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The National Geographic Magazine 



tinued to fall on Precheur. At noon a 

 stream of liquid volcanic matter flowed 

 down the mountain side and reached the 

 sea, five miles away, in three minutes. 

 In its rush the flood swept from its path 

 plantations, buildings, factories, cattle, 

 and human beings over a breadth of 

 about half a mile along the Riviere 

 Blanche. 



At the mouth of the Riviere Blanche 

 stood the large Guerin sugar factory, 

 one of the finest on the island. It was 

 completely entombed in the mud. The 

 tall chimney alone remained visible. 

 One hundred and fifty persons, it is es- 

 timated, perished there, including the 

 owner's son, but the officials give a 

 smaller number. 



A remarkable phenomenon occurred 

 after the rush of the mud to the sea. 

 At the mouth of the Riviere Blanche 

 the sea receded at 12.25 p- m -, all along 

 the west coast, for a distance of about 

 100 yards, and returned with gentle 

 strength, covering the whole sea front 

 of St Pierre and reaching the first houses 

 on the Place Bertin. This created a gen- 

 eral panic, and the terror-stricken people 

 fled to the hills, though the sea retired 

 again without any great damage. 



Terrible detonations were heard hun- 

 dreds of miles northward, at short in- 

 tervals, and continued at night. The 

 electric lights failed, but the town was 

 lighted by the flashes of flame from the 

 mountain. Terror-stricken inhabitants 

 rushed for the hills screaming and wail- 

 ing. 



At 7.45 p. m. the cable from Fort de 

 France broke to the north. The end of 

 this cable was later picked up 10 miles 

 due west of St Pierre in 2,500 meters of 

 water. 



Professor Landes, who publishedan in- 

 terview in L' Colonieoi May 7, noted that 

 Riviere Blanche at this time was furnish- 

 ing five times the volume of the greatest 

 power and carrying rocks weighing per- 

 haps fifty tons. This was before May 5. 



The Topaz refugees stated that on 



Ma} r 5 terrible detonations broke from 

 the mountain at short and irregular in- 

 tervals, accompanied bydense smoke and 

 lurid flashes. This was awful in day- 

 light, but when darkness fell it was still 

 more terrible. 



The awful phenomena of May 5 were 

 so terrifying that people in their night 

 clothes, carrying children, and lighted 

 by any sort of lamp or candle they had 

 caught up in their haste, ran out into 

 the dark streets wailing and screaming 

 and running aimlessly about the town. 

 The mental strain became unbearable, 

 and the Topaz was got ready at 3 a. m., 

 and the refugees hurriedly got on board 

 and started at 5 a. m. for St Lucia, 

 where they arrived at 11 o'clock on the 

 morning of the 6th. 



On May 6 Pelee was apparently in 

 full eruption. Its detonations were 

 heard in Guadeloupe for two or three 

 hours, and thick clouds overshadowed 

 the summit of Pelee. Fond de Core was 

 abandoned and cinders fell in abundance 

 on Macouba. Five centimeters of cin- 

 ders had fallen in Precheur, a foot of 

 cinders was reported in the center of 

 the mountain, and three- tenths of a 

 millimeter of cinders fell on St Pierre 

 on that night. People were departing 

 from St Pierre on foot to neighboringvil- 

 lages and by steamer to Fort de France. 

 Country places were being abandoned 

 for lack of water, cattle were dying, and 

 trees breaking under cinder weight. On 

 the afternoon of the 6th, a little before 

 5 p. m., telegraphic communication be- 

 tween Martinique, St Vincent, and St 

 Lucia was interrupted. There were six 

 cables leading into Martinique, all of 

 which were eventually broken. 



May 7, the day before the end, was 

 one of horror in St Pierre, but the vol- 

 canic phenomena were not so vivid as 

 before. Detonations like artillen' were 

 heard from 10.30 a. m. to 5 p. m. All 

 that da}' the Roraima at Dominica and 

 people of neighboring islands heard det- 

 onations. These even reached as far 



