ts of Sumatra and Java, was only
occasionally illumined by lurid flashes from the volcano.

"At the town of Batavia, a hundred miles distant, there was no quiet
that night. The houses trembled with subterranean violence, and the
windows rattled as if heavy artillery were being discharged in the
streets. And still these efforts seemed to be only rehearsing for the
supreme display. By ten o'clock on the morning of Monday, August 27,
1883, the rehearsals were over, and the performance began. An overture,
consisting of two or three introductory explosions, was succeeded by
a frightful convulsion which tore away a large part of the island of
Krakatoa and scattered it to the winds of heaven. In that final outburst
all records of previous explosions on this earth were completely broken.

AN EXTRAORDINARY NOISE

"This supreme effort it was which produced the mightiest noise that, so
far as we can ascertain, has ever been heard on this globe. It must have
been indeed a loud noise which could travel from Krakatoa to Batavia and
preserve its vehemence over so great a distance; but we should form a
very inadequate conception of the energy of the eruption of Krakatoa if
we thought that its sounds were heard by those merely a hundred miles
off. This would be little indeed compared with what is recorded on
testimony which it is impossible to doubt.

"Westward from Krakatoa stretches the wide expanse of the Indian Ocean.
On the opposite side from the Straits of Sunda lies the island of
Rodriguez, the distance from Krakatoa being almost three thousand miles.
It has been proved by evidence which cannot be doubted that the
thunders of the great volcano attracted the attention of an intelligent
coast-guard on Rodriguez, who carefully noted the character of the
sounds and the time of their occurrence. He had heard them just four
hours after the actual explosion, for this is the time the sound
occupied on its journey.

A CONSTANT WIND

"This mighty incident at Krakatoa has taught us other lessons on the
constitution of our atmosphere. We previously knew little, or I might
say almost nothing, as to the conditions prevailing above the height
of ten miles overhead. It was Krakatoa which first gave us a little
information which was greatly wanted. How could we learn what winds were
blowing at a height four times as great as the loftiest mountain on the
earth, and twice as great as the loftiest altitude to which a balloon
has ever