The Eruptions of La Soufriere 



459 



mings stated to Mr MacDonald that the 

 east-west diameter of the crater seemed 

 to have been increased, and the saddle 

 between the large and the small crater 

 was more deeply notched than before. 



At about i a. m. , September 18, there 

 was a comparatively slight eruption of 

 La Soufriere. On the following day 

 (the 19th) Mr Cummings, accompanied 

 by Rev. Mr T. Huckaby, of Chateau- 

 belair, again ascended to the rim of the 

 crater. They found that the crater had 

 been cleared of the ashes observed there 

 on the 17th, and that it had been re- 

 stored to the condition of May 31, with 

 a small amount of water in the bottom 

 of a vast pit. 



Sunday, September 21, at 6 p. m., 

 there was a violent eruption, which 

 lasted but ten minutes in its vigorous 

 stages. Much incandescent material is 

 reported to have been thrown out dur- 

 ing this outburst, but this statement is 

 doubted by Mr MacDonald on account 

 of the red glow from the setting sun. 

 The eruption seemed to come from the 

 northwest side of the crater, and was 

 accompanied by horizontally projected 

 clouds. 



On September 24 there was a sudden 

 eruption at about 2.30 p. m., which 

 lasted about half an hour. The solid 

 matter thrown out in this outburst 

 must have been coarse and heavy, for it 

 all fell to the ground and sea in a short 

 time and the horizon was perfectly 

 clear by 3.30 o'clock. 



Under date of October 24, Mr 

 \V. J. Durrant writes me, after mention- 

 ing the outbursts of September 18 and 

 2 1 , that there was a slight eruption on 

 October 1 at 6.35 p. m., and he then 

 goes on to describe the great eruption 

 of October 15, which he considers the 

 most violent of the series. He states 

 that the eruption began at 8.15 p. m. 

 (the Kingstown Times reports the begin- 

 ning to have been at 7.45 p. m.) and 

 continued in violence till 9 o'clock, 

 when there was a lull. The volcano 

 burst again into full eruption at 1 



o'clock the same night and continued 

 in this condition till 5 a. m. The erup- 

 tion was accompanied by tremendous 

 roaring and a magnificent electric dis- 

 play like that of September 3-4. The 

 sand-and-dust clouds went to windward, 

 depositing much material at George- 

 town and northward, while southward 

 great damage was done in the Mesopo- 

 tamia Valley, where 12 inches of ashes 

 fell. After the great outburst the vol- 

 cano continued inconsiderable activity, 

 with minor eruptions, until October 22, 

 when a moderately heavy eruption took 

 place, which threw dust on Richmond 

 estate and Chateaubelair. The en- 

 croachments of the sea upon the lee- 

 ward coast of the mountain continue, 

 especially at the mouth of the Wallibu 

 River. 



The Kingstown Sentrv of October 31 

 contains an account of the ascent of La 

 Soufriere made on October 28 by Mr 

 Henry Powel, curator of the botanical 

 station on St Vincent, in company with 

 Messrs J. P. Ouinton and E. W. Foster, 

 visiting botanists, iu spite of the con- 

 tinued activity of the crater. They 

 ascended the mountain from the lee- 

 ward side and found the journey very 

 difficult on account of the erosion which 

 has taken place since the early erup- 

 tions. They found the crater more 

 funnel-shaped than had preceding vis- 

 itors, but with boiling muddy water in 

 the bottom. Hot ashes, which were 

 steaming profusely, were piled several 

 hundred feet high against the walls of 

 the pit. Coarse gravel and fragments 

 of rock covered the exterior slopes of 

 the cone. The saddle between the two 

 craters is still existent, and Mr Powel 

 was satisfied that no eruption had come 

 from the small crater. No stream of 

 lava has been ejected yet. The rent in 

 the crater on the western side has been 

 enlarged. 



At 8.15 p. m., October 29, a loud 

 groan was heard from La Soufriere, 

 followed by a column of dark vapor, 

 and further eruptions were feared. 



