And in New York I owe eternal thanks to my robustly splendid agent Peter Matson, and to his colleagues Saskia Cornes and Jim Rutman; and to Krista Stroever, a most wonderful editor.
Finally: if there was ever to be a primus inter all these distinguished pares above – and I realize there should not be, since all who helped should be equally blessed – then my vote would have to be for that most deservedly legendary of New York publishers and a valued friend for the past six years, Larry Ashmead. Larry was the inspiration, the champion and the encourager-in-chief: I only hope he finds that this slender book is worthy of all the many hopes he once entertained for it.
ILLUSTRATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Van Linschoten's 1595 map, published by the Hakluyt Society (by permission of David Higham Associates).
Jan Pieterszoon Coen and Governor-general ‘s Jacob are from F. W. Stapel, De gouverneurs-generaal van Nederlandsch-Indie in beeld en woord (The Hague, Van Stockum, 1941).
Straw-hat maker from H. J. de Graaf, Batavia in oude ansichten, Zaltbommel (Europese Bibliotheek, 1970).
Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin (© Natural History Museum, London).
Alfred Wegener and ‘Agamemnon Laying Cable' (by permission of Mary Evans Picture Library).
John Webber's drawing (by permission of the British Library).
Batavia city scene and Concordia Military Club photograph taken from Batavia in Nineteenth Century Photographs by Scott Merrillees (Curzon Press, 2000).
Photograph of Rogier Verbeek and his great-grandson from biographical memorial of Verbeek by N. Wing Easton (Druk de Bussy, 1926).
Captain Ferzenaar's map of Krakatoa appears as Figure 21 in Verbeek's Atlas.
Telegraph map (© National Maritime Museum, London).
Samuel Morse (by permission of New York Public Library/ Science Photo Library).
Trace from Batavia Gasworks; before and after Admiralty charts of Krakatoa; Batavia tide-meter trace; and tide-gauge trace from Socoa, France (© The Royal Society).
The tsunami appeared in Alwyn Scarth, Vulcan's Fury (Yale University Press, 1999).
The Berouw stranded, etching by T. Weber from a field sketch by M. Korthals. From Edmond Cotteau, and W. Korthals, ‘1884 Mission Francaise au Krakatao' Comptes Rerdus des Séances de la Société de Géographie (Paris), 15.
British Admiralty map reproduced from Admiralty chart 2056 (by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and the UK Hydrographic Office, www.ukho.gov.uk).
Anak Krakatoa photograph by the Kraffts from SEAN Bulletin (December 1979).
Spider: Nephila maculata (© Premaphotos/naturepl.com).
Shell with seedling photograph by C. C. Reijnvaan (Doctors van Leeuwen, 1936).
Modern photograph of vegetation on Krakatoa (© D. Walsh of La Trobe University).
Photograph of Surtsey by Sturla Fridriksson.
Chapter heading and text line drawings copyright © Soun Vannithone, 2003
Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright-holders. The publishers will be pleased to make good any omissions or rectify any mistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.
INDEX
Figures in italics indicate captions.
Aardenburgh (cutter) 49, 51, 135
Aaron, Eugene Murray 262—3
Abell (Dutch contrôleur) 253
Aberdeen weather observatory 270
Aceh, central Sumatra 31, 147, 213, 264, 326
acid rain 271
acid snows 133
Actaea (British barque) 157, 160
Ade, Ebiet G.: ‘Jakarta 1' 37
Aden 191, 276, 280
Admiralty (British) 161n, 260n
‘Admiralty Sailing Directions’ (Indonesia Pilot) 9
Africa 13n, 21, 22, 67, 71, 72, 74, 280, 296, 332
Africa Plate 112
afterglows 288–9
Agamemnon (converted warship) 188
Agulhas Current 281n
air waves 233, 248, 282
Aix-la-Chapelle 195
alang-alang 359
Alaric, king of the Visigoths 10–11
Alaska 309
Aleutian chain 312
Aleutian Islands 309
Alexander VI, Pope 13n
Alexandria 191
Algemeen Dagblad 200–201
Alijeh, Orang (Javan god and mountain ghost) 47–8, 164, 326
Altheer, Mr, Resident of Lampong 156, 166–7, 254
Amazonia 58–9, 224
Ambon, Spice Islands, Ambonese 31, 35, 44, 61, 64
Ambon, sultan of 32
America see United States of America American Civil War 196
American Geophysical Union 100
American Philosophical Society 76
Americas 271
ammonites 73
Amsterdam 15, 17–21, 29, 34, 35, 39, 202, 323
Anak Krakatoa (Child of Krakatoa) 78, 381,385
birth of 4, 346–50, 351, 353, 384
growth of 3–4, 7, 349, 352–3, 374
populating of 367–72
routine eruptions 377–9, 395
author's visit 383–4, 386–91
and Surtsey 384n, 385
Anchorage 378
Ancient Krakatoa 118, 120
Andaman Islands 264, 265
Andes 308, 309
andesite 119, 297, 308n, 314, 346
andesitic obsidian 170–71
andosols 297
Angola 71
animism 332
Anjer, Java 3, 150, 153, 155, 158, 161, 168, 175, 181–2, 184–6, 193, 197, 204, 210–16, 221–2, 224–6, 228, 233–4, 238, 241, 246, 247, 249n, 250, 258–61, 277, 298
Anjer Hotel, Anjer 168, 181, 213, 259
Annerley (ship) 231, 234
Antarctic storm systems 281n
Antarctica 74, 133
antimacassar 265n
apes 64–5, 137n
A.R.. Thomas (American brig) 157
Arabia 14, 40, 74, 331, 333, 339
Arabian Sea 190, 191
Arabism 331
Arabs 22, 40, 144, 325, 331, 332
Archer (Australian passenger steamship) 157
Arctic 24, 79, 80, 85
Arctic Circle 80
Aristotle 371
Arles, France 40
art 282–5
arthropods 369
Ascroft, William 284–5, 290, 291
Asia 13n, 21, 42, 68, 74, 112, 116, 271
Asia Plate 317, 320
Asians, Portuguese-speaking (Mardijkers) 44
asthenosphere 109
Athens 34
Atlantic Monthly 220n
Atlantic Ocean 14, 19, 59, 67, 87, 97n, 105, 107, 196
Atlantis 73
atmospheric pressure 268
Australia 55, 64, 65, 69, 74, 114, 115, 116, 189, 319
Australian Oceanic Plate 316–17, 320
Avallone, M. 394n
Azores 306
Backer, Cornelis Andries 364–7
Bacon, Francis 72n
Baird, Major A.W. 276
Baker, Diane 394
Bali, Balinese 17, 44, 55, 66, 69
manuscript style 127
bombings (2002) 343
Balkans 112
ballooning spiders 356–9, 357, 361–2
balloons 72
Baluchistan 190
Banda, sultan of 32
Banda Islands 23, 31, 33
Banda Sea 29
Bandung, Java 153, 376, 377, 379
Bangkok 264
Bangladesh 331
Banjoewangie, Java 189
Banka Island 148
Banks, Sir Joseph 120
Banquey Island, near Borneo 265
Bantam, Java 25, 126, 237
Bantam, king of 121
Bantam, Resident of 167
Banten, Java 201
a pepper port 15, 29, 322
skirmish with the fleet from Goa 18, 19
described 20–21
> flood destruction of 1883 127
piety of the people 325
Islam established 332
the haj 333n
signs of the Mahdi's imminent arrival 336–7
Banten, Java, sultan of 17, 31, 34, 35, 40
Banten Peasants' Revolt (1888) 331
importance of 323–4
Islamic-inspired and Islamic-led 340
attack on Sanedja 340–41
Dutch repeating rifles finish the rebellion 341
the hajis' victims 341–2
fades in popular memory 342
and Indonesian independence 342
a warning of future events 343
Bantenese 321, 332, 333, 335, 338
Barents Sea 24
Barnum & Bailey 243n
barographs 267–70, 274, 275
barometers 267, 270
barometric pressures 293
basalt 84–8, 96, 102, 104, 112, 113, 297, 306, 308, 319
Batavi tribe 37
Batavia (Dutch steamship) 231
Batavia (previously Jayakarta, then Jakarta) 6, 28, 145, 172n
so-named by the Dutch 36, 37
concentration of scientists in 36
Dutch proud of 37
Dutch compelled to leave (1949) 38
golden era 38
Dutch building 39–40, 41–2
the VOC 42, 47, 135, 139
employment in 42–3, 45
population 44, 144
Town Hall (Stadthuis; now Jakarta History Museum) 46–7, 142
Dutch life in 135–6
and war with Britain 139, 141
becomes a capital city 141
old Batavia closed down 141–3
new Batavia 141, 142, 143
communications 146–7, 196, 197, 225, 226, 237, 264n
gasworks 147, 217–19, 218, 233, 248, 252
iceworks 147
's Jacob appointed governor-general 148–9
the circus visits 199–201, 201, 321
Plant and Animal Garden 201–2
clubs 202–4, 203
receives information from Anjer (August 1883) 215
air waves arrive in 233
four gigantic explosions 233–5
sounds not heard by everyone 266
tide-meter 277–8
change in temperature after the eruption 293
Batavia Standard Time 219, 248
Batavia Castle 51, 135, 142
day-register 49, 50
Batavia Cricket Club 205
Batavia Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory 154, 162, 216
Batavia Port Authority 157
Bates, Henry Walter: ‘On Coleopterous Insects Frequenting Damp Places' 58
bathymetric survey data 105
Batuwara, Mount 125, 126
Bay of Bengal 18n, 191
Bay of Biscay 192, 281
Bay of Naples (Welsh cargo vessel) 231, 299
Beale HMS 60
beetles 58, 60
Behaim, Martin 22
Belfast 220
Belgium, Kingdom of 29n
Bengalen 49
bentonite 297
Berbice (German paraffin-carrier) 223
Berdichew, Poland 190
Berkowitz, Rickey 379
Berlin 190
Berouw (paddle-steamer) 230, 231, 251, 255–8, 256, 259
Beyerinck, Mrs 165, 166, 226–9, 251
Beyerinck, Willem, controller of Ketimbang 156, 165, 166–7, 176, 226–30, 245, 246, 247, 251
Billiton Island 148
Billiton Tin Company 148
Bintaing (hopper) 157, 245
biogeography 54, 73
biology 54, 69, 369, 372
biosphere 302
biota 54
birds
geographical distribution 54–6, 64
Wallace's collection 60
repopulation of Krakatoa Island 360
sent to Europe 155
on Anak Krakatoa 370–71
Bird's Head, New Guinea 309
Bishop, Reverend Sereno 285n, 290
‘Bishop's Rings’ 285, 289
Black Sea coast 190
Blaeu, John 25
Blair, Lawrence 395
Blair, Lorne 395
Blavatsky, Helena 53n
Blosseville Coast 80
Blundell D.F. 52
Bogor, Java 142n
Bogota, Colombia 273
Boing (a guide) 380, 386–9
Bombay 90, 191, 270, 276
Bonaparte, Louis, King of Holland 141
Bonney, Thomas 273n
Borjild (Norwegian barque) 230–31
Borneo 22, 23, 66, 69, 132, 137, 188, 272
Borobudur temple, Java 123n, 142n
Bo'sun's Rock (Bootsmans Rots) 346, 348, 383, 387
botany 54, 187, 354n, 364, 372
Bothwell Castle (ship) 299
Brani (ship) 285
Brazil 13n, 14, 71, 148, 224
Brazzi, Rossano 394
Brewer, W. 196, 197
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 199
Bristowe, William Syer 361, 368
Britain, British and Pulau Rann
competition with the Dutch 29
official sanctioning of trading cooperatives 30
colonial intentions for Java and Sumatra 34
and the Portuguese 34
abandons siege of Ambon fort 35
Runcorn's rock magnetism studies 92
at war (1780s) 139, 141
presence on Rodriguez 261–2
on the Andamans 265
in India 326
imperialism 334
see also England
British Army 35
British Empire (ship) 285
British Ornithologists' Club 53
British-Australian Telegraph Company 189
Brito, Don Lourenzo de 18
Bromo, Mount, Java 48, 155, 303
Brunhes, Jean 96
Brussels 195
Buddhism 123
Buenos Aires 289
Buffon, Comte de 72n
Bugis 137, 138
Buijs, Thomas 211n
Buitenzorg, Batavia 144, 146, 147, 150, 152, 201, 266
Botanical Gardens 148, 224, 364, 367
Bullard, Teddy (later Sir Edward) 90
Burma 34n, 44
butterflies 58, 60
Button Island 222
Byron, George Gordon, Lord: ‘Darkness’ 295–6
Cabele & Wireless 100
Cabral, Pedro Alvarez 13–14
Cailendra Dynasty 123, 134
Cailendra Seven 123
Cairo 116
Calais 187
Calapa 25
Calcutta 276, 280
Calicut 13
California 13n, 290, 295
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) 93
Calmeyer Island 314, 347n
Calvinism 33
Cambodia 34n
Cambridge University 105, 276
Cameron, Consul Alexander Patrick 152, 235–9, 236, 259, 260n, 272
Canada 290
Canary Islands 289
Cape Colony, southern Africa 34n
Cape of Good Hope 14 19 30
Cape Mendocino, California 93
Cape Race 196
Cape Town, South Africa 281
Cape Verde Islands 13n
caitalism 30
carbon 302
carbon dioxide 243, 301, 302, 317
carbon-14 isotope 134
Carcavelos, Portugal 191
Cargados Carajos 280
Caribbean Signal Service 287
Carita Java 373, 375, 379–80
Carita Beach Hotel 390
casowaries 116, 137n
Caucasus 112
Cavendish, Sir Thomas 34
Cayman Brac 265
Celebes 23, 66, 69
Central America 133
Cerro Hudson volcano 308
Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) 11
, 22, 264
Ceylon Observer 279
Chacana volcano, Ecuador 308
Chamberlin, Thomas 76
Champa Kingdom, Vietnam 128
Channel Four 133n, 395
Charles Bal (cargo-carrying barque) 220, 246, 299
Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario 283–4
Chefoo (later Yantai), China 287
Chelsea, London 284, 290, 291
chemistry 305–6
chemolithoautotrophic hyperthermophilic archaebacteria 367n
Cherbourg 282
Chile 13n, 289, 308, 309
China, Chinese 22
and spices 10
rule of Macau 19
mapping 23, 24
coolies 42, 213, 228
merchants 42
Coen and 42–3
Batava population 44, 144, 215
and tectonic plates 111
and possible eruption of AD 535 131
records of sea captains 131–2
anti-Chinese riots (1998) 138
and the 1883 eruption 215, 246–7, 250
China Overseas Shipping Company (COSCO) 381
Christianity, Christians
and the 1883 eruption 163
and Muslims 32
Protestant 44
Christie, Mr (in Ceylon) 264
Christmas Island 89, 114
Church, Frederic Edwin 283–4
Niagara 283
Sunset over the Ice on Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario 284
Twilight in the Wilderness 283
Ciliwung River 34, 38, 39
cinnamon 18, 31, 330
Ciparis (Sylbaris), Louis-Auguste 243n
Claw, Iceland 82
Cloos, Hans 75–6
cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) 10, 11, 18, 29, 31, 65, 297n, 330
Cochin 11
cochineal 330
cockatoos 55, 65, 65, 66, 68, 137n
cock's tail' jets 352
Cocos (Keeling) Island 114, 190n
Coen, Jan Pieterszoon 33, 142
appearance 32
personality 33, 35
founder of the Dutch East Indies 33–4, 36
governor-general of the East Indies 33, 34
decides to eject the British 34
and the Chinese 42–3
coffee 10, 141, 148, 182, 188, 238–9
Cold War 106–7, 266, 275
Coleoptera 58
College of Delft 156n
Collocalia 21
Cologne Cathedral 297
Colombia 308, 309
Colombo 288
Columbia University 107
Compagnie van Verre 15
Concordia Military Club, Batavia 147, 153, 172, 202, 203–4, 203
Conrad (Dutch mailboat) 157, 167–8
Conrad, Joseph: Lord Jim 12–13
conservative plate boundary 113
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded Page 38