Untitled

THE ISLAND OP KIU-SIU. 879
miles from the mountain. Mud and gases escaped from innumerable fissures, and
during the rains the whole ground bubbled up like a liquid mass. A former
eruption of the neighbouring Miyi-yama, attended by tremendous floodings, cost
the lives of 50,000 persons.
South of Kiu-siu a group of volcanoes has received the name of Kiri-sima, or
"Fog Island," on account of the sulphurous vapours constantly emitted by them.
Here all the rocks consist of tufas, trachytes, pumice, and other igneous matter,
and the plateau supporting the twin peaks of Kiri-sima is an arid region, strewn
s#
Fig. 177- KAOO-STMA AND MI-TAKE VOLCANO.
Scale t : 300,000.
E.ofG 130 30V J3I?
to 100 Feet. 180 to 320 Feet 320 Feet and upwards.
. c. Miles.
with ashes and reddish scoriso, relieved only by a few dwarf pines and other shrubs.
These appear to be the culminating points of ICiu-siu, and they are certainly more
elevated than Aso-yama and Komats-yama in the south-cast.
The jH-iiiiisiiIa enclosing the picturesque bay of Kago-sima on the west is one of
the most remarkable regions in Japan. The long tongue of land bending
round (lie b;iv is dominated by the superb Mount Kaiinon, the Cape Ilorner of
European maps, which is almost unrivalled for its beautiful form and symmetrical
contour. .North of it formerly stood a still more elevated volcano, the pyramidal
crest of which was destroyed during an eruption, all memory of which has