St. Vi?icent, and Mt. Pelee^ Martinique^ 331 



of the old lake (the one existing prior to May 7) with ash, and 

 that there was a sloping surface from all sides down towards a 

 depression in the middle. The slope was such that from 

 almost any point they could have descended to the bottom. 

 Steam was rising from several points, the most vigorous being 

 from the spot most active on May 31. Around the central 

 opening there was mud, and from the opening "lire" was 

 being thrown up every two or three minutes, which fell back 

 again, giving place to steam. There was an eruption during 

 the night of September 17, and Mr. Cummings made another 

 ascent on the 19th, when he found the crater cleared of ashes 

 to the depth observed May 31 and with a small amount of 

 water in the bottom, from and through which steam and "fire" 

 were rising. The "fire" mentioned by Mr. Cummings must 

 have been red-hot fragments of rock. A short violent out- 

 burst occurred about 6 P. M. September 21, lasting about ten 

 minutes in its most vigorous stages. 



La Moxtagne Pelee, Martinique. 



The destruction of human life overshadows every other con- 

 sideration, in popular estimation, at least, when one speaks of 

 the eruption of Mt. Pelee, Martinique, which took place May 

 8, 1902. The sweeping of between twenty-five and thirty 

 thousand human beings out of existence almost in a moment 

 presents a holocaust with but few parallels in the history of 

 the world. The present eruptions of Pelee and the Soufriere 

 will not, however, take first rank among those which have 

 torn these and other Caribbean volcanoes, but they are exten- 

 sive enough and are of such a character as to merit the study 

 they have been and are receiving. 



Mt. Pelee, like La Soufriere, gave warnings of the approach- 

 ing catastrophe, but they were not heeded by the inhabitants 

 of Martinicjue. The waters of the Lac des Palmistes became 

 very noticeably warmer than usual several months before the 

 eruption took place ; rumblings were heard and steam began 

 to issue from the old crater some weeks before dangerous 

 activity began ; a fortnight before the first great eruption took' 

 place the earthshocks were suflSciently strong to displace dishes 

 on the shelves of the house of Mr. Prentiss, the American 

 Consul in St. Pierre. The volcano became so threatening that 

 some uneasiness was felt by the people dwelling on the slopes 

 of the mountain, but the citizens generally were so deeply 

 interested in a political contest in which race prejudice was 

 playing an important and bitter part, that they paid little atten- 

 tion to the returning activity of the dangerous mountain on 

 and near which they lived, until it was too late for them to 

 escape with their lives. 



