BALI THE GODS SPEAK WHEN JAVA WAS LOST TO THE MOHAMMEDANS 485 
YEARS AGO, SO THE LEGEND GOES, THE DISGUSTED HINDU GODS HUNTED 
AROUND FOR A NEW HOME . THEY CHOSE THE ISLAND OF 
BALI, AND SINCE THEIR EXALTED RANK DEMANDED A HIGH DWELLING PLACE, 
THEY CREATED A CHIN OF MOUNTAINSE MOST SACRED EASTERN END OF 
THE ISLAND, THE GODS ERECTED THE HIGHEST OF BALI'S MOUNTAINS, THE 
10,308FOOT VOLCANO OF GUNUNG AGUNG, REGARDED BY THE BALINESE AS " 
THE NAVEL OF THE WORLD . " HALFWAY UP THE SLOPE 
OF AGUNG, THE PIOUS BALINESE BUILT THE HUGE MOTHER TEMPLE OF 
BESAKIH, AND EVERY HUNDRED YEARS THEY HAVE HELD A SOLEMN RITE 
THERE TO RID THE ISLAND OF GHOSTS . LAST WEEK, IN 
THE MIDST OF THE ONCE-A-CENTURY FESTIVAL, AGUNG ERUPTED WITH CATASTROPHIC FURY 
. AGUNG GAVE FAIR WARNING . ONLY LAST MONTH, AFTER MORE 
THAN 100 YEARS OF INACTIVITY, IT BURST FORTH WITH A SHOWER 
OF SMOKE AND BRIMSTONE THAT KILLED 17 PERSONS . THERE WAS 
WORRIED TALK ON BALI THAT THE GODS WERE ANGRY BECAUSE THE 
PEOPLE HAD NOT ASKED PERMISSION TO HOLD THEIR FESTIVAL . BUT 
THE PRIESTS AND THEIR DISCIPLES STAYED ON TO PRAY . AT 
7 O'CLOCK ONE MORNING, AGUNG ERUPTED AGAIN . THE VILLAGES OF 
SEBUDI, SORGAH, AND SEBIH WERE ENGULFED BY A LETHAL BLACK CLOUD 
OF SEARING, 230O ASH THAT ROASTED HUNDREDS WHERE THEY KNELT . 
RIVERS OF GREY-BLACK LAVA BOILED OVER AGUN'S SOUTHERN LIP AND FLOWED 
IN FIERY RIVULETS DOWN STREAM BEDS, RAISING CLOUDS OF STEAM ; 
HEAVY RAINS, POSSIBLY CAUSED BY THE HEAT OF THE VOLCANO, MIXED 
WITH THE SULPHUROUS ASH TO FORM AN ACID THAT KILLED PLANT 
LIFE FOR FIVE MILES AROUND . FOR FIVE DAYS AGUNG BELCHED 
DEATH . AT WEEK'S END HHE DEATH TOLL STOOD AT CLOSE 
TO 1,200, AND ANOTHER 200,000 WERE LEFT HOMELESS . AS SURVIVORS 
STREAMED INTO TOWNS AT THE BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN, MANY SUFFERING 
THIRD-DEGREE BURNS FROM A TREK OVER BEDS OF SMOLDERING ASHES, INDONESIA'S 
PRESIDENT SUKARNO DECLARED ALL BALI A DISASTER AREA . THERE WAS 
LITTLE HOPE THAT AGUNG'S FURY WAS OVER . EXPERTS IN DJAKARTA 
PREDICTED EVEN MORE VIOLENT ERUPTIONS TO COME AND ORDERED ALL RESIDENTS 
TO LEAVE THE AREA FOR AT LEAST TWO MONTHS . 