3-034-674 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Volcanic eruption in the island of Camiguin, Philippines, 1871. Engraving of a sketch by Lieutenant the Hon. Foley C. P. Vereker, an officer of her Majesty's surveying-ship Nassau. 'Lieutenant Vereker gives us the following description: "Camiguin is a small island, but has been a fertile one; it is eleven miles long by about eight broad. Until the eruption broke out it was one of the principal hemp-producing islands of the Philippines, and contained more than 16,000 inhabitants. About four months ago there was a succession of earthquakes, attended with numerous landslips and causing great loss of life. The inhabitants then moved to the mainland, and soon after a crater opened close to the village. It rapidly became larger, and incessantly emitted great quantities of smoke, steam, and flame, throwing out at the same time huge stones, some of which fell at a great distance. When visited by H.M.S. Nassau in July, the volcano was still in eruption; large quantities of steam and smoke were forced through the sides and out of the summit, while stones were occasionally ejected...The hemp plantations are in a state of great devastation, and it will be some time before the island recovers its former prosperity".' From "Illustrated London News", 1871.