5 p.m.
At 2 p.m. of the same day , Captain Thompson of the _ Medea _ , when about 76 miles east-north-east of the island , saw a black mass rising like clouds of smoke to a height which has been estimated at no less than 17 miles ! And the detonations were at that time taking place at intervals of ten minutes . But , terrible though these explosions must have been , they were but as the whisperings of the volcano . An hour later they had increased so much as to be heard at Bandong and other places 150 miles away , and at 5 p.m. they had become so tremendous as to be heard over the whole island of Java , the eastern portion of which is about 650 miles from Krakatoa . And the sounds thus heard were not merely like distant thunder . In Batavia -- although , as we have said , 100 miles off -- they were so violent during the whole of that terrible Sunday night as to prevent the people from sleeping . They were compared to the `` discharge of artillery close at hand , '' and caused a rattling of doors , windows , pictures , and chandeliers .