THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION AT KRAKATOA.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 18, Issue 41, 21 May 1907, Page 2

THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION AT KRAKATOA.

One of the most recent eruptions, one of tho greatest in the world's history, was that of Krakatoa, which occurred in August, 1883. Krakatoa was a small island situated in the Straits of Sunda, between Sumatra and Java. In appearance from the surface of the sea it was an island with one small mountain upon it 3,000 ft. high, but in reality this wass only a'small portion of the crater of a huge volcano situated under the sea, and although it had not shown its power within the memory of man, it w«s still alive and ready to burst forth in fiery fury. In the'year 3SS3 the white-hot lava began to swell up under the sea ; this merely caused the sea to boil and clouds of steam to arise. But gradually the volwmo grew moi;e ferocious, and on Sunday, August 2G, the whole crater was in full force—a burning hell of molten lava upon the surface of the sea. Then commenced a battle between lire and water which is unequalled iu human memory. Thousands of tons of sea-water poured into the crater in gigantic floods, only to be repelled and converted into vapour by the fire. Every time tho water ramo into contact with the heat it caused an awi'ul explosion, and towards the end of the battle these explosions merged into one continuous deafening roar. Tin's continued until next morning (Mor-Jay.), when the fight ended with one triumphant explosion vhich was heard as far as the island of Rodriguez, three thousand and eigrty miles distant !—and the sea had won. During the. battle the stupendous collisions between fire and water caused fearful tidal waves ; these waves dashed upon the shores of Java and Sumatra, on each side of tho Strait of Sunda.

Every village and t.iwni upon these coasts was »:na&hed to atoms, and about 40,000 human lives were lost. At one place the water caught hold of a war vessel lying at anchor, and thiev it up a high hill, where it landed in a forest. Within a radius of one hundred miles from Krakatoa itself the sea was covered with lava, dust, ashes, and debris, rendering it almost impassable to ships, and the different aspect of the landscape after the eruption was extraordinary. The contour of the coasts on each side was completely changed ; whole islands sank under the waves and new ones arose where nono had stood before; mountains changed places with lakes, and vice-versa. The war of the elements then ended for tho time being in a victory for tho sea, but tho crater of Krakatoa is still under the ocean, whether extinct or merely dormant is unknown.