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Show CHAPTER XXII. . The Canarics-Erupt t. ons of the Peak of Tcneriffc- Volcanic Arcl11pelagos- . 1730 _ 36 -Pretcnded distinction between · Lanccrote m . Conesthrown up 111 d n lavas-Reccnt f ormaf 1o n of oolitic travertine m Lan· ancient and m. o eAr hipelago-Sant on.· n and its contiguous isles-Von ct:!rote-Grecmn rc . C t , onsiuered-N ew islands thrown up f " Elcvahon ra ers c Buch's Theory 0 • d "Crater of Elevation" in the Isle of lf f Sautorm-Supposc f in the Gu o . f of the CalUera of P· !rna-Barren island in the Bay o ,l " Palma-Descrsp ton the side of "Elevation Craters - · · f the deep gorge on · Bengal-OrJgm 0 . f bmarm• e volcam. c pro d u cts-Causes of the great me of Stratification o su C of Somma formed in the same f b arine volcanos- one ' the craters oth ts u fm V esuv. ms-M"m era1 comiJOsition of volcanic products-mSpaencnuelra tiaosn s rae spoe ct.i ng f i neous rocks produced at great depths, t~e nature o g b modern volcanic cruphons. Y b nolog1•c a1 sk e t c1 1 of the changes which. ha\'.e hap. IN our c· 1r ·o th trad 1' t.1 0nary and ht'storical penod m t1Ie pened wit 1m. e N 1 ·e described the renewal of volcanic distnct roundd h:~i~~~lwcrater, and the alm?st entire the fires of a centr~l anf . 1 r eruptions from mmor and · f sencs o Jrregu a · cessatwn o a 1 t'c archipelagos offer mtcrest-d t t Some vo can indepen en ven s. f tbt's phenomenon, the great 1 f the converse o · ing examp es o1 . · become a1 m os t sealed up ' and eruptw. ns habitual v• e1n t Javmwg procee d'm g, eI 'ther from different pomts of great vto ence no r from adjoining islands, where, as in the bed of the ocean, o d ci·aters are formed from · I 1 · new cones an fo. rmerly · m sc Oltfa ,t lu. s state o f t ln .n gs the Canary Islands now time to t1me. afford an example. p k f Tenerifle has been in the The highest crater of the . eah ob 1<nown to Europrans; . ce It as een h state of a solfatara ever sm k l fr·om the sides of t e but several erupti.O ns h a ve ta4 oe0n Pahc' e·h formed a small h'll I ' . t1 year 1 o ' w IC . d mountain, on.e m ·le d 1 two following years, accompame and another m 1704 an t le the lava overflowed a town and with great earthquakes, w.hen ened in June, 1798, ~ot far harbour. Another eruptwn I hap~ t these lateral emisswns of from the summit of the pea<. u 'd ed as of a subordinate lava, at distant m· terva1 s , may be cons1 er VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN LANCEROTE. 381 kind, and subsidiary to the great discharge which has taken place in the contiguous isles of Palma and Lancerote; and the occasional activity of the peak may be compared to the irregular eruptions before mentioned, of the Solfatara, of Arso in Ischia, and of Monte N uovo, which have bl'Oken out since the renewal of the Vesuvian fires in 79. We shall describe one of these insular eruptions in the Canaries, which happened in Lancerote, between the years 1730 and 1736, as the effects were remat·kable ; and Von Buch had an opportunity, when he visited that island in 1815, of comparing the accounts transmitted to us of the event, with the present state and geological appearances of the country*. On the 1st of September, 1730, the earth split open on a sudden two leagues from Yaira. In one night a considerable hill of ejected matter was thrown up, and a few days later, another vent opened and gave out a lava-stream, which overran Chinanfaya and other villages. It flowed first rapidly, lil{e water, but became afterwards heavy and slow, like honey. On the 7th of September an immense rock was protruded from the bottom of the lava, with a noise like thunder, and the stream was forced to change its course, from N. toN.W., so that St. Catalina, and other villages, were overflowed. Whether this mass was protruded by an earthquake or was a mass of ancient lava, blown up like that before mentioned, in 1783, in Iceland, is not explained. On the 11th of September more lava flowed out and covered the village of Maso entirely, and, for the space of eight days, precipitated itself with a horrible roar into the sea. Dead fish floated on the waters in indescribable multitudes, or were thrown dying on the shore. After a brief interval of repose, three new openings broke forth, immediately from the site of the consumed St. Catalina, and sent out an enormous quantity of 1apilli, sand, and ashes. On the 28th of October, the cattle throughout the whole country dropped lifeless to the ground, suffocated by putrid vapours, which condensed and fell down in drops. On the 1st of December, a lava-stream reached the sea, and formed an island, round which dead fish were strewed. It is unnecessary hct·e to give the details of the overwhelm* This account was principally derived by Von Buch from the MS. of Don Andrea Lorenzo Curboto, Curate of Yaira, the point whore tho eruption began. Ubet· eineu vulcanisch, Ausbruch auf der Insel Lanzerote, |
