The Eruptions of La Soufriere 



447 



Mont Pelee in Eruption, May 28, 1902 



From a photograph taken by Mr George Kennan from Acier and republished from The Outlook 

 of August 2, 1902, by permission of the editors 



the remains of the "Half-way tree" 

 lifting its denuded and scarred limbs in 

 mute protest against the terrible devas- 

 tation all about. 



Trespe Valley had a heavy deposit of 

 volcanic ash in it comparable to that 

 in the Wallibu Valley, but secondary 

 steam action in the beds had ceased there 

 by the time of our visit, though we ob- 

 served crevices through which warm 

 vapors were still rising. There was no 

 direct way of measuring the thickness 

 of the new deposit in this valley, but 

 the principal stream bed was cut down 

 through more than ten feet of it with- 

 out reaching the old level. From a 

 distance the crests of the radial ridges 

 on the mountain looked like well-trodden 

 paths leading to the summit. This ap- 

 pearance was due to the fine mud form- 

 ing a sticky mass and remaining on the 

 comparatively flat crest until the newly 



imposed dendritic drainage advancing 

 up both sides of the ridge should meet 

 along the crest. 



The steepness of the ravines cut into 

 the ridges, and of the main gorges as 

 well, hinted strongly at recent topo- 

 graphic features, and at first seemed to 

 indicate an immense amount of erosion 

 during and since the May eruptions. 

 This opinion soon was abandoned by 

 the author on account of the patches of 

 undisturbed surface soil and uncharred 

 roots to be seen here and there on nearly 

 every slope, where the coating of fresh 

 ash had been washed away. Bluffs, 

 however, which had been exposed to the 

 full fury of the volcanic sand blast were 

 stripped of surface soil and roots and 

 showed nearly horizontal scarification 

 as a result of the impact of the wind- 

 driven lapilli. In spite of this scouring 

 and of the evidence of local landslides, 



