E. 0. Homy—Neio Cone of Mont PelL 275 



phase the axis of the cone is about 100 feet east of where it 

 was in ISTovember, also the ridge of rock to the left appears 

 new. The actual cone is also quite different in shape. The 

 first looked like a huge lighthouse, the second like a church 

 steeple. You will observe how rapidly it grew upwards from 

 4 March to 9 March. Mj observations were excellent then, 

 so that there can be no doubt about the growth. 



" Plton Carbet was my test for altitude, so that refraction, 

 etc., could not produce much proportional effect. Of course 

 since my theodolite reads only to minutes I can count on 

 accuracy at such a distance only within about 20 feet one way 

 or the other, or a maximum error of about 40 feet, but as I 

 took a series of observations I think the error must be much 

 less. On 4 April the cone had reached the same altitude as on 

 26 November, 1902 [5,032 feet above the sea]."^ 



These profiles show very clearly the course of events in the 

 history of the new cone during a little more than four months. 

 Morne Fortune is about S. 12° E. of Mont Pele, or practically 

 in line with Morne des Cadets, so that figures 2 and 3 give 

 essentially the same outline as that obtained from the French 

 observatory. The altitude for the cone, 5,032 feet, obtained by 

 Major Hodder on ]N"ovember 26 indicates an increase of not 

 less than 735 feet in 18 days, or about 41 feet per day on an 

 average. Probably the rate was much more rapid than this at 

 times, for tlie growth according to the bulletins of the French 

 Commission was not uniform, and there were days when the 

 cone had lost some of the height shown on the preceding day. 

 Judging from the determination of the more favorably located 

 French observers. Major Hodder's values are somewhat low 

 (see page 272). 



Between November 26, 1902, and January 3, 1903, accord- 

 ing to figure 2, the spine lost about 340 feet of altitude, but 

 became wider at base. About January 8 began the series of 

 ruptures which split off great slabs from the southwestern side 

 of the spine and changed its shape from that of a '' lighthouse " 

 to that of a " church steeple." The shifting of the axis to the 

 eastward seems to have been due, in part at least, to this loss of 

 material from the west side of the spine and in part to the 

 elevation to the eastern side of the s]3ine in a more nearly ver- 

 tical line from the base. 



From January 9 to March 3 no observations could be made 

 from St. Lucia on account of the clouds hanging about the 

 cone. On March 3, according to figure 3, the apex of the 



" Major Hodder's letter gives the details of the triangulation by which he 

 determined this altitude. His observations gave the altitude of Piton du 

 Carbet as 3,936 feet, 24 feet less than the height given on the chart. In 

 calculating the height of Mont Pele, however, he assumed the chart to be 

 correct. 



