E. 0. Hovey—New Cone of Mont PelL 271 



observed then to indicate tliat it was anything other than an 

 ordinary fragmental cone built np by the pericentric deposition 

 of ejecta from the vent or vents. This was after the first-class 

 eruptions of May 8, 19 and 20. 



The new cone must have grown with great rapidity, for Pro- 

 fessor Heilprin's account and Mr. Yarian's sketches* describ- 

 ing and illustrating what was seen on an ascent made May 31, 

 indicate that it must then have attained at least the altitude of 

 the eastern crater rim, or about 3,950 feet above the sea. The 

 surface of I'Etang Sec according to common report was about 

 700 meters (2,296 feet) above tide. If this determination can 

 be relied upon,f the new cone had an altitude of about 1,455 

 feet above its base on May 31, 1902. Mr. Yarian's sketches 

 and Professor Heilprin's description indicate the existence of 

 great walls or dikes of solid rock in the new cone and Mr. 

 George Kennan's account;}: corroborates this evidence. None 

 of these observers reported the existence of a spine or tooth 

 projecting above the cone. 



On June 20, 1902, Mr. George Carroll Curtis and the author 

 got occasional glimpses of the new cone during two or three 

 hours spent on the summit of the volcano. The vertical walls 

 reported by Heilprin, Yarian and Kennan were not to be seen 

 — perhaps they had been partly destroyed by the heavy erup- 

 tion of June 6. The sides of the cone were steep and showed 

 great masses of rock, but in the constantly shifting, momentary 

 views obtained through the steam June 20, these were held to 

 be enormous loose masses in a fragmental cone. The top of 

 the cone was very jagged and the points seemed to surround 

 a shallow crater which was the most active vent.§ INo point 

 projected far above its fellows. On June 29, from the sea, 

 Lacroix saw a point emerge from the clouds for a moment.] 

 Its altitude was determined by Ensign Deville on board the 

 " Jouffroy " at 1353 meters (4,439 feet), which was so nearly 

 the altitude given for old Morne Lacroix, the former summit 

 of the mountain, that the point was not recognized as being 

 new. 



Photographs taken early in July, 1902, show a prominent 

 elevation rising like a shark's fin above the southwestern por- 

 tion of the new cone. The reports of the gendarmes of Morne 



* McClure's Magazine, August, 1902. 



f Le Prieur, Peyraud and Euf z however in their official report, ^ ' Eruption 

 du Volcan de la Montague Pele (1851)," p. 17, published by Euelle and 

 Arnand, government printers. Fort de France, 1852 (?), give the altitude of 

 the lake at 921 meters (3,021 feet) by aneroid measurement, but their deter- 

 mination does not seem to be accepted. 



tThe Tragedy of Pelee, p. 157. The Outlook Co., 1902.. 



§See Bui. A. M. N. H., xvi, pi. 44, fig. 2 and this Journal, IV, xiv, p. 356, 

 fig. 14, for an illustration of the cone as it was on June 20, 1902. 



II Journal Ofl&ciel de la Martinique, October 24, 1902, 



