AND THE WEST INDIAN ERUPTIONS OF 1902. 



215 



nessed the appalling total destruction of a town with its 30,000 

 inhahitants in less than a quarter of an hour. This terrible catas- 

 troplie was caused by what must be regarded as an exceptional 

 phenomenon. It has been variously described, and it is not a 

 matter for surprise that the descriptions of some eye-witnesses 

 under the terrors of their experiences w^ere not scientifically 

 accurate. It was said there was a " sheet of flame " spreading 

 out horizontally over the city and burning everything beneath. 

 In The Times the phenomenon was described as " a combination 

 of suftbcating heat, noxious vapours, a shower of burning cinders 

 and a discharge of burning stones." Dr. Flett and Dr. Tempest 

 Anderson, reporting for the Eoyal Society, say, " The most 

 peculiar feature of these eruptions is the avalanche of incan- 

 descent sand and the great black cloud which accompanies it," 

 and again, that "a mass of incandescent lava rises and wells 

 over the lip of the crater in the form of an avalanche of red- 

 hot dust, it is lava blown to pieces by the expansion of the 

 gases it contains. It rushes down the slopes of the hill, 

 carrying with it a terrific blast, wdiich mows down everything 

 in its path. The mixture of dust and gas behaves in many 

 ways like a fluid. The exact chemical composition of these 

 gases remains unsettled. They apparently consist principally 

 of steam and sulphurous acid. There are many reasons which 

 make it unlikely that they contain much oxygen, and they do 

 not support respiration."* 



Professor Heilprin has confidence in the report of the officers 

 of a French cable-ship that was about eight miles distant, who 

 while " watching^ the tall column of ' smoke ' issuing- from the 

 summit crater, observed a puffing cloud rise from the flank of 

 the volcano, followed immediately by a dense black vaporous 

 mass which with intense rapidity rolled down the mountain 

 slope, hanging close to the surface, and becoming brilliantly 

 luminous as it approached the sea-border."t 



On May 20th a similar phenomenon seems to have occurred 

 which destroyed much that had been left standing by the 

 eruption of May 8th, and again during the visit of Drs. Flett 

 and Anderson on July 9th an outburst took place with a 

 similar incandescent avalanche, and still later, on August 30th, 

 when the tow^n of Morne Eouoe and three villages were 

 destroyed. 



Professor Heilprin is of opinion that the eruption of 



* The Times, August 21st, 1902. 

 t Fortnightly Review, August, 1902. 



P 



