The History of Java, v. 1-2Raffles, Thomas Stamford, Sir
History
The History of Java, v. 1-2
Raffles, Thomas Stamford, Sir
Java (Indonesia) -- History
The following is an extract from the reports of Lieutenant Owen
Phillips, dated at Bima on the island of Sumbawa. "On my trip towards
the western part of the island, I passed through nearly the whole of
Dompo and a considerable part of Bima. The extreme misery to which the
inhabitants have been reduced is shocking to behold. There were still
on the road-side the remains of several corpses, and the marks of where
many others had been interred: the villages almost entirely deserted
and the houses fallen down, the surviving inhabitants having dispersed
in search of food. The Rajah of Sang'ir came to wait on me at Dompo,
on the 3d instant. The suffering of the people there appears, from his
account, to be still greater than in Dompo. The famine has been so
severe that even one of his own daughters died from hunger. I presented
him with three coyangs of rice in your name, for which he appeared most
truly thankful.
"As the Rajah was himself a spectator of the late eruption, the
following account which he gave me is perhaps more to be depended
upon than any other I can possibly obtain. About 7 p. m. on the 10th
of April, three distinct columns of flame burst forth near the top of
the Tomboro mountain (all of them apparently within the verge of the
crater), and after ascending separately to a very great height, their
tops united in the air in a troubled confused manner. In a short time,
the whole mountain next Sang'ir appeared like a body of liquid fire,
extending itself in every direction. The fire and columns of flame
continued to rage with unabated fury, until the darkness caused by the
quantity of falling matter obscured it at about 8 p. m. Stones, at
this time, fell very thick at Sang'ir; some of them as large as two
fists, but generally not larger than walnuts. Between 9 and 10 p. m.
ashes began to fall, and soon after a violent whirlwind ensued, which
blew down nearly every house in the village of Sang'ir, carrying the
ataps, or roofs, and light parts away with it. In the part of Sang'ir
adjoining Tomboro its effects were much more violent, tearing up by the
roots the largest trees and carrying them into the air, together with
men, horses, cattle, and whatever else came within its influence. (This
will account for the immense number of floating trees seen at sea).
The sea rose nearly twelve feet higher than it had ever been known to
do before, and completely spoiled the only small spots of rice land
in Sang'ir, sweeping away houses and every thing within its reach.
The whirlwind lasted about an hour. No explosions were heard till the
whirlwind had ceased, at about 11 a. m. From midnight till the evening
of the 11th, they continued without intermission; after that time their
violence moderated, and they were only heard at intervals, but the
explosions did not cease entirely until the 15th of July. Of the whole
villages of Tomboro, Tempo containing about forty inhabitants is the
only one remaining.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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