MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,—

I received a letter from my father, the Rev. Dr. Turner of Samoa, the other day, in which he tells me of a submarine volcano that has broken out between two islands; and, thinking you would like to hear about it, I will now tell you the particulars, as far as they were supplied to me by my father, who got them from one of the teachers in the group of islands among which the eruptions took place. The letter is dated December; but the volcano broke out in September, between two islands, Tau and Olosenga, the most easterly islands of the group called Manua, and about 120 miles east of my father's station. The teacher came over in his open boat to tell my father about it, and to ask him what he thought they had better do. He said that on the 7th of September, the inhabitants of Tau and Olosenga were surprised by feeling an unusual succession of earthquakes; this continued during the whole of the next day, fifteen or twenty minutes between each shock, and

the next night there were thirtynine shocks. The motion was slight, and nothing in particular to alarm any one; but this was not all: there was an unusual subterranean groaning, which by its continuance alarmed all the natives; for they knew nothing of volcanic action, as they had never seen anything of the kind, nor were there any traditions about it. Three days after. wards, about the middle of the day, the sea, about a mile and a half from Olosenga and three and a half from Tau, was seen to be in motion, and the natives thought it was a whale blowing. This commotion continued all day, and at dawn on the 13th the eruptions began. At first they were few-an interval of an hour being between each of them-but then went on increas ing; and in two days there was an average of one per minute. The natives looked with wondering eyes and fearful hearts at the mud and other matter that was shot up into the air in terrific columns about 2000 feet above the sea level. The clouds of smoke entirely hid one island