ERUrTION OF THE SOUFRIERE TN ST. VINCENT. 823 



cna))led u,s to (>i)t:iin :i o-limpsc of the bottom of tlu> cratoi-. Fortu- 

 nately we had with us Mr. T. M. McDonald, of Kichniond \'ale, and 

 Mr. Henry Powell, curator of th(^ Botanic (larden.s at Klnostown, 

 who were both well acquainted Avith the mountain in previous years. 

 The crater was formerly nine-tenths of a mih^ across and about 1,100 

 feet deep. Its inner sh>pes wei'C steep and richly wooded. Its bottom 

 was occupied by a lake which is said to have been over 500 feet deep. 

 The northern wall is now a naked preci})ice of rock, perhaps 2,000 feet 

 hi^i'li, from the face of which i-ock slides are frecpuMith" tumblino- into 

 the a})yss below with a h)ud noise, ^^e did not get a clear \iew of it. ))ut 

 Prof(\ssor Jago-ar. of Hai'vard rnivei'sity. who ascended shortly before 

 we did. was more fortunate, and obtained souk^ i)h()tooTiiphs which show 

 that it consists of layers of tutf alternatino- with beds of lava. \\'hat 

 seems to be a thin irregular dyke forms a ]irominent riblike mass cut- 

 ting across the bedding })lanes. The southern side slopes downward 

 for several hundred feet at an angle of about 40 . and is covered with 

 a thick layer of tine dark mud deeply grooved with rain channels. 

 The low^er part is a i)recipice of bare rock. The bottom of the crater 

 is nearly flat or slightly cupped. When we saw it, it contained three 

 small lakes of water, greenish and turbid; that in the southeast coi-ner 

 was throwing up jets of mud and steam with a hissing noise. It was 

 in very much the same condition as when seen by the party which first 

 ascended the mountain on May 31 — that including Mr. T. ]M. McDonald 

 and Professor Jaggar — and on a slightly later date ))y Lieutenant Rob- 

 inson, R. E. Mr. McDonald thought that there was rather less steam 

 and the lakes of water were somewhat larger than when he saw it })re- 

 viously. In his opinion and that of Mr. Powell the crater was oidy 

 slightly larger than before the eruption, but considera])ly deeper. 

 The estimates of the depth varied a good deal, but it seems, on the 

 whole, to be generally agreed that it is al>out l,f)00 feet. 



Accurate measurements of the breadth or depth of the ci-ater were, 

 under the circumstances, impossil)le. As seen from Chateaubelair the 

 outline of the lip of the crater has suffered many modifications, though 

 none of these is of any great importance. It is agreed that the soutli- 

 ern edge is now somewhat lower than it was befoiv, the eruplion. and 

 this is confirmed ])y our barometric measur(uneiits. 



It is reported that since we left St. Vincent the amount of water in 

 the crater has increased; and should this contimie, a lake will ulti- 

 mately be formed not uidike that which previously existed there. 

 When the cliti's which form the north wall ha\e i'(>ached, by j-ep(>ated 

 rock falls, a condition of adjustment and stability, and when \'(>get:i- 

 tion has again covered the interior slopes, it is ])ossil)le that the crater 

 of the Soufriere will have regained very much of its old appeai'ance. 

 Should anyone vyho knew it before then n^turn to visit it, ho will have 

 dilhculty in believing that it formed the orifice from which were 



