THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION AT SAVAII.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 15, 19 January 1903, Page 4

THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION AT SAVAII.

Dc. Otto Tetens, writing from Apia under date of December 30, gives the following account of the recent volcanic disturbances at Savaii, one of the inlands of the Samoa group : —" The first outbreak was at the end of October. It caused the people of the neighbouring villages and of the inland town of Aopo to run away, and the most exaggerated rumours came through to the coast. There seems to be no doubt, however, that the disturbance was a volcanic eruption, and not an ordinary bush fire. Magistrate 'Williams took a crew, and pulled over to Upol i, a 27 hours' pull, his men nsver ceasing in their work. They arrive! here at Apia on the evening ot November 2nd, and the ActingGovernor (Dr. Schull), Mrs Schull the Chief Justice, the surveyor (tfr Handlen), and myself, started with Magistrate Williams next morning for Savaii, arriv ing there that evening- We spent the next two days looking for the fire, from the north coast, and we saw it, especially at night time, mounting upwards, and making emotions every five or fix seconds. The volcano is about 10 or 15 miles distant from the part of the coast where if e were. & fter some meetings h&d been held in the main quarters of the region, in order to appease tha anxiety of the i habitants, the Goverrment motor gchoouer left Savaii again on November 6th, taking the Acting-Governor and his party back to Opolu, and afterwards taking Mr Williams round the island of Savaii. Ho found there bad been no loss of life or property. I started the sime day from Matautu, on the north coast, in • the direction of the volejno. I reached Aopa at 11 o'clock thai, night, but owing to heavy rain I only got up 2000 t. on the following d >y. On November Bth, however, I succeeded in getting vwthin balf-a-mile of the main crater, which was then thundering aud smoking. 1 his was about 6000 ft. above sea level. I stopped on thb ridge of the Maunga Ju and on climbing a tree I saw the opening i>f the crater at "about the samo height as my place of obset ration. In the bickground was the Mauuga Api (an extinct volcano). Through my glass I could see each glowing stoue as it was thrown out, an'l as it fell back to the mouth of the crater, some stones rolling ojtside. On descending I also found the second crater about two miles to the norlh of the first. Here there was no eruption going on. but the atones I set foot upon were still pretty hot. I could not see any opening, but Mr Lamtnert, surveyor for the Samoan Islands, who visited the place two weeks later, clearly proved that there was volume activity in this crater. Meanwhile the general eruption has become less and lass, only sulphuric smoke and damp| bong thrown out, but no stones or lava. Earthquakes not so strong as those experienced at first are still felt, and the Samoans are becoming less anxious, and Sing back to their villages. Nobody iowb if the eruption is really over yet. It broke out very suddenly and after many years of quiet—so long t bat even the oldest natives remember nothing similar."