These various phenomena were fictitious.

They manifested themselves at the mere will of the owner of the island, who wanted to scare away the inhabitants who resided on the coast.

He succeeded, this Count d'Artigas, and remains the sole and undisputed monarch of the mountain.

By exploding gunpowder, and burning seaweed swept up in inexhaustible quantities by the ocean, he has been able to simulate a volcano upon the point of eruption and effectually scare would-be settlers away! The light becomes stronger as the sun rises higher, the daylight streams through the fictitious crater, and I shall soon be able to estimate the cavern's dimensions.

This is how I calculate: Exteriorly the island of Back Cup, which is as nearly as possible circular, measures two hundred and fifty yards in circumference, and presents an interior superficies of about six acres.