Stromboli

“ It began in August, 1852, and continued until May, 1853, and was remarkable for the immense quantity of lava thrown out.
Fig. 15. Stromboli, Viewed from the Northwest, April, 1874
We come now to the volcano of Stromboli. Stromboli, one of the Lipari islands, is situated about sixteen miles west of the Straits of Messina. Its general appearance is shown in Fig. 15. The form of the mountain is that of an irregular four-sided pyramid, which rises about 3,090 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and stands on the bottom of the sea in water about 3,000 feet deep. ”

“ It was a festa day there; and groups of peasants, in many-coloured costumes, paced up and down the mole; emitting that joyous hum, which is the never-failing concomitant of a happy crowd. Passing through the Faro, the vessel's course lay by the northern coast of Sicily. The current and wind were alike favourable, as it swept on by Melazzo and Lascari.
Etna, towering over the lesser mountains, became once more visible; its summit buried in the clouds of heaven.
On the right, a luminous crimson ring revealed Stromboli, whose fitful volcano was more than usually active. ”

“ He has been into every volcano in the globe, and descending by Vesuvius has been thrown up by Stromboli. He has lived more than a thousand years, and is still in the flower of his youth. He has had one hundred and forty sets of teeth one after another, and expects a new set next Christmas. His whole life has been spent in the service of mankind, and in doing good to his fellow-creatures; and having the experience of more than a thousand years, he cures more than a thousand diseases. ”

“ Cheered and emboldened by generous draughts of Rhenish wine, I even went so far as to read it aloud in the café of the inn.
"'Listen! my comrades,' I exclaimed. 'How many of you have ever received a letter of this sort? Admire the epistolary style of those who correspond with Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski.'
"And I read—
"'Be on your guard! The Third Section means to have you. Its arm is long and it strikes unscrupulously. No country is so remote that it will not pursue you there. It will stoop to any means, even to poison and the dagger. ”

“ Room for a lady! Room for Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski!'
"And room was made. I myself helped to make it, by pushing vigorously with my strong arms. As the Bretons were entering by one door, Fifine and I were issuing by another.
"It was all over—for the time. Many arrests were made; but, in the confusion, Fifine and I escaped arrest, and it was not until the next day that I knew that my behaviour had been remarked by any public functionary. Then, however, I had a passage of arms with the Père Dubois. ”

“ These latter mountains do not possess any particular interest.
101 STROMBOLI. Stromboli is the principal of the cluster of small islands, lying to the north of Sicily, named the Lipari isles, the whole of which contain volcanoes. At a distance, its form appears to be that of an exact cone, but on a closer examination it is found to be a mountain having two summits of different hights, the sides of which have been torn and shattered by craters. The most elevated summit, inclining to the south-west, is, agreeably to Spallanzani, about a mile in hight. ”

“ Stromboli, though smaller than either Lipari or Vulcano, is nevertheless more celebrated, on account of its frequent eruptions. For ages back scarcely any mariners have passed this island without seeing its summit in a state of illumination. At intervals of five minutes, or less, the seething lava filling its caldron bubbles up, explosions occur, and steam and stones are ejected. These rhythmical eruptions form a most agreeable sight, for there is no danger about them, and the olive groves of the Stromboliotes have never been injured by a stream of lava. ”

“ Thereafter we staggered across the Adriatic, over the ridge and furrow of a grey and unquiet sea, till we found quiet below the heel of Italy. Soon to the south-west the horizon lay in skeins of smoke, and it was not for hours afterward that the cone of Etna, uprearing itself, showed whence the trouble came. Narrower grew the straits, till we passed out beside Messina, and for the pillar of smoke which Etna had raised all day we sighted Stromboli, a pillar of fire by night. ”

“ The immense cloud of vapor ascending from the volcano glows with the light sent up from the molten mass below. So it may be seen brilliant by night, and only a dark cloud by day. Stromboli has been called the light-house of the Mediterranean. In constant action, the brilliant light at night slowly fades: then suddenly breaks out as bright as before. This alternating results from the bursting of bubbles in the crater, which expose a new, hot surface. This rapidly cools; then another bubble bursts ”

“ Stromboli is a Volcano, existing in all its force, and, in its form of course, is the most pyramidal of all the Lipari Islands; we saw it throw up red hot stones from its crater frequently, and some small streams of lava issued from its side, and ran into the sea [27] . This Volcano differs from Etna and Vesuvius, by its continually emitting fire, and seldom any lava; notwithstanding its continual explosions, this island is inhabited, on one side, by about an hundred families.
Plate V.
Stromboli, one of the Lipari Islands. ”

“ I thrust it off, not waiting for it to be lifted, and with the stump of my cigar still between my fingers sprang to my feet, exclaiming—
"'It is time that I was out of this. I have no business here.'
"The guards and porters and policemen who were standing round turned pale, as though they had seen a ghost, and nearly fell into each other's arms.
"'Who the——' one of them ejaculated in his consternation, and I answered reassuringly—
"'Fear nothing! No harm will happen to you. I am Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski.'
"Then I stepped out of my box and looked around me. We were at Basle. ”

“ Although the effects of the tremor were felt at Bizerta, Tripoli, Syracuse, Messina, Reggio, and even as far north as Rome, Vesuvius and Etna showed no signs of increased activity, while Stromboli had ceased for several days to emit smoke. This phenomenon had been debated upon by men of science, but no satisfactory explanation had been arrived at. ”

“ Now if we take a tall narrow vessel and fill it with - 20 - porridge or some similar substance of imperfect fluidity, we shall be able, by placing it over a fire, to imitate very closely indeed the appearances presented in the crater of Stromboli. As the temperature of the mass rises, steam is generated within it, and in the efforts of this steam to escape, the substance is set in violent movement. These movements of the mass are partly rotatory and partly vertical in their direction ”

“ Vesuvius, 3876 feet; Aetna, 10871 feet; the Peak of Teneriffe, 12,175 feet; and Cotopaxi, 19,069 feet. If the focus of these volcanoes be at an equal depth below the surface, a greater force must be required where the fused masses have to be raised to an elevation six or eight times greater than that of the lower eminences. While the volcano Stromboli (Strongyle) has been incessantly active since the Homeric ages, and has served as a beacon-light to guide the mariner in the Tyrrhenian Sea, loftier volcanoes have been characterized by loong intervals of quiet. ”

“ I was Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski, master of the situation. My tongue was loosened, and my words flowed quickly.
"'You know me?' I began. 'I am Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski.'
"Senussi-el-Mahdi nodded his grotesque head slowly. Half his proud spirit seemed to have left him with the loss of half his hair.
"'You have trampled on me,' I continued, 'you have insulted me; you have inflicted shameful indignities on me. But no man with impunity treats Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski thus ”

“ But at the southern end of the chain lies the still vigorous Solfatara of Naples, with the various cones around it, some of which have been in eruption within the last few centuries, while Vesuvius continues to maintain a persistent though variable activity. Still farther south lie the Æolian Islands, where Volcano occasionally breaks out, while Stromboli remains, as it has done since the beginning of authentic history, in a state of constant ebullition and eructation. ”

“ The explosions and rumbling sounds occasionally heard in the interior of Etna and Stromboli were attributed, in ancient times, to the rage of Typhon, or the labours of Vulcan: at this day, the popular belief connects them with the suffering souls of men in the infernal regions. ”

“ Two streams, of the temperature of 186° of Fahrenheit, have since burst through the argillaceous vault of the hornitos, and now flow into the neighbouring plains. For many years after the first eruption, the plains of Jorullo were uninhabitable from the intense heat that prevailed.
CRATER OF VESUVIUS IN 1829.
The crater Stromboli, which has been in activity since the most ancient times, presents at present the same appearances as those which were described by Spallanzani, in 1788. It is constantly filled with lava in a state of fusion, which alternately rises and falls in the cavity. ”

“ A duel!' they exclaimed in chorus, and the representative of the Camorra—to do him justice—did not shrink from the encounter.
"'Antonio!' he called to a companion, 'fetch knives!' And I made the strange discovery that, in a Neapolitan prison, the prisoners were allowed to borrow knives for the settlement of their affairs of honour.
"But I would not have a knife. It is a weapon in the use of which I have had little practice.
"'No, no!' I cried. 'I will take no unfair advantage of you. It shall be your knife against my umbrella. ”

“ If it had only been the life of an ordinary hostage—an archbishop, for example—that was at stake, I do not say; but the life at issue was the life of the father of Fifine. Therefore, as I have said, I temporised.
"'You are right, Citizen Ferré,' I replied. 'We must indeed be quick. Let us see which of us can be the quicker. I will race you to the prison of La Roquette.'
"'Good,' he replied, and we both began to run with all our speed. Picture us ”

“ My watchful curiosity was at once excited.
"'Who is that man, then?' I asked the sailor curtly.
"'It is the Camorrista, signor—it is the Camorra man, sir,' he answered, in matter-of-fact tones, as he lifted my luggage into a carriage.
"I began to wonder.
"My carriage rattled over the stones and set me down in my hotel. Another stalwart individual was waiting there. He, too, was an ornamental person; he wore wide velvet breeches with gold lace upon them, a loose white shirt, a red sash, and a gaudy silk handkerchief knotted over his head. ”

“ Captain Shagg, at any rate, was gratified and confident.
"''Tain't the real thing,' he repeated, 'but it's near enough to bluff the dagos. No dago will express doubts as to the genuineness of this show—more especially when he observes that my hand is deep down in my revolver pocket.'
"And he added, summing up the situation generally—
"'The proceedings may not be precisely regular, but they are regular enough for dagos. On an errand of mercy, for the purpose of rescuing a poor cuss catching cold on the hillside in his nightshirt, other considerations besides those of regularity must be weighed. ”

“ Dark was the rider of seas, but a beam of light was there, like the ray of the sun, in Stromlo's rolling smoke. It was the daughter of Suran-dronlo, wild in brightened looks. Her eyes were wandering flames, amidst disordered locks. Forward is her white arm, with the spear; her high heaving breast is seen, white as foamy waves that rise, by turns, amidst rocks. ”

“ Let us, for a large consideration, be the means of carrying off the Lady Ortensia for this rich young man, and when we have done so and received his money, let us execute the plan we have already made. For it will be easy for us to persuade her to do anything we suggest, because both she and her husband are under the greatest obligations to us, whereas the young man would have to employ violence and make a great scandal. But here comes that excellent Tommaso.'
'You are certainly a great man,' said Gambardella, looking at Trombin with admiration. ”

“ Quirl hoisted himself on his elbow. "Yes, I figure you're a pirate. What else?"
Strom's stern face relaxed in a smile. It was a strange smile, inscrutably melancholy. It revealed, beneath the hardness of a warrior, something else; the idealism of a poet. When he spoke again it was with a strange gentleness:
"To attain one's end, one must make use of many means, and sometimes to disguise one's purpose. For instance, it is perfectly proper for an officer of the I.F.P. to disguise himself like a son of the idle rich in order to lay the infamous 'Scourge' by the heels, isn't it?" ”

“ But in less than ten minutes the gangway, as Stormalong called it, was carried and the enemy were in full flight down into the crater. The bluejackets and marines must follow up their victory till it became a permanent one. This they did with splendid heroism, but the foe had rallied, and at one time it was touch and go with the athlete McTavish and Stormalong. They were completely surrounded, but they stood back to back, and fought like lions at bay, the surgeon with his broadsword, Jack with his great pet cutlass. ”

“ Within less than an hour it was more than likely that he would send a force of sbirri to besiege the house, men who would not hesitate to break down the doors if they were not admitted, and by no means so easy to frighten away as the clumsily armed watchmen whom the Bravi had put to flight. The only possible safety for the Bravi lay in leaving the place with Ortensia before such a thing happened. The post-carriage in which Trombin meant to carry her off that very night was waiting not far away in charge of a well-paid stable hand, and Tommaso and Gambardella had only to bring it to the door. ”