第 10 节
作者:嘟嘟      更新:2021-02-20 05:57      字数:9322
  have thought that warning enough:           but the warning was not taken:          and
  now;   this   very   year;   thousands   more   have   been   killed   in   the   very   same
  country; in the very same way。
  They might have expected as much。             For their towns are built; most
  of them;  close to volcanossome of   the highest   and most terrible   in the
  world。    And wherever there are volcanos there will be earthquakes。               You
  may     have   earthquakes    without    volcanos;   now    and   then;  but  volcanos
  without earthquakes; seldom or never。
  How   does   that   come   to   pass?  Does   a   volcano   make   earthquakes?
  No; we may rather say that earthquakes are trying to make volcanos。 For
  volcanos are the holes which the steam underground has burst open that it
  may escape into the air above。         They are the chimneys of the great blast…
  furnaces underground; in which Madam How pounds and melts up the old
  rocks;   to   make   them   into   new   ones;   and   spread   them   out   over   the   land
  above。
  And    are  there   many    volcanos    in  the  world?    You    have   heard   of
  Vesuvius;  of   course;  in   Italy;   and   Etna;   in   Sicily;   and   Hecla;  in   Iceland。
  And   you   have   heard;   too;   of   Kilauea;   in   the   Sandwich   Islands;   and   of
  Pele's   Hairthe   yellow   threads   of   lava;   like   fine   spun   glass;   which   are
  blown     from   off  its  pools   of  fire;  and  which    the  Sandwich     Islanders
  believed to be the hair of a goddess who lived in the crater;and you have
  read; too; I hope; in Miss Yonge's Book of Golden Deeds; the noble story
  31
  … Page 32…
  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  of   the   Christian   chieftainess   who;   in   order   to   persuade   her   subjects   to
  become Christians also; went down into the crater and defied the goddess
  of the volcano; and came back unhurt and triumphant。
  But   if   you   look   at   the   map;   you   will   see   that   there   are   many;   many
  more。     Get     Keith   Johnston's    Physical     Atlas   from   the   schoolroomof
  course it is there (for a schoolroom without a physical atlas is like a needle
  without   an   eye)and   look   at   the   map   which   is   called   〃Phenomena   of
  Volcanic Action。〃
  You will see in it many red dots; which mark the volcanos which are
  still burning:     and black dots; which mark those which have been burning
  at   some    time   or  other;   not  very   long   ago;   scattered   about    the  world。
  Sometimes they are single; like the red dot at Otaheite; or at Easter Island
  in the Pacific。     Sometimes the are in groups; or clusters; like the cluster at
  the Sandwich Islands; or in the Friendly Islands; or in New Zealand。                   And
  if we look in the Atlantic; we shall see four clusters:               one in poor half…
  destroyed Iceland; in the far north; one in the Azores; one in the Canaries;
  and   one   in   the   Cape   de Verds。   And   there  is   one   dot   in   those   Canaries
  which we  must not overlook; for  it is   no other than the  famous Peak   of
  Teneriffe; a volcano which is hardly burnt out yet; and may burn up again
  any day; standing up out of the sea more than 12;000 feet high still; and
  once it must have been double that height。              Some think that it is perhaps
  the    true  Mount     Atlas;   which    the   old  Greeks     named     when    first  they
  ventured out of the Straits of Gibraltar down the coast of Africa; and saw
  the great peak far to the westward; with the clouds cutting off its top; and
  said that it was a mighty giant; the brother of the Evening Star; who held
  up the sky upon his shoulders; in the midst of the Fortunate Islands; the
  gardens of the daughter of the Evening Star; full of strange golden fruits;
  and that Perseus had turned him into stone; when he passed him with the
  Gorgon's Head。
  But   you   will   see;   too;   that   most   of   these   red   and   black   dots   run   in
  crooked lines; and that many of the clusters run in lines likewise。
  Look at one line:        by far the largest on the earth。         You will learn a
  good deal of geography from it。
  The red dots begin at a place called the Terribles; on the east side of
  32
  … Page 33…
  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  the   Bay   of   Bengal。     They   run   on;   here   and   there;   along   the   islands   of
  Sumatra and Java; and through the Spice Islands; and at New Guinea the
  line   of   red   dots   forks。   One     branch    runs   south…    east;  through     islands
  whose      names     you    never   heard;    to  the   Friendly     Islands;   and    to  New
  Zealand。       The other runs   north; through the Philippines;  through   Japan;
  through Kamschatka; and then there is a little break of sea; between Asia
  and   America:       but   beyond   it;   the   red   dots   begin   again   in   the   Aleutian
  Islands; and then turn down the whole west coast of America; down from
  Mount   Elias   (in   what   was;   till   lately;   Russian America)   towards   British
  Columbia。 Then; after a long gap; there are one or two in Lower California
  (and we must not forget the terrible earthquake which has just shaken San
  Francisco;   between   those   two   last   places);   and   when   we   come   down   to
  Mexico   we   find   the   red   dots   again   plentiful;   and   only   too   plentiful;   for
  they   mark   the   great   volcanic   line   of   Mexico;   of   which   you   will   read;   I
  hope; some day; in Humboldt's works。                  But the line does not stop there。
  After the little gap of the Isthmus of Panama; it begins again in Quito; the
  very   country   which   has   just   been   shaken;   and   in   which   stand   the   huge
  volcanos Chimborazo; Pasto; Antisana; Cotopaxi; Pichincha; Tunguragua;…
  …smooth cones from 15;000 to 20;000 feet high; shining white with snow;
  till the heat inside melts it off; and leaves the cinders of which the peaks
  are made all black and ugly among the clouds; ready to burst in smoke and
  fire。    South of them again; there is a long gap; and then another line of
  red dotsArequiba; Chipicani; Gualatieri; Atacama;as high as; or higher
  than   those   in   Quito;   and   this;   remember;   is   the  other   country  which   has
  just   been    shaken。     On     the  sea…shore     below     those   volcanos     stood    the
  hapless   city  of Arica;   whose   ruins   we   saw   in   the   picture。      Then   comes
  another gap; and then a line of more volcanos in Chili; at the foot of which
  happened that fearful earthquake of 1835 (besides many more) of which
  you will read some day in that noble book The Voyage of the Beagle; and
  so the line of dots runs down to the southernmost point of America。
  What a line we have traced!            Long enough to go round the world if it
  were straight。       A line of holes out of which steam; and heat; and cinders;
  and   melted   stones   are   rushing up;   perpetually;   in   one   place and   another。
  Now      the   holes   in  this   line  which    are   near   each    other   have    certainly
  33
  … Page 34…
  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  something to do with each other。            For instance; when the earth shook the
  other day round the volcanos of Quito; it shook also round the volcanos of
  Peru; though they were 600 miles away。                And there are many stories of
  earthquakes       being    felt;  or  awful    underground       thunder    heard;    while
  volcanos   were breaking   out   hundreds   of   miles   away。        I   will   give   you   a
  very curious instance of that。
  If you look at the West Indies on the map; you will see a line of red
  dots runs through the Windward Islands:              there are two volcanos in them;
  one in Guadaloupe; and one in St。 Vincent (I will tell you a curious story;
  presently; about that last); and little volcanos (if they have ever been real
  volcanos at all); which now only send out mud; in Trinidad。                     There the
  red dots stop:      but then begins along the north coast of South America a
  line of mountain country called   Cumana; and Caraccas; which has  often
  been horribly shaken by earthquakes。             Now once; when the volcano in St。
  Vincent   began   to   pour   out   a   vast   stream   of   melted   lava;   a   noise   like
  thunder   was   heard   underground;  over   thousands   of   square   miles   beyond
  those mountains; in the plains of Calabozo; and on the banks of the Apure;
  more than 600 miles away from the volcano