The Shattered Obelisk of Mont Pelee 473 



terms, that the giant rock mass repre- 

 sented a rapidly and recently cooled 

 highly acidic lava, whose tension and 

 viscosity were such as to permit of 

 solidification at or about the time of 

 extrusion ; it belonged to the present 

 period of eruption, and thus took the 

 place of the free flows of lava which 

 are ordinarily an accompaniment of the 

 normal type of volcanic eruption. The 

 pressure exerted on the ascending 

 magma by the solidified dome which 

 is thought to have closed over the cen- 

 tral orifice is considered by Lacroix 

 to have been an important factor in the 

 production of solidification, even if not 

 its absolute determinant. 



While seemingly simple in its ex- 

 planation, there are yet many difficul- 

 ties in the way of the acceptance of 

 Lacroix's hypothesis, and some of these 

 I have pointed out, in advance of the 

 publication of the monumental La Mon- 

 tague Pelee et ses Eruptions, in my 

 "Tower of Pelee." A few of these, to 

 which others are added, are here enu- 

 merated : 



1. The hypothesis of M. Lacroix com- 

 pels a belief in the rapidity of the cool- 

 ing and solidification of large lava 

 masses which is seemingly at variance 

 with all knowledge that we possess re- 

 garding the behavior of rock masses in 

 fusion. The Pelee obelisk, although 

 rifted much in the manner of the joint- 

 ing of other rocks, was virtually solid 

 to the core, and none of its decapita- 

 tions disclosed moving fluid lava in the 

 interior. We are thus forced to believe 

 that a full cooling and solidification of 

 the constructing lava mass had in an 

 almost incredibly short space of time 

 extended completely through the sub- 

 stance of the extruding part. At the 

 time of its final disruption, in the early 

 autumn of 1903, it is true that the basal 

 scar was described as being a vast glow- 

 ing brazier; but I should say that this 

 condition was brought about by the 

 forcing into the base of the monolith 

 of some of the same lava which else- 

 where was oozing out, and construct- 



ing, or helping to form, the supporting 

 dome. Indeed, it may well be that the 

 destruction of the obelisk was brought 

 about largely by an "eating" into the 

 mass of burning lava. 



2. The hypothesis involves the as- 

 sumption that the tower or obelisk was 

 one of the later constructions associ- 

 ated with the awakening of the vol- 

 cano, having been preceded in time by 

 the construction of the dome, and its 

 rise is dated back only to the middle 

 of October (or November) of the year 

 1902. But, as has already been inti- 

 mated, there are grounds for believing 

 that it already existed within the 

 chimney of the volcano as early as the 

 fatal 8th of May, and its presence there 

 as an obstructing "plug" may well have 

 been responsible for the force and 

 downward stroke of the destroying 

 cloud that annihilated Saint-Pierre. 

 There can hardly be a question that the 

 scraggy and apparently cindery mass 

 which I described in my earlier reports 

 as defining a wall in the crater, and 

 which is so well illustrated by Mr 

 George Varian in the paper (McC lure's 

 Magazine, August, 1902) which details 

 our ascent of the mountain on June I, 

 1902, was the identical rock. While at 

 Morne-Rouge on the day following 

 (June 2), Pere Marie assured me that 

 three distinct tooth-like . structures 

 were plainly visible from the belfry of 

 his cathedral, "looming up" above the 

 crater's rim. 



3. Professor Lacroix has pointed 

 out, what seems to me to be in opposi- 

 tion to his own views, that the volcano 

 had for several weeks maintained a 

 condition of parallel (opposed) activity 

 at the summit: the construction of a 

 fluidal dome and the simultaneous 

 erection of a rigid spine or tower. It 

 would be difficult to explain this diver- 

 gent condition on any theory of almost 

 instantaneous cooling of outwelling 

 lavas. One could hardly expect to find 

 an outwelling mass so behaving as to 

 lend itself to the formation, at or near 

 the same place and under very nearly 



