THE ERUPTIONS OF LA SOUFRIERE, ST 

 VINCENT, IN MAY, 1902* 



By Edmund Otis Hovey 



THE surface rocks of the island of 

 St Vincent are wholly of direct 

 volcanic origin, with the excep- 

 tion of some elevated beach conglom- 

 erates occurring along the windward 

 (eastern) coast. These conglomerates, 

 too, are composed of boulders and 

 gravel of volcanic origin derived from 

 the island itself. These conglomerates, 

 water-worn sea benches at three alti- 

 tudes, elevated sea caves, and the evi- 

 dence of an old shore line northwest of 

 Georgetown are indications of an eleva- 

 tion of the island of about 200 feet 

 during recent geologic time. The south- 

 ern portion of the island is the oldest, 

 as is evidenced by its stage of erosion, 

 which is much farther advanced than 

 that of the northern part. Broad val- 

 leys, with bottoms of comparatively 

 gentle slope, are to be found about 

 Kingstown, Calliaqua, Mariaqua, Meso- 

 potamia, and elsewhere in the south, 

 while the northern half of the island is 

 remarkable for the extremely rugged 

 character of its topography. 



Volcanic activity on St Vincent has 

 moved from south to north, as it has on 



Martinique, St Kitts, and some of the 

 other Caribbean Islands, but it has long 

 centered about the present active crater, 

 La Soufriere. Numerous lava beds al- 

 ternate with the, apparenth', far more 

 extensive beds of tuff agglomerate in 

 the make-up of the island. Tremen- 

 dous eruptions of the explosive kind, 

 like the present one, though on a far 

 larger scale, have been frequent occur- 

 rences ill the geologic history of the 

 island. According to Hill, j the vol- 

 canic Caribbean Islands date from at 

 least as far back as Eocene time, but 

 eruptions have been very rare within 

 historic time, which extends over four 

 centuries. The heaviest recorded erup- 

 tions have been those of L,a Soufriere, 

 which took place in 17 18 and in Ma5% 

 1 8 1 2 . The latter is said to have formed 

 the "New" crater, 500 feet in diam- 

 eter, on the northeast side of aud 

 higher than the much larger "Old" 

 crater. The Old crater was about nine- 

 tenths of a mile long from east to west 

 and about eight-tenths of a mile wide 

 from north to south, according to the 

 British Admiralty chart, and was famous 



*The author was sent to Martinique and St Vincent by the trustees of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, New York, as the representative of that institution, to stud}' the 

 phenomena in connection with the eruptions of the present year. I was a passenger with the 

 delegates of the National Geographic Society on the United States cruiser Dixie on her memo- 

 rable voyage for the relief of the impoverished inhabitants of the devastated islands, and I 

 indorse most heartily the praise given by I. C. Russell and R. T. Hill, in their reports to the 

 Society, to Capt. R. M. Berry, U. S. N., commanding the Dixie, and to the other officers of the 

 cruiser for their hospitality and their kindness to the scientists. 



On St Vincent our work was greatly facilitated by the intelligent activity of F. W. Griffith, 

 government clerk, acting under general instructions from Sir Robert Llewellyn, C. M. G , gov- 

 ernor of the colony, and by the assistance rendered by T MacGregor MacDonald, a planter 

 c« r ning several estates on the leeward (west) side of the island. James E. Richards, a merchant 

 of Kingstown, placed at the disposal of my colleagues (Dr. T. A. Jaggar, Jr., and George Carroll 

 Curtis) and myself his cottage at Petit Bordel, near Chateaubelair on the leeward coast, from 

 which there was an unobstructed view of the volcano. The facts embraced within this article 

 have been embodied, together with the author's observations on Mont Pelee, in a " Preliminary 

 Report," presented to the trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, and published 

 in the " Bulletin " of the Museum, vol. xvi, pp. 333-372, pis. xxxiii-h. 



t This Magazine, vol. xiii, p. 229, July, 1902. 



