F O R M A T
I O N OF
I S L E S .
firft fight o f thefe objects, nothing is more obvious to every .beholds
er, than that the high peak, in the middle o f the ifie, is one o f the
primogenial lands, whereof,, perhaps, the. whole ifle confifted before
its prefent defolation. Th e elevated plain, feems to have been
the crater of the volcano;.; the conic hills were probably thrown
up by the cinders and allies. . T h e ridge o f flags is the fltream of
lava, and fome o f it ran probably towards the fea, . Th e elevated
hummocks in the plain,, are th e -maffes of flags and.lava, fuchas;they
remained after the action o f the volcano ceafed. They have gradually
decayed, and this, together with the foreign, matters,, waihed
down by violent rains from the hills o f alhes: and cinders, have
contributèd to fill the crater up, and-make its-furface level. It
feems therefore to follow, that Afcenfion was originally, a land or
ifland ; but, when the volcano was formed, in its bofom, par.tof.it
was entirely changed and deftroyed, and. now Ihews nothing but
nature in ruins t
------------------- nee reftat in iïïa-,
Quod ref etas. tantum cinis, & ftne femine terra eft.
, C orn,. Severu^s'.
St . H e l e n a has on its outfide, efpecially .where the fliips. lye at
anchor, an-appearance, i f poflible, more dreadful- and dreary .than
Afcenfion ; but the farther you advance, the lefs delblate the country
appears^ and the moil interior parts, are always' covered.with
plants, trees, and verdure : however there are every where the molt
evident
e v i d e n t m a r k s , o f i t s h a v i n g u n d e r g o n e a g r e a t a n d t o t a l c h a n g e f r o m f o r m a -
_ T IO N OF
a v o l c a n o a n d e a r t h q u a k e , w h i c h p e r h a p s f u n k t h e g r e a t e f l t p a r t o f i s l e s .
i t . i n t h e , f e a . -
E a s t k r - I s l a n d , o r .W a i .h u , is another, ifland of the fame
nature. ■ A ll its:rocks are black, burnt, and honey-combed: fome
have perfectly the appearance of flags ; nay, even the foil, -which is
but thinly fpread over the burnt rocks, has'the appearance o f a dark
yellow ochre. We found a great many black glaffy Rones, fcat-
tered among the great quantity wherewith the whole ifle is covered,
which, are known to mineralogifts • by the name.of Iceland-agate,
and are always found, near-volcanos-,: or places expofedto .their violence:
thus, for inflancey they abound in Italy and Sicily, and in
Iceland-near the.volcanos, and likewife. in Afcenfion. We found
the whole ifle,.very _poor in vegetables ; and, though I walked over
a great part .of.it, . I found.no more than about twenty plants, including
-thofe that are cultivated, and no trees at all, which is very
remarkable in an ifle of this extent, under fo fine a climate, and inhabited'for
a long-time paft : for, when Roggewein firft difeovered
it in 1722, he even .then found thole fione pillars, which we likewife
fa-ws- and which feemed to us to'have been erected -many years
ago. The Writers of Roggewein’s voyage.faw. likewife woods on this
ifle ; it Ihould therefore-feem, that fince that time, fome difafter had
befallen this fpot, ..and. ruined the woods, and thrown down many
X '2 ' . ®f