My experiments with volcanoesJaggar, Thomas Augustus
Science
My experiments with volcanoes
Jaggar, Thomas Augustus
Geologists -- Biography; Volcanoes
An artificial feature of great convenience was a trail following the
top of the ring ridge, all around the crater. The Quensell boys had
a rowboat on the lake, and Dr. Kellers and I were guided by them to
all parts of the island, making the acquaintance of the people in the
villages along the eastern trade-wind shore. Just as in Hawaii, the
trade wind is a controlling feature; and the surf erodes cliffs on
the east, whereas beaches are more common along the lava flows of the
western strand line. These are sheltered from wind but are remote from
habitations. The entire island is made of lava and ash deposits, and is
evidently the top of a volcano cone extending far below sea level. The
lava activity, as shown by the arrangement of the old and new source
cracks, depends on concentric cracking around the caldera, which makes
concentric rifts, rather than the long radial ones found in Hawaii. The
crack along the west side--which had vented the succession of flows
from south to north, ending with the Futu flow of 1929--indicated that
the next flow might threaten Angaha. This is just what happened during
the next decade, forcing the island population to be evacuated.
My geology photographs and pictures of people, ships, and dwellings
were developed in a darkroom tent, which I set up in a copra shed, so
as to keep the development of negatives abreast of the exposures. Copra
bugs crawling over me in the dark and getting into developer added
excitement, and the eternal smell of copra began to tinge my dreams.
The routine of our work was broken by two good fights, a fist fight
between a Filipino steward and a sailor, and a knock-down and drag-out
between two native women of Angaha. The real fun was the row between
the two women. A younger woman who was a loose, shrill character,
disliked by the villagers and the sailors, attempted to attack an
older woman who was a big husky dame. There was screaming and hair
pulling and fisticuffs, while the Navy men stood around and cheered
them on. The younger woman made most of the noise, while the older
woman laughed and ripped off the other’s clothes. Finally the young
woman, in tears and with clothing in tatters, retreated and disappeared.
But to get back to the eclipse, telescope lenses were mounted on high
scaffolds, the ladies arrived in October, and the total eclipse of the
sun happened and was photographed at the time anticipated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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