208 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Dfxember, 1902. 



wiis little left of the rich tropical vegetation wliich luul 

 covered the mountain. Bhurkoned remains of trec-lruuks 

 were to l)e seen, overturned or broken off near the ground, 

 and buried in dark sand. The highest parts of the 

 luoiiutain formed as bare and desolate a scene as could be 

 imagined. The ash was five to twelve feet deep, and 

 contained a good deal of burnt timber, utterly blackened 

 and converted into charcoal. Everytliing wa.s mown down, 

 and there was nothing to show what was the velocity of 

 the blast when it left the crater. 



The structural modifications produced upon the mountain 

 were very slight. No fissures were seen, no parasitic' 

 craters or cones were formed, and there were no lava 

 streams. Even the craters at the summit retain essentially 

 their old configuration, though the outline of the lip of 

 the crater, as seen from Chateaubelair, has undergone 

 some slight changes, and the southern edge is somewhat 

 lower than it was before the eruption. The inner slopes 

 of tlie crater, formerly richly wooded, are now naked 

 slopes or precijiices of rock. The depth of the crater was 

 generally estimated at about 1000 feet. The bottom, 

 when seen by the English commission, was nearly flat or 

 slightly cup-shaped, and contained three small lakes «i 

 greenish and turbid water. 



THE ERUPTION OF MONT PELEE. 



Mont Peh'e, like the Soufriere, is a simple cone with a 

 large vent near the summit and without parasitic craters. 

 Both mountains are deeply scored with ravines, and on 

 the south-west side of each there is a broad valley, 

 occupied by !St. Pierre in the one case, and by the valley 

 of the VVallibu in the other. It is in these valleys that 

 the destruction was most pronounced. In St. Vincent, 

 however, the mass of material ejected and the area de- 

 vastated were much greater than in Martinique. The loss 

 of life was less, but this was due to the absence of a 

 populous city at the foot of the Soufriere. On Mont 

 Pelce the blast that overwhelmed St. Pierre was emitted 

 from a triangular fissure, which opened on the south side 

 of the mountain ; on the Soufriere the blast came from 

 the old orifices. The eruption in Martinique began with 

 the flow of mud lavas, while none such were seen in 

 St. Vincent. These are the chief points of difference 

 between the two eruptions. On the other hand, both were 

 characterised by a complete absence of lava streams and 

 by the paroxysmal discharge of hot sand and dust mingled 

 with a small proportion of bombs and ejected blocks. j?he 

 hot blast which swept down on St. Pierre was similar to 

 that emitted by the Soufriere. 



During their brief sojourn at Martinique, Messrs. 

 Anderson and Flett were fortunate in witnessing one of 

 the more important eruptions of Mont Pelce, evidently a 

 counterpart of that which destroyed St. Pierre. On 

 July 9th, they were near St. Pierre in a small sloop that 

 had been hired for their expeditions. During the morning 

 the volcano was beautifully clear, and only occasional jets 

 of steam rose from the triangular fissure that served as a 

 crater. A little after midday, however, large steam 

 clouds began to rise, one every ten or twenty minutes, with 

 a low rumble. While they rose they expanded, and, as 

 they consisted of many globular rolling masses, they Ixire 

 some resemblance to a gigantic cauliflower. About half 

 past six it was obvious that the activity of the mountain 

 was increasing. The cauliflower clouds vtere no longer 

 detached, but arose in such rapid succession that they 

 were blended in a continuous emission. A thick cloud of 

 steam streamed away before the wind, so laden with dust 

 that all the leeward side of the hill and the sea for six 

 miles from the shore were covered with a dense pall of 

 fine falling ash. 



" Just before darkness closed in, we noticed a cloud 

 which hiid in it something peculiar hanging over the lip 

 of the fissure. At first glance it resembled the globular 

 cauliflower masses of steam. It was, however, darker in 

 colour, and did not ascend in the air or float away, but 

 retained its shape, and slowly got larger and larger. 

 After observing it for a short time, we concluded that it 

 was travelling straight down the hill towards us, expanding 

 somewhat as it came, but not rising in the air, only rolling 

 over the surface of the ground. ... It seemed to take 

 some time to reach the sea (several minutes at least), and 

 as it rolled over the bay we could see that through it 

 there played innumerable lightnings. ... As the dark- 

 ness deepened, a dull red reflection was seen in the trade- 

 wind cloud which covered the mountain summit. This 

 became brighter and brighter. . . . Suddenly the whole 

 cloud was brightly illuminated. ... In an incredilily 

 short space of time a red-hot avalanche swept down to the 

 sea. ... It was dull red, with a billowy surface, re- 

 minding one of a snow avalanche. In it there were larger 

 stones which stood out as streaks of bright red, tuml)ling 

 down and emitting showers of sparks. In a few minutes 

 it was over. . . . Undoubtedly the velocity was terrific. 

 Had any buildings stood in its path they would have been 

 utterly wiped out, and no living creature could have 

 survived that blast. 



'■ Hardly had its red light faded when a rounded black 

 cloud began to shape itself against the star-lit sky, 

 exactly where the avalanche had been. The pale moon- 

 light shining on it showed us that it was globular, with a 

 bulging surface, covered with rounded protuberant masses, 

 which swelled and multiplied with a terrible energy. It 

 rushed forward over the waters, directly towards us, 

 boiling, and changing its form every instant. In its face 

 there sparkled innumerable lightnings. . . . The cloud 

 itself was black as night, dense and solid, and the flickering 

 lightnings gave it an indescribably venomous appearance. 

 It moved with great velocity, and as it approached it got 

 larger and larger, but it retained its rounded form. It 

 did not spread out laterally, neither did it rise into the air, 

 but swept on over the sea in surging globular masses, 

 coruscating with lightnings. When about a mile from us 

 it was perceptibly slowing down. We then estimated that 

 it was two miles broad, and about one mile high. It began 

 to change its form ; fresh protuberances ceased to shoot 

 out or grew but slowly. They were less globular, and the 

 face of the cloud more nearly resembled a black curtain 

 draped in folds. At the same time it became paler and 

 more grey in colour, and for a time the surface shimmered 

 in the moonlight like a piece of silk. The particles of 

 ash were now settling down, and the white steam, fi-eed 

 from entangled dust, was beginning to rise into the air. 



" The cloud still travelled forward, but now was mostly 

 steam, and rose from the surface of the sea, passing over 

 our heads in a great tongue-shaped mass, which in a few- 

 minutes was directly above us. Then stones, some as 

 large as a chestnut, began to fall on the boat. They 

 were followed by small pellets, which rattled on the deck 

 like a shower of peas. In a minute or two fine grey ash, 

 moist and clinging together in small globules, poured 

 down upon us. After that for some time there was a rain 

 of dry grey ashes. But the cloud had lost most of its solid 

 matter, and as it shot forward over our heads it left us in 

 a stratum of clear pure air." 



" The most peculiar feature of these eruptions," write 

 Drs. Anderson and Flett in concluding their report, "is the 

 avalanche of incandescent sand and tlie great black cloud 

 which accompanies it. The preliminary stages of the erup- 

 tion, which may occupy a tew days or only a few hours, 

 consist of outbursts of steam, fine dust, and stones, and 



