_From the Pittsburg Dispatch._
A rim of land inclosing a fresh-water lake in the middle of the Pacific
Ocean is a novelty in the way of islands. There may not be more than
one such in the great ocean, and, at any rate, that type of island is
extremely rare. This strange spot is Niuafou, which is quite apart from
other ocean islands. It lies midway between the Fiji and Samoa groups,
and is under the government of the Tonga group, though it is 200 miles
from these islands.
It has recently been visited by Lieutenant Somerville, of the British
Navy. Some time or other a volcanic vent opened at the bottom of the
ocean, and the lava that poured out of it piled up higher and higher,
until it finally overtopped the sea. A great volcanic mountain had
been formed, and the part of it that came into view above the waste
of waters was, of course, an island. As time went on this volcano was
the scene of one of those tremendous explosions that sometimes tear
mountains to pieces. It was such a cataclysm that blew off the upper
3,000 feet of Krakatoa some years ago.
The explosion at Niuafou had a remarkable result. The interior of
the crater was blown out to a considerable depth, leaving only the
narrow rim, in this case a nearly perfect ring, around the deep central
cavity. Such is the island of to-day.
A thousand Tongans live in the five villages that lie along the outer
slope of that crater wall. The drainage from the inner slope has
partly filled the cavity, forming a lake whose waters, though slightly
alkaline, are drinkable. From the top of the crater rim one looks down
upon the peaceful lake within, with its three little islands and the
curiously shaped peninsula jutting out into it; and outside the rim is
the ever-restless ocean.