miles. Humboldt, indeed, says that he heard them even when sailing on the Pacific Ocean. As the summit of this mountain rises above the line of perpetual frost, and consequently is covered with snow, whenever a fiery eruption takes place, the snows in and around the crater are melted and descend in torrents, sweeping away the towns and villages at its base. On one occasion a village thirty leagues distant was thus overwhelmed.
SMALLER VOLCANOES.
These are very numerous, and their action is different in different parts of the world. Sometimes a mountainous island is thrown up, which, after vomiting fire and smoke for some days, or even weeks, disappears; and in other cases, volcanoes, instead of vomiting fire and smoke, throw up showers of mud and water, with which dead fishes are sometimes mingled.
THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE.
This celebrated volcanic mountain occupies nearly the whole of one of the Canary Islands, a group situated on the western coast of Africa, and which, probably, all owe their origin to the action of a submarine volcano. The island of Teneriffe is divided in the middle by a ridge of mountains, which has been compared to the roof of a church, the celebrated peak, resembling a spire, rising from the centre. Five-sixths of the island are composed of rocks, woods, and inaccessible mountains, but the remainder is extremely fertile. The peak itself is about 12,000 feet above the level of the sea, and in clear weather it forms a very majestic object when seen from the anchorage of Saint Croix. Unfortunately, however, the mountain is enveloped in clouds for a great part of the year, and travellers sometimes pass several weeks at Saint Croix without obtaining a view of it. "Its position to the west of a great continent, with its isolation in the midst of the sea, are doubtless the causes of this phenomenon."
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The crater of the mountain is only 300 feet by 200, and its depth does not exceed 100 feet. The peak does not terminate in a simple cone like most other volcanoes, but it has on its crest a kind of circular wall, which surrounds the crater, and which at a distance has the appearance of a cylinder placed upon a truncated cone. The interior of the crater is covered with yellow and white clay, and fragments of decomposed lava, under which are found beautiful crystals of sulphur. Smoke constantly issues from the summit, but it has never been known to emit flames. It is supposed, indeed, that what may be called the chimney probably operates in saving Teneriffe from the destructive eruptions to which other volcanic islands are subject. The Peak of Teneriffe has been frequently ascended, but as it is generally covered with clouds, the view seldom repays the visitor for the time and trouble of the ascent. The most remarkable object is what is called the ice cave, which is situated just below the sugar-loaf or cone, and in which there is a spring of the coldest possible water, which is distilled very gently through the lava rocks above the cave, and is remarkably pure.
VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN IN NEW ZEALAND.
Mount Gambier, a volcano in New Zealand, is composed of the united shells or walls of three distinct craters (each containing a lake of water), that rise in abrupt peaks from a rich and level country, composed of a dark volcanic soil. "After toiling up the outward slopes of the mountain, at the most accessible place we could find," observes Mr. Angas, "the sudden view of the interior of the largest crater burst upon us, and called forth our rapturous admiration. It was, indeed, a glorious and enchanting scene: a vast hollow basin, as it were, shut out from the world by the walls of lava that surrounded it, and covered with emerald verdure, burnished to a bright metallic green by the golden tints of evening, that now lit up with a fairy-like radiance this smiling solitude, once the region of subterranean fires. Small hills, like miniature craters, interspersed among plains and valleys carpeted with grass of the most velvet smoothness, scattered about with a few blackwood or mimosa trees, formed one portion of this enchanted dell. At its western extremity, terrace above terrace rose, along the side of the mountain; and caverns of beautiful red lava opened here and there. But the most fascinating sight, as we stood gazing on this scene of preternatural beauty, was the deep still lake that filled the other half of the crater: its black volcanic waters, never ruffled by the wind, lay in calm repose at the base of lofty cliffs of pure white coral, every line of which was mirrored on its tranquil bosom. Some tern were skimming over the lake, and several smaller lakes or ponds ornamented the green carpet of this wondrous spot, that appeared more like some scene of enchantment, conjured up by the magic wand of Prospero, than a bright and palpable reality. The declining sun threw orange and amber reflections across the sky; and as the light faded away, the steep walls of the crater loomed solemn and terrible, the cold mists of night settled upon the lake, and the scene of fairy loveliness was changed to one of lonely grandeur. All was still, save the shrieking of the owl; and as the moon rose up from behind the dark peaks of lava, the effect was beautiful in the extreme: the soft silvery light bathing every object in that vapoury splendour which added sublimity to the landscape. We bivouacked for the night within the crater, our fires glimmering like stars along the edge of the lake."
VOLCANIC ISLANDS OFF THE AZORES.
During the night of the 1st of February, 1811, flames were observed issuing from the sea, about a mile and a half from the Island of St. Michael's, and shortly after a most awful and tremendous explosion took place, throwing up from an enormous depth, cinders, ashes, and stones of immense size. Quantities of fish, which appeared as if boiled, floated on the surface of the sea towards the shore, and a British sloop-of-war, seeing columns of smoke issuing from the sea, supposed an engagement was taking place, and hastened to the spot. It was, however, a very dangerous place for any ship to venture in, for in the very situation where, only a few hours before, the sea had been forty fathoms deep, a dangerous shoal had been formed by the substances thrown up by the eruption. The following June an earthquake was felt at St. Michael's, and a few days afterwards two columns of white smoke were seen rising from the sea, and they were followed by a succession of explosions, which continued to rise from the sea till the 18th of June, when the crater of the volcano was first seen appearing above the waves. It rose rapidly, and in the course of a few hours was thirty feet above the water; and on the 19th it was fifty feet high, and two-thirds of a mile in length, raging most furiously, and throwing up immense quantities of stones, some of which fell a mile distant from the volcano. Water also boiled up furiously, and when it fell was accompanied with vast quantities of black sand. In this manner it continued raging for several days, and increasing rapidly in size. At length the volcano became quiet, and when it was visited on the 4th of July, by the captain and officers of the British sloop Sabrina, it was found that a perfect island had been formed with a mountain in the centre between two and three hundred feet in height. In the middle was a large basin of boiling water, whence a stream, about six yards across, fell into the sea, facing St. Michael's, and this water, at fifty yards from the shore, though it was thirty fathoms deep, was too hot to hold the hand in. Subsequently the island sank gradually into the sea, and by the middle of October, no part of it was left above the water, though it was found a dangerous shoal had been formed, which still remains.
VOLCANIC ISLAND OFF SICILY.
In July, 1831, a party of English gentlemen who had passed the night in a small boat on the sea, off the coast of Sicily, were awakened a little before sunrise by a violent explosion, which arose from a sand-bank which was generally covered with water, and which was known to mariners by the name of Nerita; and looking in the direction whence the sound proceeded, they found the place formerly occupied by this island, filled by two hills surrounded by a column of smoke. As the sun rose in all his glory behind the hills, they found that the highest was about one hundred and twenty feet above the level of the sea; and rowing round the island, they found that on one side there was a portion of flat sandy shore; they landed, and soon after they mounted to the edge of the crater, which they found was placed between two cones, which had appeared at a little distance to be two distinct hills. The form of the crater was very irregular: within it, about forty-five feet below its lip, they saw two small lakes of boiling water. While the party from the boat were examining the island a rumbling noise was heard, which terrified them so much that they hurried away, and they had hardly rowed themselves clear of the island when they found another was rising from the sea, which opened to an immense depth, as though to allow of its expulsion. The first island, when examined by the boat's crew, was about two miles in circumference, but it diminished daily, and by the following October, it had entirely disappeared.
THE ISLANDS OF ISCHIA AND PROCIDA.
There are several volcanoes in the islands of Ischia and Procida, and Strabo states that the latter island was torn from the former during an eruption. Both islands appear to be of volcanic origin, and about the time of the Christian era, it was found impossible to inhabit either of them, on account of their frequent eruptions, earthquakes, and sulphureous exhalations. The principal mountain in the centre of Ischia, Mount Epomeo, has no less than twelve volcanic cones. It is composed of greenish stone mixed with hardened lava, and it is about 2,600 feet high.
Monte Rotaro was thrown up by an eruption in the lower part of the island; the cone is remarkably perfect; and the hill itself is so fertile that it is covered with the arbutus and other evergreens nearly to its summit.
Monte Nuovo was thrown up by a violent eruption in the year 1538. On the 29th of September in that year, two hours after sunset, a gulf opened between the little town of Tripergola, which once existed on the site of Monte Nuovo, and the baths in its suburbs, which were much frequented. The gulf opened with a tremendous noise, discharging pumice stones, blocks of unmelted lava, with ashes mixed with water and occasional flames. The sea retired suddenly for a space of 200 yards, and a portion of its bed was left dry. The eruption continued till the 3rd of October, and when it ceased, the town and the Lucrine Lake, which lay just below it, had disappeared, and in their stead was left a hill about 450 feet above the level of the bay, with a base nearly a mile and a half in circumference; while the whole of the sea-coast, as far as the town of Pozzuoli, was raised several feet above the bed of the Mediterranean.