"A strong, pungent, sulphureous smell, somewhat resembling that of earth-oil, is perceived on standing near the explosion; and the mud recently thrown up possesses a degree of heat greater than that of the surrounding atmosphere. During the rainy season these explosions are more violent, the mud is thrown up much higher, and the noise is heard at a greater distance.
"This volcanic phenomenon is situated near the centre of the large plain which interrupts the large series of volcanos; and owes its origin to the general cause of the numerous volcanic eruptions which occur on the island." Batavian Trans. vol. ix.
"These salt wells, as Dr. Horsfield terms them, and other phenomena connected with them, appear to be precisely of the same description as the mud volcano at Macalouba, in Sicily, and the eruptions described by Pallas, at Tainan and Kercha (the boundary of Europe to the south-east of Little Tartary) and no doubt owe their origin to similar causes—the extrication of gas, as well described by Dallas, in his Translation of the History of Volcanos, by the Abbé Ordinaire," page 249. All the phenomenon described in this work, as well in Sicily as at Tainan and Kercha, are to be found in Java, where, on the hypothesis of the Abbé, "the vitriolic acid liberating a great quantity of fixed air from the salts with which this argillaceous and limy mass is impregnated, is observed escaping copiously, by a general bubbling on the surface of the plain, when the substances are sufficiently diluted by rain," &c.
On the hypothesis of the Abbé it may, therefore, be doubted whether the assertion "that the Blédegs owe their origin to the general cause of the numerous volcanos on the island, is correct." Pallas conceives that the phenomenon at Kercha and Tainan may be explained by supposing a deep coal mine to have been for ages on fire, that the sea broke in upon it, that the water was turned into steam, and that the expansion occasioned thereby, and the struggle of the different gases to get free, force the upper surface, &c. but there seems no necessity for admitting the action of fire; the mud he describes is only luke-warm, this is precisely the case in Java.
It is remarkable that in Java, as in Sicily, in the vicinity of these phenomena, "the country around is of calcareous earth; briny springs and salt mines are found in the neighbourhood; some beds of oil of petroleum are also observed floating on adjacent stagnant waters."
[25] The tradition is as follows:—"It is related, that in former times the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Sumbawa were united, and afterwards separated into nine different parts; and it is also said, that when three thousand rainy seasons have passed away, they will be reunited."
| The separation of the lands of Palembang (Sumatra) and Java took place in the Javan year | 1114 |
| The separation of the lands of Bali and Balembangan on Java in | 1204 |
| The separation of the lands of Giling Trawangán and Bali in | 1260 |
| The separation of the island of Selo-Parang and Sumbawa in | 1280 |
| See Chronological Table, under the head "History of Java." | |
[26] In order to give the reader some idea of the tremendous violence with which nature sometimes distinguishes the operations of the volcano in these regions, and enable him to form some conjecture, from the occurrences of recent experience, of the effects they may have produced in past ages, a short account of the extraordinary and wide-spread phenomena that accompanied the eruption of the Tomboro mountain, in the island of Sumbawa, in April 1815, may not be uninteresting. Almost every one is acquainted with the intermitting convulsions of Etna and Vesuvius, as they appear in the descriptions of the poet and the authentic accounts of the naturalist, but the most extraordinary of them can bear no comparison, in point of duration and force, with that of Tomboro. This eruption extended perceptible evidences of its existence over the whole of the Molucca islands, over Java, a considerable portion of Celebes, Sumatra, and Borneo, to a circumference of a thousand statute miles from its centre, by tremulous motions, and the report of explosions; while within the range of its more immediate activity, embracing a space of three hundred miles around it, it produced the most astonishing effects, and excited the most alarming apprehensions. On Java, at the distance of three hundred miles, it seemed to be awfully present. The sky was overcast at noon-day with clouds of ashes, the sun was enveloped in an atmosphere, whose "palpable" density he was unable to penetrate; showers of ashes covered the houses, the streets, and the fields to the depth of several inches; and amid this darkness explosions were heard at intervals, like the report of artillery or the noise of distant thunder. So fully did the resemblance of the noises to the report of cannon impress the minds of some officers, that from an apprehension of pirates on the coast vessels were dispatched to afford relief. Superstition, on the other hand, on the minds of the natives, was busily at work, and attributed the reports to an artillery of a different description to that of pirates. All conceived that the effects experienced might be caused by eruptions of some of the numerous volcanos on the island; but no one could have conjectured that the showers of ashes which darkened the air, and covered the ground of the eastern districts of Java, could have proceeded from a mountain in Sumbawa, at the distance of several hundred miles. Conceiving that it might be interesting and curious to preserve an authentic and detailed account of the information that could be gained of this wonderful phenomenon, while the event was still recent and fully remembered, I directed a circular to the different Residents, requiring them to transmit to the Government a statement of the facts and circumstances connected with it, which occurred within their own knowledge. From their replies, the narrative drawn up by Mr. Assey, and printed in the ninth volume of the Batavian Transactions, was collected; the following is an extract from that paper:—
"The first explosions were heard on this island (Java) in the evening of the 5th of April: they were noticed in every quarter, and continued at intervals until the following day. The noise was, in the first instance, universally attributed to distant cannon: so much so, that a detachment of troops was marched from Djocjocarta, under the apprehension that a neighbouring post had been attacked; and along the coast boats were in two instances dispatched in quest of supposed ships in distress. On the following morning, however, a slight fall of ashes removed all doubt as to the cause of the sound; and it is worthy of remark, that as the eruption continued, the sound appeared to be so close, that in each district it seemed near at hand, and was generally attributed to an eruption either from the mountains Merapi, Klut, or Bromo. From the 6th the sun became obscured; it had every where the appearance of being enveloped in a fog. The weather was sultry and the atmosphere close, and still the sun seemed shorn of its rays, and the general stillness and pressure of the atmosphere seemed to forebode an earthquake. This lasted several days. The explosions continued occasionally, but less violently, and less frequently than at first. Volcanic ashes also began to fall, but in small quantities, and so slightly as to be hardly perceptible in the western district. This appearance of the atmosphere continued, with little variation, until the 10th of April; and till then it does not appear that the volcano attracted much observation, or was considered of greater importance than those which have occasionally burst forth in Java. But on the evening of the 10th, the eruptions were heard more loud and more frequent; from Cheribon eastward the air became darkened by the quantity of falling ashes; the sun was nearly darkened; and in some situations, particularly at Solo and Rembang, many said that they felt a tremulous motion of the earth. It was universally remarked in the more eastern districts, that the explosions were tremendous, continuing frequently during the 11th, and of such violence as to shake the houses perceptibly. An unusual thick darkness was remarked all the following night, and the greater part of the next day. At Solo candles were lighted at 4 p. m. of the 12th; at Mágelan in Kédu, objects could not be seen at three hundred yards distance. At Grésik, and other districts more eastward, it was dark as night in the greater part of the 12th April, and this saturated state of the atmosphere lessened as the cloud of ashes passed along and discharged itself on its way. Thus the ashes that were eight inches deep at Bányuwángi were but two in depth at Súmenap, and less in Grésik, and the sun does not seem to have been actually obscured in any district west of Semárang.
"All reports concur in stating, that so violent and extensive an eruption has not happened within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, nor within tradition. They speak of similar effects, in a lesser degree, when an eruption took place from the volcano of Karang Asam in Bali, about seven years ago, and it was at first supposed that this mountain was the seat of the eruption. The Balinese on Java attributed the event to a recent dispute between the two Rajahs of Bali Baliling, which terminated in the death of the younger Rajah by order of his brother.