Volcanic Disturbances in West Indies 273 



in less than one minute after the blast 

 from Mont Pelee swept over the town. 

 As to the precise nature of that blast, 

 the members of your commission, I be- 

 lieve, differ in opinion. 



It has been stated in the newspapers 

 that the inhabitants of St Pierre were 

 asphyxiated by noxious gases or killed 

 by a gas explosion. My own observa- 

 tions and the best interpretation I can 

 place upon the testimony of surviving 

 witnesses favors the opinion that the 

 general cause of death was a blast of 

 steam charged with hot dust. Gases, 

 probably in part inflammable, were no 

 doubt present, as the odor of sulphurous 

 acid was perceptible at the time of my 

 visit ; but the part that such gases 

 played was seemingly secondary. In 

 order to be able to judge of the condi- 

 tions where everything was destroyed, 

 it is necessary to learn what took place 

 on the outskirts of the storm. The 

 people on the borders of the devastated 

 area who escaped were in some instances 

 injured, and the injuries were inflicted 

 by hot dust, which on touching the skin 

 adhered and burned. These burns re- 

 semble scalds, and destroyed only the 

 epidermis. In several such instances 

 the hair on the burned portions was not 

 destroyed, and where the bodies of the 

 sufferers were protected by even light 

 clothing they were uninjured. 



Had the dust which struck the in- 

 jured people been somewhat hotter their 

 clothing would have been ignited, and 

 if they had inhaled the hot dust death 

 would have been almost instantaneous. 

 The condition of the dead in St Pierre 

 favors the conclusion that this deduction 

 shows what there took place. While 

 the inhalation of steam charged with 

 burning hot dust may seemingly be ac- 

 cepted as the principal cause of death 

 in the stricken city, it must be admitted 

 that many persons were no doubt killed 

 by falling walls, by nervous shock, etc. 



The blasts which swept St Pierre on 

 the morning of May S, and again on May 



20, passed through the city with hurri- 

 cane force. This is demonstrated by 

 the manner in which great trees were 

 uprooted, strong masonry walls thrown 

 down, the light-house overturned, etc. 

 The direction in which all these objects 

 were swept was a little west of south, 

 or directly away from Mont Pelee. 

 The most conspicuous evidence of the 

 strength of the blast which wrought 

 the mechanical destruction is furnished 

 by a statue of the Blessed Virgin, re- 

 ferred to above. That statue, com- 

 posed, I understand, of iron, and meas- 

 uring over 1 1 feet in height and nearly 

 10 feet in circumference at the shoulders, 

 and weighing several tons, was swept 

 from its pedestal and carried southward 

 about 45 feet. All the evidence col- 

 lected in this connection cannot here be 

 presented, but it indicates that the blast 

 which wrought the havoc referred to 

 passed over the city with full hurricane 

 force. 



EXPLORATIONS IN ST VINCENT 



Space will not permit me to detain the 

 reader longer with this preliminary ac- 

 count of the travels of the commission 

 of the National Geographic Society. 

 On leaving St Pierre at the close of our 

 second day's visit, we returned to Fort 

 de France, and the following day the 

 Dixie sailed for St Vincent. Professor 

 Hill remained at Martinique, while 

 Commander Borchgrevink and I went 

 southward to study the eruption of La 

 Soufriere. 



On St. Vincent the loss of life from the 

 second volcanic explosions was far less 

 than on Martinique. As has been re- 

 ported by the Governor of the island, the 

 number killed was about 1,600. Many 

 more were injured, however, than during 

 the eruptions of Mont Pelee. The re- 

 gion about La Soufriere was less densely 

 populated than the northern shores of 

 Martinique ; there was no city compar- 

 able to St Pierre in proximity to the 



