s l . LUCIA, ST. VINCENT, THE QBENADINE8, AND GRENADA oOl 



features of the first fcwo and adds the element of a large 

 and picturesque population ; while St. Vincent has all the 

 natural wonders and beauties of I tie other three, and a cer- 

 tain air of delicate culture which is entirely its own." 

 Furthermore, it is an agreeable place to spend a week or 

 two. 



St. Vincent is a single island with no outlying r>eks or 

 islets. It is seventeen miles long and ten miles broad, with 

 an area of one hundred and thirty-one square miles, and a 

 population of nearly fifty thousand people. A ridge of 

 mountains passes along the middle through its whole 

 length, the highest of winch, the Soufriere, is at the north 

 extremity. Its scenery is slightly different from that of the 

 other ( 'aribbees. There are more extensive open views, 

 slopes and valleys, while vast areas of more recent cinder 

 and lava indicate that later volcanic action has taken place. 



The island culminates in the vast crater of Morne < iaron, 

 winch was the scene of a tremendous eruption in 1812, 

 when the earthquakes which for two years had terrified 

 the West Indian region and the South America!] c.ast cul- 

 minated in an explosion which was a most devastating and 

 far-reaching cataclysm, being rivaled within recenl years 

 only by the explosion of Krakatau, in the Straits of Sunda. 

 In Caracas ten thousand people were buried in a single 

 moment, and ruin was wrought along the entire line of the 

 Andes by earthquakes accompanying the event. The 

 Soufriere of St. Vincent vomited vast clouds of dust, which 

 darkened the sun for an entire day and spread over a hun- 

 dred miles of sea and land. This eruption changed the 

 configuration of the island and destroyed its eastern end. 

 The presenl crater, formed at that time, is a half-mile in 



diameter and five hundred feel deep, and is now a beauti- 

 ful lake walled in by ragged cliffs t" a height of eighl hun- 

 dred feet. Since 1812 the volcanic forces have I n quies- 

 cent, and nature has repaired the ruin and made the island 

 more beautiful than ever. 



Kingstown, the capital, with about eight thousand in- 



