VOLCANIC ISLANDS--OPINIONS OF THE ANCIENTS--"ATLANTIS"--INSTANCE OF THE
FORMATION OF A VOLCANIC ISLAND--CONCLUSION.
In the last chapter we described the manner in which a certain class of
islands in the South Seas are formed; in the present we will make a few
observations on another class, which have sprung up from the bottom of
the sea, as if by magic, under the irresistible influence of fire.
There are volcanoes in the sea, as well as on the land; and these
volcanoes have in former times up-heaved huge masses of land so as to
form large islands, while in other cases they have caused islands
formerly in existence to subside and disappear.
In the writings of the ancients we find reference made to an island
which, if it ever did exist, now exists no longer. It was situated
opposite the Straits of Gibraltar, was nearly two hundred miles in
length, and was called "Atlantis"--hence the name of the Atlantic Ocean.
Many believe, and with some reason, we think, that this island was not
altogether a myth, although much that is said of it is undoubtedly
fabulous.
Plato tells us that it was a large island in the Western Ocean, situated
before or opposite to the Straits of Gades; and that out of this island
there was an easy passage into some others which lay near a large
continent, exceeding in bigness all Europe and Asia. So far Plato may
have told the truth, and from this passage it is conjectured that the
existence of the continent of America was known to the ancients. But he
goes on, immediately after, to draw upon his imagination, and to tell us
that Neptune settled on this island, and that his posterity dwelt there
for a period of nine thousand years in the midst of fertility and
abundance. But, not content with their ample possessions and prolific
soil, they went over to Africa and Europe, and even penetrated into
Asia, bent on conquest.
Passing from this mixture of probable truth and undoubted fable, Plato
then asserts that the island of Atlantis finally sank and disappeared.
This may or may not be true, but there is more reason for our crediting
the statement than many people would suppose. Certain it is that no
such island exists at the present time, but it is believed by some that
the Azores, which are volcanic in their formation, are the summits of
the mountain ranges of the Atlantis of the ancients.
But the best evidence we have of the possible existence of such an
island is the fact that in modern times an island has been _seen_ to
rise out of the sea, and, after a time, to disappear, under the
influence of volcanic action.
This remarkable event is related by Captain Tillard, an officer of the
British Navy, who saw it on the 12th of June 1811, when approaching the
island of St. Michael. On this occasion smoke was seen to rise from the
surface of the sea, and, soon after, showers of cinders to burst forth.
We cannot do better than give the captain's own words, as follows:
"Imagine an immense body of smoke rising from the sea, the surface of
which was marked by the silvery rippling of the waves. In a quiescent
state it had the appearance of a circular cloud revolving on the water,
like a horizontal wheel, in various and irregular involutions, expanding
itself gradually on the lee side; when, suddenly, a column of the
blackest cinders, ashes, and stones, would shoot up in the form of a
spire, at an angle of from ten to twenty degrees from a perpendicular
line, the angle of inclination being universally to windward. This was
rapidly succeeded by a second, third, and fourth shower, each acquiring
greater velocity, and overtopping the other, till they had attained an
altitude as much above the level of our eye as the sea was below it.
"As the impetus with which the several columns were severally propelled
diminished, and their ascending motion had nearly ceased, they broke
into various branches resembling a group of pines. These again formed
themselves into festoons of white feathery smoke, in the most fanciful
manner imaginable, intermixed with the finest particles of falling
ashes; which at one time assumed the appearance of innumerable plumes of
black and white ostrich feathers surmounting each other; at another,
that of the light wavy branches of a weeping willow.
"During these bursts the most vivid flashes of lightning continually
issued from the densest part of the volcano; and the cloud of smoke now
ascending to an altitude much above the highest point to which the ashes
were projected, rolled off in large masses of fleecy clouds, gradually
expanding themselves before the wind, in a direction nearly horizontal,
and drawing up to them a quantity of water-spouts, which formed a most
beautiful and striking addition to the general appearance of the scene."
Such is the description given of this submarine volcano in action; and
the crater which was thrown up at the time was about twenty feet above
the level of the sea. As Captain Tillard could not, however, delay his
voyage to make further observations at that time, the action that
subsequently took place is not known; but its results were seen shortly
afterwards.
In about three weeks after the date of his passing the spot, Captain
Tillard returned to it and found an island of about a mile in
circumference, with a height of between two and three hundred feet at
its highest point. There was no violent eruption going on, although the
craters still emitted smoke. He therefore landed, and, on reaching the
largest crater, found it to be full of boiling water, which overflowed
and found its way to the ocean in a river of about six yards in width.
This island, however, was not a permanent addition to the world's
archipelago. It sank into the ocean again, and disappeared in October
of the same year in which it rose.
In commencing this little book we set out with the intention of rambling
hither and thither, among things that relate to the sea, without regard
to order. We have carried out our intention; and now, at the close of
our task, find that the more we listen to the Ocean's Voice, the more we
find its tale to be interminable, though the reverse of uninteresting.
In these rambles we have sought to treat chiefly of those scientific
facts relating to the sea and the atmospheric ocean, which are not so
frequently made the subject of books for the young, as are the wild and
daring deeds of man upon the surface of the mighty deep.
It is not sufficient that man should become acquainted with the doings
of his fellows on the sea. This is but one branch of general knowledge,
and a very secondary one compared with that infinitely higher branch
which treats of the workings of the Almighty in the ocean; workings
which render it what it is--not merely a means of commercial enterprise
for man and a home for fish, but also a great purifier and revivifier of
the earth and sweetener of the atmosphere. God is the great first cause
of all that is and that operates in the universe. It were an act of
presumption to inquire into what we may term the first acts of the
Almighty's power. But there is no presumption--on the contrary there is
propriety, as well as the highest gratification of which the human mind
is capable--in penetrating through the paths of knowledge up to that
first series of second causes which circle like a glory round the
fountain-head. We may not put the question, "How did God create all
things out of nothing?" but, all things having been created, it is quite
legitimate to inquire how the circles of their manifold operations are
carried on, and in what respect the things that be do affect each other.
No book that has of late years issued from the press treats more
eloquently and interestingly of such subjects of inquiry than that
admirable work of Captain Maury of the United States Navy, entitled "The
Physical Geography of the Sea." Much of the substance of what we have
written has been culled from the pages of that fascinating volume. But
we have merely plucked one or two leaves, as it were, and presented them
to our readers in the hope that they may be tempted by their fragrance
to pluck the flower. The mysteries of the atmospheric and aqueous
oceans are here treated of fully, yet so agreeably, that one is
frequently apt to fancy one is perusing the pages of romance.
In our own little book we have been compelled to skim lightly, and, in
many places, to pass over subjects of great interest.
As for other subjects connected with the sea, of which we may not treat,
they are innumerable. Of the sea-weeds that clothe the bottom of the
deep with the rich profusion and glowing colours of the gardens of
earth--of the myriads of animalcules (besides those we have mentioned)
that disport in its waters and fill the abyss with life and lambent
fire--of the great whales and other huge creatures that revel in its
depths and lash its waters in their terrible might--of these and a host
of kindred subjects, our space forbids our saying more than that the
Voice of Ocean has much to tell us in regard to them, and in regard to
the provident care of their beneficent Creator.