SOMETHING ABOUT EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES
For four days the boys traveled around Ponce with the professor, taking
in all the sights. They also took a trip on the railroad to Guayanilla
and Yauco, and likewise down to several small villages along the
seacoast. They were particularly interested in the American government
of the island, and spent several hours at the various departments. Here
the professor met two officials whom he knew, and all were made to feel
thoroughly at home.
In those trips Hockley had little to say, and the other boys noticed
the change in his manner.
“Something went wrong, that’s certain,” observed Darry. But what it had
been they could not imagine, for neither Hockley nor the professor said
anything, and they did not dare to make inquiries.
At the close of the fourth day a French steamer came into the Port of
Ponce, bound from Hayti to St. Pierre, Martinique. The steamer was
one upon which Amos Strong had sailed once before and he knew Captain
Danvier fairly well. He at once communicated this fact to the boys.
“If we are to go down to Martinique we cannot do better than sail with
Captain Danvier,” he said. “His steamer, the _Vendee_, is a comfortable
craft, and we shall be certain of good food and pleasant company.”
“Then let us sail by all means,” said Mark, who was anxious to get
to St. Pierre and see his father, and Frank said the same. Sam and
Darry were likewise willing, and so, for a wonder was Hockley. As a
matter of fact the tall youth had wished to get away from Ponce long
before, being fearful that the other boys might learn something about
J. Rutherford Brown, _alias_ Henry Umbler, and of the loss of money by
gambling.
The matter of accommodations on board of the _Vendee_ was easily
arranged with Captain Danvier, who was delighted to meet Professor
Strong again, and twenty-four hours later the party bid farewell to the
Port of Ponce and sailed for the island which was destined so soon to
become the center of one of the largest catastrophes known to history.
“I guess we have quite a sail before us,” said Sam, after land had
become hidden in the distance.
“We have, Samuel,” answered the professor. “Roughly speaking, the
distance from Ponce to St. Pierre is a little over four hundred miles.
We shall sail directly to the south-east, and make no stops on the way.
The _Vendee_ is not a fast steamer, but Captain Danvier calculates to
cover the distance in five days.”
“I have been looking up a map of the Leeward Islands,” put in Mark.
“What a lot of them there are and all in a row, like the tops of a
mountain range.”
“And that is just what they are, Mark, and the tops of a very high
range of mountains at that, only the water covers the larger part of
the range. Between some of these islands and to the east and west the
water is five and six thousand feet deep. If the sea was swept away
some of these peaks would be two miles high.”
“They must have had some terrible earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to
produce such mountains,” said Darry, who had joined the group.
“They have had, Dartworth, and these eruptions have extended not alone
through the Leeward Islands, but through the whole of the West Indies
and also through Central and South America and parts of Mexico.”
“Do you know, I have never read much about earthquakes and volcanoes,”
observed Mark. “But it seems to me it ought to prove interesting
reading.”
“It is interesting--more so than any novel you ever read. Earthquakes
alone have enlisted the attention of scientists for years, and they
have to-day the record of over seven thousand which proved more or less
disastrous.”
“Seven thousand!” cried Darry. “Then old Mother Earth isn’t as fixed as
I thought her!”
“No, Mother Earth is not fixed, but continually changing, both inside
and out. There are tremendous fires on the interior and these often
crack open the dirt and rock, letting in large quantities of sea-water.
Then comes an explosion, just as you may have at home if you throw cold
water into a red-hot kitchen range. The steam and gases don’t know
where to go, and consequently there is a volcanic eruption, or else
something breaks loose underground and an earthquake follows. If this
happens close to the sea, or under the sea, there is a tidal wave, the
water going down and up with the movements of the ocean bed.”
“Do all earthquakes come from volcanic fires?” asked Sam.
“We cannot answer that, Samuel. Some earthquakes seem not to have
any connection with volcanoes, as for instance the earthquake at
Charleston, South Carolina, in 1886. There was no fire there, and but
little gas, and what caused the quaking, with its tremendous damage to
property and human life, is a mystery.”
“What was the very worst earthquake known?” came from Frank.
“That at Lisbon, Portugal, in 1755. It happened late in the year, and
before it occurred there were numerous small earthquakes and volcanic
outbursts throughout Europe. When the big earthquake came there were
three shocks in quick succession and the very bottom of the harbor
dropped out. After many ships were engulfed, the bottom of the harbor
came up again and there was a fierce onrush of water. What was left
standing of the city took fire, and fully fifty thousand people lost
their lives.”
“Isn’t Vesuvius the largest of all known volcanoes?” asked Darry.
“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.
“We will try to avoid all eruptions,” replied the professor, smiling,
for even he did not dream of what was so close at hand.
The boys found Captain Danvier just as sociable as Amos Strong had
pictured him, and the worthy commander of the _Vendee_ gave them
permission to roam over the steamer at will. He could speak English
fairly well and took a delight in explaining his nautical instruments
and other things to them.
“’Tis verra nice for you to do ze traveling around,” he said. “And wid
such a learned gentlemans as ze professair it is von double pleasure.
He is ze fine gentlemans, I know heem well.”
“And so do we know him,” answered Darry. “He’s O. K.”
“O. K. Vot you means by zat?”
“Oh, I mean he is just the cheese,” said Darry, bound to have his fun.
The French captain looked more bewildered than ever. “De cheese? Ha,
you mean de cheese to eat--de _caise_. But you no mean to eat him, no.”
“No, I mean he is just the ticket.”
“De ticket, vot is dat? De _carte_, eh? How is de professair de
_carte_?”
“I didn’t say the professor was a card--or a bill of fare either. I
mean he is just all right.”
“All right? Ha, I see--_oui, oui_! Surely he is all right, de
professair is nevair wrong. But while he is right how can he be de
ticket and de cheese, and de O. K.? Dat Englis as she is spoke by de
American is von verra funny language, yes!” And the French captain
shrugged his shoulders, while Darry and the other boys had to turn
away to keep from laughing in the good-hearted man’s face. But when
Darry and Mark tried to air the little French they knew before Captain
Danvier he laughed as heartily as they did.