2 20 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Gradually a sound became perceptible, which at no time developed 

 into loud detonations. It was rather a bubbling growl, far away, differ- 

 ent from thunder, and continuous. It lasted an hour, and varied in 

 intensity; this noise was undoubtedly occasioned by the expansion of 

 steam released from the crater's throat, accompanied by the tumble of 

 a volcanic avalanche on the flanks of the mountain and at the crater. 

 The distance of Fort de France from the crater, as the crow flies, is 

 fourteen miles. The weather was very calm, with only a faint breeze 

 from the direction of the volcano during the early stages of the 

 eruption. 



The writer climbed to the ridge-pole of the roof of the Hotel Ivanes, 

 while an attendant held a candle at the open dormer window below, 

 and the flame was not disturbed by any considerable breeze. On the 

 high roof, the stillness of the tropical night was relieved by nothing 

 but the simmering hum of tree-toads and crickets, and the very faint 

 distant rumble, at that time barely audible. Here, remote from the 

 odors of the town, there was an extremely faint odor of sulphur 

 (sulphurous acid). At 8:50 a wave was noticed on the wharves at 

 Fort de France, the water receding and returning through a total 

 vertical distance of about two feet. About the same time the recently 

 repaired cable of the telegraph company ceased to make connections; 

 it was probably broken by submarine landslips. 



During the next twenty minutes the balloon or spoon-shaped cloud 

 spread rapidly southward until nearly the whole horizon was obscured 

 with the exception of a narrow strip of starlit sky, the middle of which 

 lay S. 20° E. To the north-northeast could be seen fringing 

 showers, four or five in number, showing as vertical streaks against the 

 horizon in that direction. These were believed at the time to repre- 

 sent local dust falls. At 9:10 a similar curtain was seen N. 60° W. 

 At 9:15 some rain fell at Fort de France, but this lasted only about 

 five minutes. At 9 :18 the smoothly curved edge of the dust lowered 

 to and merged with the horizon S. 30° E. A very remarkable flash of 

 lightning at this time shot across the northern sky, making a complete 

 loop overturned to the northeast with the ends downward towards the 

 volcano. It was described by one of the bystanders as 'balloon light- 

 ning,' and had somewhat the aspect of a huge incandescent bulb, 

 outlined by a streak of light that swept in a tremendous curve across 

 the zenith. The bulbous effect was probably produced by the illumina- 

 tion of one of the cloud billows within the lightning circle. It 

 occurred to the writer that possibly the change in the lightning forms 

 during the two hours, from points to short lines, and from these to 

 long serpents, was due to a change in the perspective of the cloud 

 billows. The first view when the mushroom was expanding was 'end 

 on,' so to speak, with reference to the individual nodes or mamelli. 



