Volcanic Disturbances in West Indies 253 



Lack of Incayidesccnce. — There is no 

 testimony that the destructive cloud or 

 its lapilli were incandescent. All par- 

 ties who witnessed the cloud from the 

 front (advance) testify that they saw no 

 flame or incandescence in it. There is 

 positive evidence that the cloud, in one 

 place at least, was not incandescent. 

 Engineer Evans, of the Roraima, who 

 looked up through a skylight as out of 

 a well, says he saw no fire or light in 

 the dense cloud above him. His point 

 of view was the outer side of the de- 

 structive circle. 



I'hoto by Robert T. Hill 



A Flash of Lightning in Clouds 

 Erupted from Pelee 



Flame. — There is much evidence that 

 flame developed in the cloud after its 

 eruption. All persons who- witnessed 

 the cloud from the rear or land side 

 testify to seeing great sheets of flame 

 or fire develop within the cloud, sug- 

 gestive of sudden ignition. Priest Des 

 Prez, of Precheur, saw red fire in the 

 air following after other phenomena 

 observed by him. ' ' In the city be- 

 hind the smoke came a sheet of flame," 

 said Mr Le Clerc. Victor, a native, 



whom I met at Deux Choux, six miles 

 from St Pierre, and who saw the erup- 

 tion from a neighboring estate, stated 

 that at the time of the explosion for a 

 moment he saw the heavens clouded 

 with flame; five minutes afterward total 

 darkness. 



Professor Arnoux says that after the 

 cloud had settled over the city there 

 was a flash of flame and he put his hand 

 over his face to shut out the awful 

 sight. 



Father Alte Roche states that after 

 having seen the summit cloud roll out, 

 after having run from it 200 yards, and 

 after having fallen down, as he got up he 

 saw a blinding flash over the city. He 

 said: "As I looked there was a blind- 

 ing flash of fire, and in a moment the 

 whole beautiful city was in flames. 

 The flame seemed to travel like light- 

 ning over the city from north to south; 

 but it was not lightning. It looked as 

 if the black cloud from the mountain 

 had been ignited as soon as it reached 

 the city." 



Mile. Lavenaire, 7^ miles northeast 

 of St Pierre and out of sight of town, 

 saw a flash of flame within two minutes 

 after the summit cloud had erupted. 



Many testify that while the cloud 

 was not visibly afire at the time of its 

 eruption it inflamed objects in its path 

 over the city. Evans said that wher- 

 ever the cloud touched the houses in 

 town they took fire. As the houses 

 were of stone, with tin or tile roofing, 

 containing but little combustible mate- 

 rial, the temperature must have been 

 intense to cause such sudden inflamma- 

 tion. 



Lightning. — Tremendous displays of 

 bolts and flashes were seen at St Vin- 

 cent and Pelee within the clouds ejected 

 from the volcano during eruptions. The 

 evidence of lightning around the erupted 

 summit clouds after they had left the 

 crater is indisputably testified by many 

 witnesses. I have personally witnessed 

 the phenomena in subsequent eruptions. 



