ardly begun to turn, in response to our hard-over helm, before
dense clouds of steam commenced to rise from the water round about the
flame; and these soon obscured it to such an extent that the glare,
which at first was almost as strong as daylight, rapidly dwindled until
it became merely a great shapeless luminous blotch, growing less and
less brilliant until we lost sight of it altogether as we went at full
speed ahead away from it. But it was quite a quarter of an hour before
we were fairly clear of the extraordinary danger that had so suddenly
leaped up in our path; and within the first minute following the
explosion great masses of incandescent rock mingled with flaming cinders
began to fall about us on all sides, so that I regard it as nothing
short of a miracle that none of the larger masses fell upon our decks.
Had they done so, we must inevitably have been destroyed. As it was, we
were kept busy with the hose for fully half an hour extinguishing the
cinders that fell upon our deck.

Not the least remarkable circumstance connected with the phenomenon was
that soon after we started the pumps the water rapidly became so hot
that the men could not bear the contact of it upon their bare feet, and
were obliged to don their sea boots hurriedly. At first we were fearful
that the dense clouds of steam generated by the flame would spread and
overtake us; but we were spared this, for almost immediately a small
breeze sprang up, blowing toward the fire, and as we advanced it
strengthened until it became quite a stiff breeze. To this circumstance
I attribute the fact that none of our sails were set on fire by the
falling cinders, for it necessitated the hurried clewing up and furling
of all our canvas.

For a full hour we travelled south at full speed; and then, having
apparently run beyond the limit of the danger zone, we shifted our helm
and headed east until daylight, when, perceiving no sign of the
eruption, and the wind having drawn round from the eastward, we set our
canvas and stopped the engine. A week later we arrived at Hong-Kong
without further adventure, and were amazed to learn that nothing was
known there of the submarine volcanic outburst--for such, of course, it
was--from which we had so narrowly escaped destruction. Nor, although
we remained a week in the roadstead, during which several craft arrived
from the south, and two from the Philippines, could we learn that any
others than ourselves had behe