CHAPTER I.

Volcanoes in general--Origin of the Name--General Aspect--Crater--
Cone--Subordinate Cones and Craters--Peak of Teneriffe--Lava-
Streams--Cascades and Jets of Lava--Variations in its Consistency--
Pumice--Different Sorts of Lava--Obsidian--Olivine--Sulphur--Dust,
Ashes, &c.--Volcanic Silk--Volcanic Islands--Volcanic Fishes--Hot
Water, Mud, Vapours, &c--Volcanic storm--Explosions--Number of
Volcanoes--King of the Volcanoes--Artificial Volcano.


Among the many wonderful works of God, none exhibits so much of
awful grandeur as an active volcano. This name for a burning
mountain was first applied to that which exists in the island
anciently called Hiera, one of the Lipari group. It is derived from
the name of the heathen god Vulcan, which was originally spelt with
an initial B, as appears from an ancient altar on which were
inscribed the words BOLCANO SAC. ARA. This spelling indicates the
true derivation of the name, which is simply a corruption of Tubal-
cain, who was "an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron"
(Gen. iv. 22). The ancient heathen, having deified this personage,
imagined, on first seeing a burning mountain, that Tubal-cain, or
Vulcan, must have established his forge in the heart of it, and so,
not unnaturally, named it Volcano--an appellation which the Island
of Hiera retains to the present day.

The Cyclops--the supposed descendants of Vulcan, who were fabled to
have been of gigantic stature, and to have had each only one eye in