ion was heard; the earth shook, and immense columns of hot
water, boiling mud mixed with burning brimstone, ashes and stones, were
hurled upwards from the mountain top like a waterspout, and with such
wonderful force that large quantities fell at a distance of forty miles.
Every valley near the mountain became filled with burning torrents;
the rivers, swollen with hot water and mud, overflowed their banks,
and swept away the escaping villagers; and the bodies of cattle, wild
beasts, and birds were carried down the flooded stream.

ERUPTION OF GALUNG GUNG

A space of twenty-four miles between the mountain and a river forty
miles distant was covered to such a depth with blue mud, that people
were buried in their houses, and not a trace of the numerous villages
and plantations was visible. The boiling mud and cinders were cast forth
with such violence from the crater, that while many distant villages
were utterly destroyed and buried, others much nearer the volcano were
scarcely injured; and all this was done in five short hours.

Four days afterwards a second eruption occurred more violent than the
first, and hot water and mud were cast forth with masses of slag like
the rock called basalt some of which fell seven miles off. A violent
earthquake shook the whole district, and the top of the mountain fell
in, and so did one of its sides, leaving a gaping chasm. Hills appeared
where there had been level land before, and the rivers changed their
courses, drowning in one night 2,000 people. At some distance from the
mountain a river runs through a large town, and the first intimation the
inhabitants had of all this horrible destruction was the news that the
bodies of men and the carcases of stags, rhinoceroses, tigers, and other
animals, were rushing along to the sea. No less than 114 villages
were destroyed, and above 4,000 persons were killed by this terrible
catastrophe.

Fifty years before this eruption, Mount Papandayang, one of the highest
burning mountains of Java, was constantly throwing out steam and smoke,
but as no harm was done, the natives continued to live on its sides.
Suddenly this enormous mountain fell in, and left a gap fifteen miles
long and six broad. Forty villages were destroyed, some being carried
down and others overwhelmed by mud and burning lava. No less than 2,957
people perished, with vast numbers of cattle; moreover, most of the
coffee plantations in the neighboring districts were destroyed