758 



JOSE MARIA A R RE OLA 



March 8. — Almost inactive, 



March g. — At dawn completely inactive. During the day there were 

 seven little eruptions — at 9 :i8 and 11 A. m., and 12 : 24, i : 20, i : 40, 2 : 20, 

 and 2:47 P- ^^- During the intervals there was complete inactivity. At 

 7:45 P.M., preceded by a heavy rumbling, there was an eruption, during 

 which there was an abundance of fire and flashes, through the mass. There 

 was a moon, and its white rays, reflected upon the edges, gave the cloud clean 

 and immaculate outlines with which the black and red tones at the center 

 sharply contrasted. The spectacle was indescribably beautiful. The cloud 



Fig. 7. — Crater of Colima after the eruption of March 10, 1903. 



directed itself to the northeast, over the city of Zapotlan ; the vapor mass 

 had already passed the zenith of that city when, with an almost clear sky, 

 there began a rain of coarse sand, the fall of which made a sound like the 

 pattering of an ordinary rain. Of this sand two hundred and fifty grams 

 were collected to an area of a square meter, on an average. In some parts 

 of the city pieces of stone, up to the size of a grain of barley, were collected. 

 This fall began at 8 P. m., and lasted about an hour. 



March 10. — Little clouds were observed at 6:15, 7 : 05, 7 : 27, g : 34, 

 and 10 : 47 A.M. At i P. M., a maximum eruption, borne by the southwest 

 wind toward the valley of Zapotlan, where some coarse sand fell — and, later, 

 very fine sand like that of February 24, The quantity collected this time 

 averaged about one hundred and seventy-five grams to the square meter, and 

 the fall lasted some twenty minutes. At this time the crater suffered an 

 alteration of form on the west border (Fig. 7); presenting thereafter on all 

 sides an irregular border, with projecting points, in the form of a crown. 



