ON SEISMOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION. 187 



Richmond Hill, Montserrat, West Indies : 

 March 2, 1898. 



Dear Sir, — I beg to inform you that since the flood of November 29, 

 1896, which caused great injury to life and property in this island, 

 innumerable shocks of earthquake have been experienced. 



There are in this island several craters and sulphur springs, and there 

 are also a few hot-water springs, all of which go to prove that the 

 volcanoes here are by no means extinct, and it is thought by some per- 

 sons that the mouth of one of the numerous craters has been filled up by 

 a landslip caused by the above-mentioned flood, on the night of which 

 there were several shocks of earthquake — the first experienced in Mont- 

 seri'at for a great number of years. It is possible that the filling up of 

 this crater has been the cause of all the earthquakes we have been feeling 

 here lately. 



Since November 1896 there have been experienced at least one 

 thousand shocks of earthquake. 



The most severe shocks took place on the following dates : — November 

 29, 1896 ; April 22, 24, 25 and 29, 1897 ; July 28, 1897 ; December 4, 

 1897 ; February 15, 18 and 20, 1898. Those on February 15 exceeded 

 all the others in point of severity. Some persons state that there were 

 eighty-one shocks that day, of which forty-one were felt in three hours. 



The shock on April 29, 1897, though one of the longest, was felt 

 throughout this portion of the West Indies, but was of slight force, and, 

 notwithstanding its very long duration, did no injury here, though a great 

 deal of damage was done at Pointe-a-Pitre, in the neighbouring French 

 island of Guadeloupe. 



All the other earthquakes have been entirely local, having not even 

 been noticed at Antigua, an island about thirty miles away, though those 

 in April were felt at the isolated rock of Redonda, a few miles ofl" the 

 north coast of this island. 



Only the most severe earthquakes have been mentioned above ; but 

 scarcely a day passes without our feeling a few shocks, and excluding 

 February 1 5 as many as thirty shocks have been felt in one day. 



During the last month or two the smell of sulphur from the craters 

 has been very strong and disagreeable, silver tarnishing in town very 

 easily. 



All the earthquakes seem to have had the same direction, viz., from 

 ' Gage's ' Mountain, where the Soufriere is located (see Admiralty Chart 

 of Montserrat), with the exception of that of April 29, which appeared to 

 come from the direction of Guadeloupe, viz., the south. 



I am thankful to say that the shocks are usually of very short 

 duration, averaging four or five seconds. 



Some of the oldest inhabitants of the island affirm that the worst 

 shock, on February 15 (11.16 a.m.), was just as severe as the great earth- 

 quake of 1843, but being of shorter duration did not do so much damage. 



Several buildings have been very badly damaged. Innumerable 

 cracks have appeared in nearly every stone building in the island, 

 including the Court Hall and the churches. 



These shocks of earthquake, which have been continually felt for the 

 last sixteen months (i.e. since November 1896), are causing great anxiety 

 among the inhabitants, and it is not known but that they may culminate 

 either in a volcanic eruption or the numerous stone buildings, weakened 



