From the archive, 19 December 1883: Green skies over Krakatoa volcano

Letter: 'I never saw anything so magnificent as the effects of the volcanic eruption at Krakatoa'

Thursday 19 December 2013

Eruption of Perbuatan volcano on Krakatoa Island, August 1883

Eruption of the volcano on Krakatoa, August 1883. Photograph: Dea Picture Library/De Agostini/Getty Images

To the editor of the Manchester Guardian.
Sir:- I notice in today's issue a paragraph from a letter written by Hicks Pasha, under date of September 24 last, respecting the green sun. It may not be inappropriate for one who witnessed the dreadful, but to an observer at a safe distance the splendid, effects of the late volcanic eruption and earthquakes in the Bay of Sunda to state his experiences.

I was passenger on board a steamer going down the western side of the Straits of Malacca at the southern end, on the morning of the 27th of August last, and was called up by the captain to observe the unusual appearance of the sky, which was as brilliantly lit up as if by the electric light when first introduced, i.e. with a flicker. Coupled with this was a noise as if a very heavy bombardment was going on - a noise which led us to suppose that the Dutch were having a fight. As daylight came we lost the flashes of light, but had still the noise.

At seven o'clock a squall was seen coming up from the south-west, and which as it came nearer we observed to be of a vivid green colour. As it got nearer the sea was raised to an extent our captain said he had never before seen in so short a time. The sea was also very green, about the colour of a well kept grass lawn. The squall after blowing big guns for some three hours died away as suddenly as it came up. As we left the coast and neared Singapore the rumblings were distinctly heard, and on arriving there we found the inhabitants very much excited, and learned that Anjer had disappeared, with the majority of its inhabitants.

Eruption of Mount Krakatoa in Java, Indonesia. Photograph: Popperfoto/ENA

During the whole of Monday and Tuesday our decks had been covered with particles of fine dust, of about the same description that steamers which encounter a sand storm in the Red Sea get aboard. During my stay in Singapore a number of shocks were felt and on the Wednesday night a steamer in harbour which had been newly painted during the day was found to be covered with thick dust, which had adhered to the new paint.

The sky was continually of a green colour for some days and after passing Acheen head, and steering west the sunrises and sunsets were indescribably beautiful, tinged with every shade of green not simply at the place of rising and setting, but thrown back on the rolling clouds all around the horizon. On arriving at Ceylon I found the papers full of surmises as to the causes, and the natives were in a state of excitement and fear. To those with whom I came in contact I explained that I thought it was nothing more than fine particles of mineral substances which had been forced up into the clouds by the volcano, and carried along above the region of the earth's influence. The phenomena lasted until we had entered the Red Sea, at a distance of between 3,000 and 4,000 miles from Anjer.

During my travels in South and Central America I have witnessed eruptions of what were previously supposed to be extinct volcanoes, notably the one at San Jose de Cocota, where the volcano threw up balls of fire, but never saw anything so magnificent as this at Krakatoa, or the changes in the colour of the sky in close proximity or at a distance.
- I am, &c., J.T.G.

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/dec/19/krakatoa-eruption-eyewitness-1883-volcanoes
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