VOLCANOES OF THE LESSER ANTILLES 250 
was the route traversed by hundreds or 
perhaps thousands of destructive eruption 
clouds, still lies drear and desolate, because 
the soil was completely swept away by the 
blasts, and the material left behind as well as 
that added by the eruption is too porous for 
the retention of the water necessary to restore 
it to fertility. Furthermore, the rainfall of 
the west side of the island is much less than 
on the east side, and the region is dried by the 
rays of the afternoon sun. 
The vicinity of the Soufriére on the island 
of St. Vincent also shows evidences of re- 
covery from the previous activity. Here as 
in Martinique, the vegetation has reéstab- 
lished itself more thoroughly on the windward 
than on the leeward side of the mountain. 
Considerable portions of the Soufriére re- 
ceived immense deposits of gravelly ash from 
the recent eruptions, and these are largely 
barren at the present time. Other areas 
received a finely comminuted ash which 
retains water better than the coarse material, 
and suffers more rapid decomposition. This 
fine ash is now coated more or less thickly 
with moss and lichens, and often bears, in 
addition, bushes, trees and tree ferns. The 
outer limits of the original zone of annihila- 
tion show merely a destruction of the vegeta- 
tion then coating the mountain slopes, and 
did not suffer destruction or deep burying of 
the soil. 
Palms and tree ferns have regained their 
pristine development and beauty in this 
region, and forest trees are growing. On the 
east side of the mountain the sugar-cane 
plantations which flourished before the 
eruptions are now largely restored to culti- 
vation and present a heavier growth of cane 
than before, while on the west side peasant 
proprietors are already taking up “provision 
ground”’ on the slopes of the volcano itself. 
The great crater of the Soufriére is beautiful 
enough to repay the lover of scenery for mak- 
ing a special trip to the island. It is about 
nine-tenths of a mile across from east to west, 
and three-quarters of a mile from north to 
south, and a lake approximately half a mile 
in diameter now occupies its lower portions, 
as its predecessor did in the days before the 
eruptions which changed the whole appear- 
ance of the mountain. In 1902-3 there was 
a little pool of muddy water in the bottom of 
the bowl through which disturbing columns 
or puffs of steam were continually rising. 
In 1908 the pool was much larger, was yellow- 
ish green in color and was not disturbed by 
any eruptive discharges, but it did not fill the 
bottom of the crater. In 1915 the lake is 
apparently some hundreds of feet deeper 
than it was in 1908 and occupies the entire 
bottom of the crater, rising well up on 
the vertical walls in most places. Careful 
measurements with the theodolite established 
the surface of the lake as being 760 feet below 
the point where the trail from the western 
side of the island reaches the rim of the crater, 
or approximately 2140 feet above the level 
of the sea. 
The interior walls of the crater are coated 
with moss and tufts of grass wherever there 
are slopes of volcanic ash, and tree ferns and 
bushes are reéstablishing themselves in the 
ravines cut by the rains, while the vertical 
faces of the old lava beds making up a large 
part of the mountain add tones of reddish 
and yellowish gray to the color effect. 
The voleano on Guadeloupe, unlike those 
of Martinique and St. Vincent, shows no de- 
crease of temperature over the past. The 
summit of the Soufriére gives opportunity for 
temperature observations on the fumaroles 
and the study of the escaping gases. These 
fumaroles have been active, with varying 
degrees of strength, during all the historic 
period of the voleano. A marked increase of 
discharge of sulphureted steam took place at 
the time of the eruptions of Martinique and 
St. Vincent, and an area several acres in 
extent was then added to the active region. 
The vents maintain to-day the force of their 
discharge, but the temperature does not in 
any case exceed 100 degrees C. (212 degrees 
F.). The eastern member of the twin 
islands forming Guadeloupe is sedimentary 
in origin, and presents geological facts of 
value in their bearing on the general history 
of the Antilles. 
