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Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 99, 27 April 1903, Page 3

An extraordinary incident was related by the ni&ster of the French barque Vineennes upon the arrival of that vessel in Melbourne a few days ago. He stated that his vessel passed through a sea of pumice stone, extending over about six miles, in the vicinity of the Pylstarrt Island, which is situate about 60 miles to the south of the Tonjyan Group. The barque, which was sailing along at a rate of about eight knots per hour before she encountered the pumice stone, found her progress considerably cheeked by the floating mass, and she only succeeded in threading her way through it at the end of about two hours. The precise locality where the vessel encountered the pumice stone was 10 miles north-west of Pylstarrt Island. The depth of the pumice stone under the water was about one yard, and the mass was of consistent thickness throughout. The size of the stones' varied considerably, some being perhaps 2ft. long, and correspondingly wide, but the majority of them were much smaller. Captain Seloam procured a number of the stones, and brought them with him to port. He is of opinion that the phenomenon is the result of a submarine eruption. ■ Pylstarrt Island is of a yoicanic character but there were no traces of eruption to be seen on it whilst the Vineennes Avas in the locality. The barque, as already stated, passed about six miles, through the pumice stone in a westerly direction, but the area also extended as far north and south as the eye could reach.