Volcanic Disturbances in West Indies 269 



are still distinguishable. Later, we 

 passed in succession St Eustis, St Chris- 

 topher, etc. , and as the curtain of the 

 tropical night dropped over the wonder- 

 fully blue sea and cloud-capped islands 

 were to the westward of Guadeloupe. 

 I may remark here that all the islands 

 of the volcanic Caribbees which we 

 saw, including Martinique, St Lucia, 

 and St Vincent, on which we landed 

 and made more or less extended exam- 

 inations, reveal in their topography the 

 results of long erosion by heavy rains 

 and swift, high-grade streams. The 

 bold constructional forms of the original 

 volcanic piles can frequently be distin- 

 guished — the rude blocks, as it were, 

 from which the agencies of erosion have 

 sculptured varied and bold but graceful 

 forms. Stream erosion is the leading 

 story recorded in the surface contours. 

 Deep, narrow, steep-sided valleys radi- 

 ate in all directions from the dominant 

 peaks, and between them are blade-like 

 serrate ridges. At first the topography 

 has an unfamiliar appearance, owing to 

 the universal mantle of luxuriant, em- 

 erald-green vegetation, but the eye soon 

 penetrates the mask and sees the cliffs, 

 jagged crests, and monumental forms of 

 the rocks beneath. The islands visited 

 are composed mostly of ejected frag- 

 ments, or tuffs, interbedded occasionally 

 with sheets of compact lava. The many 

 and abrupt variations in the resistance 

 of the rocks — resistance not only to the 

 mechanical corrasion of streams, but the 

 chemical action of warm water charged 

 with the products of vegetable decay — 

 find expression in the minor serrations 

 of the thousands of sharp-crested ridges 

 radiating from the higher peaks in 

 all directions, and in the cliffs facing 

 the sea. Each headland is truncated, 

 and in many instances the progress of 

 the ocean's waves in eating away the 

 land is recorded by outstanding rocks 

 and seemingly inaccessible foam-girted 

 crags. An example of such a monu- 

 ment recording the former extent of the 



land is furnished by the historic Dia- 

 mond Rock, off the south coast of Mar- 

 tinique. 



The Lesser Antilles lie in a well- 

 aligned chain or necklace, as our Hill 

 has poetically termed it — unfortunately 

 a broken necklace, when considered po- 

 litically — which extends athwart the 

 flow of the never-ceasing trade winds. 

 The eastern shores of the island are 

 dashed against by tireless waves. On 

 that side the emerald of the enameled 

 lands is divided from the glowing sap- 

 phire of the sea by a fretted band of 

 silvery surf. On the western side of 

 the islands the waters are usually still 

 or broken by white-crested waves that 

 travel away from the shore. The rise 

 and fall of the tide is small, averaging 

 on the headlands perhaps two feet, and 

 for this reason the work of cutting a 

 shore terrace is retarded. The work of 

 the waves in modifying the coast line is 

 most conspicuous on the side facing the 

 trade winds, ' and on the eastern shore 

 most instructive examples of towering 

 sea cliffs, stretches of wave-smoothed 

 beaches, and 'piles of wind-driven sand 

 hidden beneath verdure attract the eye. 

 On account, principally, of the heavy 

 surf on the eastern side of the islands, 

 the best harbors and the most important 

 towns are on the Caribbean shore. 



While the stars were yet scintillating 

 in the sky on the morning of May 21 

 we passed southward a few miles off- 

 shore, where St Pierre lay buried be- 

 neath its pall of gray dust. As we 

 learned later, a terrific explosion of 

 Mont Pelee had occurred the day pre- 

 vious, and a second blast of dust- 

 charged steam had swept over the dead 

 city. Vast vapor banks shrouded alike 

 the terrible volcano and the silent vic- 

 tims at its base. A few smoldering 

 fires were visible where the once beau- 

 tiful city had been, but her lighthouse 

 was in ruins. The seeming signals 

 were the sullen glow of her last smol- 

 dering embers. 



