Incessant rumblings and earthquake
shocks accompanied the eruption, and mud, ashes, stones and lava covered
the mountain slopes, which had been cultivated for many centuries.
These were the most recent strong displays of volcanic energy in Central
America, though former great outflows of lava are indicated by great
fields of barren rock, which extend for miles.
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Terrible Eruption of Krakatoa.
The most destructive volcanic explosion of recent times, one perhaps
unequalled in violence in all times, was that of the small mountain
island of Krakatoa, in the East Indian Archipelago, in 1883. This made
its effects felt round the entire globe, and excited such wide attention
that we feel called upon to give it a chapter of its own.
The island of Krakatoa lies in the Straits of Sunda, between Java and
Sumatra. In size it is insignificant, and had been silent so long that
its volcanic character was almost lost sight of. Of its early history we
know nothing. At some remote time in the past it may have appeared as a
large cone, of some twenty-five miles in circumference at base and not
less than 10,000 feet high. Then, still in unknown times, its cone was
blown away by internal forces, leaving only a shattered and irregular
crater ring. This crater was two or three miles in diameter, while the
highest part of its walls rose only a few hundred feet above the sea.
Later volcanic work built up a number of small cones within the crater,
and still later a new cone, called Rakata, rose on the edge of the old
one to a height of 2,623 feet.
Pages:
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377