| | | The inhabitants of Santorin, upon seeing volumes of steam and | | smoke issuing from the waters of the bay, apprehended some serious | | peril to be imminent. They feared the possibility of their town | | being overwhelmed by an eruption of ashes, and made a request that | | a ship of war should be sent to the spot to render any assistance | | that might be necessary. I immediately went there in the “Racer” | | and remained until all fears of danger had passed away. | | | | The crater of the volcano, afterwards called Aphroessa, rose | | slowly from the surface of the water, and it was possible to | | observe the nature of the interior during the intervals between | | the eruptions. There was no lava or pozzolana, but only large | | cinders which, as they issued from the crater, were thrown into | | the air, and then fell upon the outer slopes, thus gradually | | forming an island. | | | | It was a very remarkable scene; during the day there were heavy | | volumes of smoke and constant rumbling sounds, as the pent up | | forces below the mouth of the crater were gathering strength to | | throw forth the mass of cinders that closed them in. At night the | | glare caused by the reflection of the fire of the interior upon | | the dense clouds immediately overhanging it was very vivid. The | | surface of the surrounding waters was over-spread by running | | tongues of brilliantly coloured flames. The island was composed of | | cinders and ashes, whose porous nature could never permit any | | lodgement of water upon them. I examined several of the craters of | | the extinct volcanoes on the islands adjacent to Aphroessa, and | | there was no instance of any small pond or collection of water | | existing within them. The interior of the Volcan de Agua, possibly | | contained a thick substratum of water-bearing pozzolana. | | | | An account of the volcanoes of Santorin was given by Sir Charles | | Lyell. “Principles of Geology.” Vol. ii, pp. 70. | | | | [60] “History of the Kingdom of Guatemala,” by Don Domingo Juarros, | | translated by J. Baily, Lieutenant R.M., pp. 384. | | | | [61] Bernal Diaz states that “Pá-pa,” was the name given by the | | Indians in Yucatan to their chief-priests. The Spaniards were much | | surprised to find upon their arrival in America, that the Indian |