“It is certainly the most destructive of volcanoes, having destroyed Pompeii by covering it with a fine dust, until it was completely buried from sight, and having covered Herculaneum with a shower of mud, so that hardly a soul escaped from a territory miles in extent. But the largest volcano in the world is probably Krakatua, situated between the islands of Sumatra and Java, in the East Indies. This volcano was first heard of in 1860, but its greatest outbreak occurred in 1883. At first there was a tremendous column of vapor over the island, which, fortunately, was uninhabited. This increased, and explosion after explosion was heard, each growing louder than the others. These explosions finally got so terrific that they were heard thousands of miles away, and the inhabitants of Java, Sumatra, and other islands in that vicinity were filled with terror. At last, late in August, came one grand explosion in the morning, and about eight square miles of dirt and rock were hurled into the air, to fall into the hissing and boiling sea. The gas, dust, and noxious vapors traveled for miles and obscured the sun like an eclipse, and the tidal waves rose to a height of sixty to ninety feet, causing the loss of much shipping and probably forty thousand lives. Had Krakatua been on the mainland instead of on an island there would probably have been such a catastrophe as is unknown to modern history.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t there,” put in Hockley, who had lounged up during the talk, and felt that he must say something. “I’m willing enough to stay where there are no earthquakes and volcanoes.”
“What about the volcanoes down here?” asked Mark. “You said something about Mont Pelee, on the island of Martinique.”
“That is now supposed to be an extinct volcano. It was in eruption in 1813, 1817, 1823, 1839 and 1851. The eruption of 1839 was the worst and this nearly destroyed Fort de France, the capital of the island. The volcano is forty-two hundred feet in height and several miles in circumference. The last time I stopped at St. Pierre there was an excursion formed to visit the crater of the mountain, which now forms a beautiful lake of unknown depth. We spent a day in looking around and took dinner at a fine hotel at the foot of Pelee.”
“Are there any other volcanoes on the island?”
“There is Mount Carbet, near the center of the island, and Mount Vauclin near the south-east extremity, but they are of small importance.”
“We must visit all the volcanoes!” cried Frank. “I want to see what they look like on the inside.”
“I thought there was a big volcano on the Hawaiian Islands,” put in Hockley.
“There is, Jacob, Kilauea, which is nine miles in circumference, and one of the largest in the world. But this has never shown the activity of Vesuvius or of some others. There is also a volcano on the island of St. Vincent, due south of Martinique, which is well worth visiting.”
“Oh, I don’t care to see them—at least, not if there is any danger of their shooting off,” added the tall youth, hastily, and in such a manner that the others could scarcely keep from laughing.