36 T. A. Jay gar — Initial Stages of the Spine on Pelee. 



On July 6th, 1902, at 7 a.m., the writer had the good for- 

 tune to see the whole cone clear of clouds for about ten min- 

 utes. The viewpoint was St. Pierre, and others of the party 

 were E. C. Rost, photographer, E. Lavenaire of the Govern- 

 ment office of Martinique, and L. Weisberg, correspondent 

 of the New York Sun. Photographs w T ere secured by Mr. 

 Post, in sequence, showing the successive stages of develop- 

 ment of the cloud-cap on the crater. One of these photo- 

 graphs is here reproduced, showing the volcano at the moment 



The Spine ; July 6, 1902. 



when the complete inner cone came into sight (figs. 2 and 3). 

 Brown dust was rising in purling jets all over the surface, and 

 heavier billows of white steam rose from the southeast side of 

 the cone. Other steam-jets were observed in the Riviere 

 Blanche. 



On the summit of the cone was seen a most extraordinary 

 monolith, shaped like the dorsal fin of a shark, with a steep 

 and almost over-hanging escarpment on the east, while the 

 western aspect of the spine was curved and smooth in profile. 

 The field glass showed jagged surfaces on the steeper eastern 

 side, and long smooth striated slopes on the western. Other 

 horn-like projections from the cone could be discerned with 

 difficulty on its slopes lower down. Similar horns were noted 

 by Heilprin in August.* The great spine on the summit was 

 not less than 200 feet high above the surface of the cone. 



*Hovey, loc. cit. p. 272. 



