FRIGHTFUL ERUPTION IN THE MOLUCCAS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 138, 25 April 1862, Page 5

FRIGHTFUL ERUPTION IN THE MOLUCCAS

(Singapore Free'JPress, sth February.)

A frightful volcanic eruption has taken place in the Moluccas. In the afternoon of the 28th December the sky tc the south of Ternate gave signs of a conflagration, and continued to do so until the following day. On the 29th, both on Ternate and the neighboring island, showers of ashes and sand fell, and continued to fall throughout the night. At daybreak, the fops of tho houses and branches of trees, as well as the ground, were found to be covered with a layer of ashes and sand, two or three inches thick, wJiile in sony; places beyond the town the ground was covered to the depth of six to eight inches. It was now conjectured that an eruption had taken place in tho volcano on the Island Jlakian (about seven German miles from Ternate,) which had remained quiet for about 82 years. In the forenoon of the 80tu December, it began to get so dark at Ternate and the neighboring islands, that it was necessary to light the lamps in the houses, aud those who had occasion to go out of doors were obliged to use torches or lanterns, and to cover themselves by umbrellas from the showers,of as'aes and sand which continued to tall. By two o'clock in the afternoon, the darkness was so intense that no person reeol'eetfd ever having found it so darlc, even at midnight. Great damage-was'-caused by the ashes and sand. Large trees were broken or destroyed, and tlie vegetables completely buried, so that it was feared considerable scarcity of provisions would be experieaced. .

The Island of Makian, was completely laid waste. Many of i,he inhabitants wore killed, and the rest fled to Ternate and the neighboring islands. Many were killed and wounded ii their flight from the island, by the red hot stones which fell into their boats. One man who ventured back to seek his family reported that he did not find a single living creature on the island. Everything was buried under the ashes, which were seven to eiglitfeet in depth insomeplaces.

" Photozincography.—Mr. Gladstone, a short time ago, consulted Sir Henry James on the possibility of copying our ancient records by means of his process of photozincography. A small deed, of the date of Edward the First, was copied and printed with so much success, and at so trifling an expense, that Lord Herbert, of Lea, the Secretary at War, ordered the impressions-, to be bound up with the yearly report ou the Ordnance Surrey. Thus encouraged, Sir Her ry James got -permission from the Lords of the Treasury to copy that part of the DomesdayBook which relates to Cornwall, as an experiment. He has now achieved this commission with a result which should certainly encourago the further prosecution of the design, county by county, as appears to have been originally proposed by . him. Those who care to have no more or Doomsday-Book on their shelves than relates to their own shire, can buy the local part—those who wish'to have tha whole can bind the several parts into volumes. The work is to be published at cost price, or nearly so. — Athenceum. South African Belles.— I had, moreover, an excellent opportunity of inspecting and appeciating the charms of animmense and varied bevy of Wrick damsels who were tripping along the green sward (for here was a veritable sward) either in single files or in little knots, some carrying immense bundles on their heads, Grecian fashion, whilst others —the aristocracy of the caravan—sauntered forward with an air of indolent and swajrgeriug superiority. As I rode slowly through their yielding and attractive ranks, I did my best to win a smile here, and an affectionate glance, there. But, sad to relate, I made but a slight impression on the " fair" assemblage, who declared with great simplicity, that, had my person, only been black, I might have passed muster; hinting, also, delicately (of course, ladies, whether black or white, are always delicate) that a- little dress, and a slight varnish of fat aud ochre—pointing to their own perfumed and greasy (oh pardon, ye'fair, the obsolete term) bodies — would greatly improve my appearance. Charming flatterers ! For once in my life I regretted having a Caucasian origin and clean shirt. My boatman was a stout, sturdy fellow, but a great blackguard. The stream "on-which we had embarked had rather a rapid flow, estimated at from two and a-half to three miles per hour ; by keeping within its current great progress might consequently have been made. But this did not suit the views of my boatman, who,_ in order, he said, to avoid hippopotami, kept nok'ing the canoe among reeds aud shallows, stopping at every spot where he had ■a) friend or acquaintance, and calling but, at the top of his voice, to the inhabitants, far and near, to come' and have a look at the white man. Thus very frequently twenty or thirty people might be seen, issuing-from a single homestead to have a stare at me. The whole scene reminded me of visitors to a menagerie stopping outside some wild beast's den curiously to examine the monster. On these occasions I had, favorable ojjportiinities of surveying the "fair sex. _ I found them an exceedingly ugly-looking lot—thick-set, square, with clumsy figures, bull-dog lips, and broad flat faces. Even without the grease and ochre, so delicious and ornamental to the body in the opinion of all savages, some of the females would have been perfectly hideous. With their crisp woolly hair standing erect in little tangled knots, they might, had their countenances been more animated and intelligent, have been reckoned good models for the Furies.— Anderson's, Travels.

Tun Triple Leotaiid,. —The lovers of feats of strength and agility were considerably excited last week by an announcement that, on Saturday evening, three of the young performers of the Cirque Napoleon would My from trapeze to trapeze, as had been done by Leotard, and would intersperse their attempt by somersaults and other difficult feats. Accordingly, ou Saturday night the house was crowded to excess, the great object of attraction being tho promised display. 'As in Leotard's tins'o, after the general performance qf the Ck-oning, the attendants of the house entered the ring to put up the moveable bridge, the three trapezes were let down from the roof as formerly, an I a passage was fixed to the starting point, at the top of the orchestra. All being arranged, the rnu.-ic began to play the usual air, and tho three debutants made their appearance. They were slim, healthy-looking, bright eyed boys of fifteen, fourteen, and thirteen, as well as could be judged, and, after making their bow, they all ran up to the orchestra • as .they were about to enter on the finest piece of1 fun in the world.' Without the slightest hesitation, the first, seizing on the trapeze, launched himself forth' into mid-air as if to try hi 3 strength; then returning, he dashed forth again, flew to the second

trapeze, sprang to the third, and alighted with perfect case, at the opposite side of the house, on the ledge uf the upper row of scats. Of coiuso there were thunders of applause, which were renewed even more loudly wh;n the second lad accomplished the same feat with equal surety, mid stood smiling uy the side of his ciinradc. L-isf. of nil was to coinu the youngest, av;d many <;f lim KpwJtiitors doubted. (lint he ever could My the iliit.ni.:,;. Bui. all anxiety was soon at at end, ns he. displayed, perhaps, tvon more daring than the others, and, Jiko them, flow from the one trapeze to the other with the utmost certainty. Afterthe applause had subsided the three boys went through a variety of fears ou the two end trapeze, and never oac.e failed in any. They afterwards returned to the orchcst"fi; and again flew across the vast area, but-giving somersaults in the air as they went from the first trapeze to the second. Finally, when all was ovjt they,stood.side by side on the edge of the Bridge, and at tiie same moment gave a back somersault to the ring below. Nothing could be more neatly done, irnin beginning to end, than the whole performance, and the three boys seemed -perfectly masters of their business.— Ladies' Newspaper, Edinburgh.

Anecdotk op a Minsk and a Gondoh.—Sir Francis Head says:—" In riding along-the plain 1 passed a dead horse, a'oout'which were forty or fifty condors, many of which" were .gorged and unable to fly; several were standing on the ground devouring the carcase, the rest'hovering above it. I rode within twenty yards of'them. One of tlie largest of the birds was standing' with one foot on the ground, and the other on the horse's body, with a display of. muscular strength as lie lifted tha flesh, and tore off great pieces, sometimes shaking his head, and pulling with liis hank, and sometimes pushing' with his leg. Got to Mendoza, and went to bed. Wakened by one ol my party who arrived; he told roe that, seeing the condors hovering in the air, and knowing that several of them would be gorged, he had also ridden up to the dead horse, and that, as one of these enormous birds Hew about fifty yards off, and was unable'to go any further, he rode up to him, and then, jumping oft' his horse, seized him by the ncttk. The contest was extraordinary, and tlie rccontre unexpected. No two animals can well be imagined less likely to meet than a-Cornish miner and a condor; andfew could have calculated, a year ago, when the one was hovering high above the snowy pinnacles of the Cordilleras, and the other many fathoms beneath the surface of the ground-in Cornwall, that they would ever meet to wrestle and 'hug' upon the wild desert plain of Villa Vicencia. My companion said he had never had such a battle in his life—that he put his knee upon the bird's breast, and tried with all his strength to twist- his neck, but that the condor, objecting to this, struggled violently—and that, also, as several others were flying over his head, he expected they would attack him. He said that, at last, he succeeded in killing his antagonist, and, with great pride, he showed mo the largo feathers from his wings ; but, when the third horseman came in, he told us he had found the condor iii the path, but not quite dead." Sir1 Francis also says—" When I was at one of the mines in Chili, I idly mentioned to a person that I should like to have a condor. Some days after a guaclio arrived at Santiago with three large ones. They had all been caught with a noose, ami had been Uuug over a horse. Two of them died of galloping, but the_ other was alive. I gave the guacho a dollar, who immediately left me to wonder what 1 could do with three such enormous birds." The condor does not" confine'itself to carrion, but sometimes pounces on living aniiimals. Ulloa states that, observing oil a hill, adjoining to that whore he stood, a flock of sheep in groat confusion, he saw one of these birds flying upwards from among them with a lamb betwixt his claws, and, when at some height, the condor dropped it. The bird immediately followed it; took it' up, and let it fall a second time, when it flew out of sight, on account of the Indians, who, at the erics of the boys and the barking of the dogs, were running towards the place.— Casscll's Natural History. A Serio-comic Encounter, —Tlie Ayr Advertiser contains the following :—" Last week a hostile engagement, which might have been attended with most serious results, took place at the Chemical Works at the Newton Head, possessed by Mr. Gamble." The particular.l! we believe to have been somewhat as follows:—For some mouths back Mr. Gamble has been assisted at his works by Mr. Thos. Clark, formerly manager of the Ayr Gas Works, who contemplated setting Up for himself in the same line of business. A night or two before the melee, Mr. Clark, it is said, induced Mr. Gamble to sell him cither the whole or a portion of the works ; and he lost no time in surrounding his hew purchase with a stout paling—which paling, like Aladdin's palace, sprung* up during the night. The female members of Mr. Gamble's household—consisting of his wife and mother-in-law (whose capital had originally started the works,) entertained the notion that the business transaction above referred to was effected while Gamble was in such an elevated state as to be superior to female advice ; mid their wrath was not slight when, on iooking forth in the morning early, they saw a paling where no paling should be. They at once proceeded to action; and in a few minutes the whole of the work of the midnight fairies was ruthlessly undone. In addition to this, they locked all the approaches to the works against intruders. On Wednesday forenoon Mr. Cltirk, accompanied by two friends, proceeded to his supposed newly acquired territory to assume possession. Being afraid or unwilling to attack the enemy in front, they made a detour to the rear, entering by the lane wllich runs parallel with and skirts the railway, and commenced a vigorous assault upon the back door, which, being undefended except by the lock, soon gave way, and they entered the citadel. They were not allowed, however, to retain peaceful possession. The two females bore down with evident belligerent intentions; and a flying' brick, which struck Mr. Clark on the shoulder, and another which whizzed past his cheek, initiated hostilities. The elder female then came to close quarters with the invader; and in the Brat round lost her equilibrium. Then occurred the serious part of the affair. The enraged woman, seizing a vessel filled with sulphuric acid,- threw the contents at Mr. Clark's head. It flowed over his face and neck and down upon his clothes. Happily there was a large tub full of water close at hand ; and he had sufficient presence of mind to rush at once and plunge his head into the water, which prevented the serious bodily injury which must otherwise have been occasioned. If is vest and part of his coat, however, were burned to tinder. The hand that wittingly or unwittingly inflicted the damage reaped part of the scathe; and the erewhile enemies were laving themselves together in the same vessel of water. This companionship in misfortune, however, only occasioned a partial cessation of hostilities. As soon as it was seen that no injury was had been inflicted by the vitriol, Gamble's spouse, took up the cudgels once more, and with a portion of the.demolished paling chased the ennmy off the ground, and remained " master" of the situation. We balieve the authorities are making inquiry into the serious criminal charge of vitriol-throwing,"