Volcanic Disturbances in West Indies 263 



the western slope floated off horizontally 

 or followed the contour of the land to- 

 ward the sea. 



Still nearer the sea an inky-black river 

 of mud follows the Riviere Blanche to 

 the sea. It does not always run, but oc- 

 casionally near its head great fountains 

 of mud shoot in the air, and then the 

 stream flows down with a single gulp. 



Somewhere on the hills above Pre- 

 cheur there is another mud fountain, 

 presumably at the Bains Chauds. This 

 sends its mud down to the coast through 

 a little stream near Precheur. 



Over the dreary mud plain of the 

 Riviere Blanche, on the margin of the 

 sea, and upon a little islet in the sea at 

 the mouth of the Riviere Mare, are 

 dozens of fumaroles, each an active 

 little steam jet sending occasional puffs 

 into the air. 



Around on the northern slopes of the 

 mountain near Ajoupa Boullion, on the 

 road from Basse Point to Morne Rouge, 

 there is another mud vent which flows 

 great streams of that material down to 

 Basse Point, which is slowly being 

 buried beneath it. Still to the eastward 

 is the mud crater of the La Falaise. 

 The latter is situated to the east of the 

 summit, and was first seen by Mr Clerc 

 the same date as the explosion of May 

 20, although it may have existed some 

 time before. It occurs in the bed of 

 the river itself, and while the river still 

 flows below it, it has ceased flowing 

 above. The water of the river is boil- 

 ing and full of mud. 



The dates at which these mud erup- 

 tions began cannot be stated, nor is it 

 material, further than to say that most 

 of them were from old thermal sources 

 which had long been known to exist 

 upon the island, and that they were a 

 part of the same general phenomena of 

 an ascending molten column of magma 

 beneath the dome of Montagne Pelee, 

 which, upon coming in contact with the 

 earth water, was converted into lapilli, 

 at the same time changing the water 



into steam, which forced the combined 

 product of the steam and magma (mud) 

 up old vents which have probabty ex- 

 isted from time immemorial. 



Clouds of lapilli and steam were noted 

 on April 25 coming from the summit 

 crater, and on April 27 molten matter 

 was observed in the lower crater, 

 L'Etang Sec, midway between the sum- 

 mit and the mouth of the Riviere 

 Blanche, on the western side. These 

 clouds of eruption occurred intermit- 

 tently, with increasing size and magni- 

 tude, until May 8, the date of the great 

 catastrophe, and are still continuing at 

 frequent intervals, the reports having 

 announced similar eruptions as late as 

 June 20. About May 1 the streams ra- 

 diating out from Montagne Pelee began 

 to increase in volume, and their waters 

 were darkened with lapilli. On Ma}' 3 

 a great torrent of liquid mud flowing 

 down the Riviere Blanche showed that 

 the mountain was erupting mud as well 

 as lapilli and steam. The intense odor 

 of sulphur which permeated the land- 

 scape also showed that sulphurous 

 vapors were being ejected. 



The volcano has continued working 

 since the deadly eruption on the morn- 

 ing of the 8th of May, just as it had 

 been working before. The volcanic 

 forces continue to exhibit themselves, 

 and are probably still in operation at 

 this writing. There is no complete 

 record of the eruptions. Only those 

 which send a cloud over Fort de France, 

 or which are observed by visitors to St 

 Pierre, are noted. 



On May 1 2 a great black canopy of 

 smoke continued to rise from Mont 

 Pelee, and spread out over the sky to 

 the horizon, causing darkness even in 

 the middle of the day. 



On the morning of the same day, at 

 11.30 a. m., a cloud of smoke rolled 

 down north of St Pierre into the sea, 

 and was witnessed by the people on the 

 tug Potomac. This cloud was timed, 

 and came down the mountain about two 



