d
of the month the island grew to ninety feet in height, and measured
three-quarters of a mile round. By August 4th it became 200 feet high
and three miles in circumference; after which it began to diminish in
size by the action of the waves. Towards the end of October the island
was levelled nearly to the surface of the sea.

Naval officers and foreign ministers alike took an absorbing interest
in this new island. The strong national thirst for territory manifested
itself and eager mariners waited only till the new land should be cool
enough to set foot on to strive who should be first to plant there
his country's flag. Names in abundance were given it by successive
observers,--Nerita, Sciacca, Fernandina, Julia, Hotham, Corrao, and
Graham. The last holds good in English speech, and as Graham's Island
it is known in books to-day, though the sea took back what it had given,
leaving but a shoal of cinders and sand.

The Bay of Santorin, in the island of that name, which lies immediately
to the north of Crete, has long been noted for its submarine volcanoes.
According to one account, indeed, the whole island was at a remote
period raised from the bottom of the sea; but this is questionable. It
is, with more reason, supposed that the bay is the site of an ancient
crater, which was situated on the summit of a volcanic cone that
subsequently fell in. Certain it is that islands have from time to time
been thrown up by volcanic forces from the bottom of the sea within this
bay, and that some of them have remained, while others have sunk again.

HOW AN ISLAND GREW

Of the existing islands, some were thrown up shortly before the
beginning of the Christian era; in particular, one called the Great
Cammeni, which, however, received a considerable accession to its size
by a fresh eruption in A. D. 726. The islet nearest Santorin was raised
in 1573, and was named the Little Cammeni; and in 1707 there was added,
between the other two, a third, which is now called the Black Island.
This made its appearance above water on the 23rd of May, 1707, and was
first mistaken for a wreck; but some sailors, who landed on it, found
it to be a mass of rock; consisting of a very white soft stone, to which
were adhering quantities of fresh oysters. While they were collecting
these, a violent shaking of the ground scared them away.

During several weeks the island gradually increased in volume; but in
July, at a distance of about sixty paces