. . .mal eruption is generally announced by the intensification of the phenomena above described. Slight earthquakes are felt in the neighbourhood of the volcano, and follow each other in more rapid succession and with greater violence as the catastrophe draws near. A deep noise like the rolling of thunder, or like the roar of distant artillery, is heard under the ground; the white steam from the crater ascends in denser clouds, which soon acquire a darker tinge; and now the bottom of the crater suddenly bursts with a terrific crash, and with the rapidity of lightning, an immense column of black smoke shoots up into the air, and, expanding at its upper end into a broad horizontal canopy, assumes a shape which has been compared with that of the Italian pine, the graceful tree of the South. As the column of smoke spreads over the sky, it obscures the light of the sun and changes day into night. Along with the smoke, showers of glowing lava are cast high up into the air, and, . . . Read More