Volcanic Disturbances in West Indies 281 



circumstances would permit and placed 

 on mattresses on the deck. All of the 

 wounded were suffering from burns on 

 the hands, feet, face, and neck, inflicted 

 by hot dust. Of the injured on St Vin- 

 cent, numbering, I believe, about three 

 hundred, all suffered from burns of the 

 nature just referred to, excepting a few 

 who were struck by falling stones. 



THE DISASTER AT GEORGETOWN 



At Georgetown the fact that a terrible 

 disaster had recently occurred was im- 

 pressed on my mind even more forcibly 

 than during my visit to St Pierre. The 

 beautiful city on Martinique was so com- 

 pletely devastated that comparatively 

 little remained to proclaim the tale. But 

 for the presence of the bodies of the 

 dead, the ruins might, seemingly, be a 

 century old. At Georgetown, however, 

 although the town was but partially 

 ruined, and no loss of life occurred within 

 its immediate borders, the dust and 

 stones piled high in the streets, the shat- 

 tered windows and roofs, the blasted 

 palms to which the yellow leaves still 

 adhered, the absolutely barren field ad- 

 jacent, and the still steaming rivers of 

 mud, flowing from the shrouded slopes 

 of La Soufriere, all appealed most forci- 

 bly to the imagination, and assisted in 

 enabling one to picture in fancy what 

 had occurred. The people who had 

 been exposed to the great peril still 

 thronged the streets. In the outskirts 

 of the town, refugees were crowded in 

 houses inadequate for their shelter. 

 About the door of the storehouses 

 groups of eager applicants were receiv- 

 ing government aid, but no acute suf- 

 fering was visible, except in the church 

 which had been converted into a hos- 

 pital. Most pathetic was the sight of 

 the scores of injured persons, all of 

 them, I believe, negroes, although their 

 wounds had been well cared for by the 

 physicians early on the scene. 



Leaving the half-ruined town, with 



its few remaining trees, which formed a 

 narrow strip of verdure between the sea 

 and the desolated arrowroot field leading 

 up to the base of the volcano, I hurried 

 inland, in company with Dr Hovey and 

 two negro lads, who carried our cameras, 

 to visit Dry River and get a view of a 

 typical example of the region on which 

 the descent of dust and stones had been 

 heavy. This same region was buried 

 beneath volcanic debris in 1812, during 

 the preceding eruption of La Soufriere, 

 and, as I have been informed, the ma- 

 terial which fell at that time is of the 

 same general character as that recently 

 showered on the island. Dry River, as 

 I understand, derives its name from the 

 fact that its channel was in part aban- 

 doned, owing to the quantity of debris 

 accumulated in it during the eruption 

 referred to. To that filling another con- 

 tribution has just been made. Like 

 Wallibu River, described above, the 

 streams near Georgetown were working 

 their way through deep deposits of hot 

 debris and sending up vast volumes of 

 steam. Our tramp took us across pre- 

 viously cultivated fields, now buried 

 some two feet deep beneath stones and 

 dust, and across small streams of warm 

 water, which were vainly endeavoring 

 to rid their channels of the recently 

 added material. The view toward the 

 volcano and northward along the coast, 

 where several fine plantations or estates 

 had been ruined, although depressing in 

 the extreme on account of the devasta- 

 tion that had been wrought, was highly 

 instructive as an example of volcanic 

 action. It was in this region that the 

 greatest loss of life on St Vincent oc- 

 curred during the recent disaster. In 

 one house which we visited 21 persons 

 perished — all who sought its shelter. 

 The wood-work of the house was not 

 burned, and no other evidence remained 

 of the death-dealing agency except the 

 layer of dust on the floor, which was 

 extremely fine and had a depth of about 

 four inches. The windows of the house, 



