It was one o’clock in the afternoon of Sunday, August 26, 1883, when Krakatoa commenced a series of gigantic volcanic efforts. Detonations were heard which succeeded each other at intervals of about ten minutes. These were loud enough to penetrate as far as Batavia and Buitenzorg, distant 96 and 100 miles respectively from the volcano. A vast column of steam, smoke, and ashes ascended to a prodigious elevation. It was measured at two P. M. from a ship 76 miles away, and was then judged to be 17 miles high--that is, three times the height of the loftiest mountain in the world. As the Sunday afternoon wore on, the volcanic manifestations became ever fiercer. At 3 P. M. the sounds were loudly heard in a town 150 miles away. At 5 P. M. every ear in the island of Java was engaged in listening to volcanic explosions, which were considered to be of quite unusual intensity even in that part of the world. These phenomena were, however, only introductory. Krakatoa was gathering strength. Between 5 and 6 P. M. the British ship _Charles Bal_, commanded by Captain Watson, was about ten miles south of the volcano. The ship had to shorten sail in the darkness, and a rain of pumice, in large pieces and quite warm, fell upon her decks. At 7 P. M. the mighty column of smoke is described as having the shape of a pine tree, and as being brilliantly illuminated by electric flashes. The sulphurous air is laden with fine dust, while the lead dropped from a ship in its anxious navigation astounds the leadsman by coming up hot from the bottom of the sea. From sunset on Sunday till midnight the tremendous detonations followed each other so quickly that a continuous roar may be said to have issued from the island. The full terrors of the eruption were now approaching. The distance of 96 miles between Krakatoa and Batavia was not sufficient to permit the inhabitants of the town to enjoy their night’s sleep. All night long the thunders of the volcano sounded like the discharges of artillery at their very doors, while the windows rattled with aerial vibrations. On Monday morning, August 27, the eruption culminated in four terrific explosions, of which the third, shortly after 10 A. M. Krakatoa time, was by far the most violent. The quantity of material ejected was now so great that darkness prevailed even as far as Batavia soon after 11 A. M., and there was a rain of dust until three in the afternoon. The explosions continued with more or less intensity all the afternoon of Monday and throughout Monday night. They finally ceased at about 2:30 A. M. on Tuesday, August 28. The entire series of grand phenomena thus occupied a little more than thirty-six hours.