EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. 



219 



discovered four hundred years ago; and to such 

 an extent did the inhabitants of Martinique con- 

 sider themselves as enjoying immunity from such 

 disturbances that they spoke of Mont Pel&e, which 

 overshadowed them -at a height of 4,428 feet, as an 

 extinct volcano. St. Vincent's volcano, La Sou- 

 friere, erupted in 1812, and Caracas, the capital 

 of Venezuela, was destroyed about the same time, 

 when the entire city was shaken down and 10,000 

 people lost their lives. This fact merits attention 

 because about three months previously to the 

 recent eruption of La Soufriere Caracas and the 

 country about it suffered from considerable seis- 

 mic perturbation. In both instances the dis- 

 turbances in the northern part of Venezuela pre- 

 ceded the eruption of the St. Vincent volcano. 

 La Soufriere mountain rises to an altitude of 

 3,500 feet. Previously to the recent eruption it 

 had two craters, known as the old and the new. 

 The first was 3 miles in circumference and 500 

 feet deep, and was separated from that which was 

 known as the new crater, formed in 1812, by a 

 ridge of igneous material. This crater was half 

 a mile in diameter, with a beautiful lake at the 

 bottom, walled in by rocky cliffs to a height of 

 800 feet, covered with verdure, and fringed over 

 the top with a growth of dense forest. 



The first news of the outburst of either of these 

 island volcanoes to reach the United States was 

 .a despatch of May 6 from St. Thomas, W. I. On 

 the same day severe earthquake shocks were re- 

 ported from Spain at Barcelona, Saragossa, Irun, 

 Tafalla, and Murcia. At the last-named place 

 the cathedral, a convent, and several houses suf- 

 fered damage. At Alberique, in Valencia, houses 

 were destroyed and a school-building and. a 

 church suffered severe damages. The disturbances 

 dislodged great masses of rock in the Fuen-Santa 

 mountains, and similar shocks were reported from 

 Bordeaux, Bayonne, Pau, and other places in that 

 region. On May 9 the London Times published 

 a despatch from the West Indies paying- that the 

 Martinique volcano had destroyed St. Pierre on 

 the day previous, and that the steamer Roddam 

 had returned to St. Lucia at 5 p. M. from that 

 city, almost a total wreck from fire, with 17 of 

 her crew dead and the survivors badly burned. 

 The captain reported that he had barely been 

 able to make his escape from the harbor of St. 

 Pierre, and that the Quebec steamer Roraima 

 was lost with all the crew in the harbor, with 

 the rest of the shipping. May 10 a fuller report 

 was given of the terrible disaster. The French 

 cruiser Sachet attempted to make a landing at 

 St. Pierre, but was forced to desist, owing to the 

 terrible heat. The crew reported dead bodies ly- 

 ing all about the wharves and shore, and 30 sur- 

 vivors, more or less burned, were picked up from 

 the sunken vessels in the harbor. Consul L. H. 

 Ayme reported to the State Department from 

 GuadeloTipe that 18 vessels were burned and sunk, 

 including 4 American vessels and the steamer 

 Roraima. Among those lost was the cable-repair 

 steamer Grappler. The Roddam earned the first 

 news of the disaster to St. Lucia, whence the out- 

 side world was informed, the cable from Marti- 

 nique having been interrupted since Sunday, May 

 4. The Colonial Office at London received a de- 

 spatch dated May 8, announcing the outbreak of 

 the St. Vincent volcano. La Soufriere, from the 

 Governor of the Windward Islands, then at 

 Kingston. A later despatch from St. Lucia an- 

 nounced that cable communication was broken 

 off with St. Vincent, and a despatch from Bridge- 

 town, Barbados, more than 100 miles away to the 

 east, said that loud reports like cannonading had 

 been heard in the direction of St. Vincent, and 



that volcanic dust from the volcano had been 

 falling all over the island in great quantiti-. 

 Orders were immediately cabled by the British 

 Government to the cruiser Indefatigable at Trini- 

 dad to go at once to the relief of St. Vincent. A 

 subsequent cablegram from Barbados reported the 

 continued rumbling sound resembling artillery 

 fire in the direction of St. Vincent, and at 5 p. >i. 

 darkness set in, with thunder and a downpour 

 of dust. It was also reported from Pointe a 

 Pitre, Guadeloupe, that La Soufriere had been in 

 a state of eruption for nine consecutive mornings. 



The Secretary of the Navy cabled from Wash- 

 ington to Capt. McLain, of the cruiser Cincin- 

 nati, at Santo Domingo city, to go with the ut- 

 most haste to Martinique and render such as- 

 sistance as was possible, and at the same time he 

 ordered the commander of the Brooklyn Navy- 

 Yard to prepare the Dixie for sea as soon as pos- 

 sible. The State Department ordered Consul 

 Ayme, at Guadeloupe, to go to the scene of the 

 great disaster to report thereon, and inform the 

 United States of the help needed. 



A definite report was received from St. Vincent 

 on May 11, which said that on the 5th a loud 

 explosion was heard proceeding from La Sou- 

 friere crater, and that the water forming the lake 

 within ascended in a stupendous cloud of steam 

 and exploded high in the heavens. Explosions and 

 noises continued till May 7, when the old crater, 

 3 miles in circumference, and the new crater, both 

 belched forth smoke and stones, forcing the in- 

 habitants of Wallabou and Richmond valley, be- 

 neath the volcano, to fly to Chateau Belair for 

 refuge. At midday the craters ejected enormous 

 columns of steaming vapor, which, rising 8 miles 

 high, expanded in the form of huge cauliflowers 

 through which flashed streaks of fire resembling 

 lightning. Later the mountain rid itself of a 

 mass of molten lava, which flowed over its sides, 

 forming 6 red-hot streams down its slopes. About 

 2,000 lives were reported lost, whole families were 

 exterminated, and the bodies were left unburied. 



The United States took the lead among nations 

 in helping France in the work of rescue and relief 

 of her unfortunate citizens, and both the execu- 

 tive and the legislative department of the Gov- 

 ernment prepared for the work. A resolution 

 passed the Senate on Saturday, May 10, under 



RUINED CIICRCH IN CHILPANCINOO, MEXICO. 



suspension of the rules, providing for an appro- 

 priation of $100,000 for the relief of the citizens 

 of the French West Indies, and authorizing the 

 President to purchase provisions, clothing, medi- 

 cines, and other supplies and to tender them 

 in the name of the United States Government to 

 the French Government for the relief of the af- 



