SOUriilEEE, AND ON A VISIT TO MONTAGNE PELEE, IN 1902 . 
373 
structure. But the encircling Somma wall overlooking the actual crater is so well 
seen from the south-west that one can divine at a glance the history of the mountain, 
(see Plate 25, fig. 1). It is in the north-west quadrant of the hill that the conical 
slopes, determined by the internal structure, are least modified and most apparent. 
So active are the processes of erosion in the Windward Islands, that there is no part 
of the hill that does not bear conspicuous evidence of their operation. Deep ravines 
radiate out on all sides from the summit, as is indicated (perhaps a little diagrammati- 
cally) on the Admiralty chart (see Plate 39). 
The profound gorges which score the sides of the volcano give it a picturesqueness 
which otherwise would have been lacking. When we saw them they were bare and 
naked, all the green vegetation had disappeared during the eruption; only blackened 
trunks were left to bear witness to the tropical forest which had once clothed the 
surface. But though the mountain had lost in beauty and variety of colour, it had 
gained in interest and impressiveness to the geologist. Every detail of cliff and scar 
was visible from a distance. The Soufriere had been one of the beauties of the West 
Indies, and travellers had come from far to gaze on its richly-wooded slopes, and 
to see the marvellous lake which nestled in the crater on its summit. To-day it 
looks more like a skeleton; the ribs of bare rock stand out everywhere plainly 
to be seen. 
In more than one respect the gorges on the mountain deserve the name of canons. 
Some of them must be nearly 1000 feet deep, and they are often so narrow and 
steep-sided as to render the country almost untraversable. We were told that along 
the leeward shore there is an old Carib track, but communication is kept up entirely 
by means of row boats. The mountain was very frequently ascended, in fact this was 
one of the commonest jileasure trips for the inhabitants and tourist visitors. But, as 
already mentioned, there was only one track, which served also as the main road from 
Chateaubelair to Georgetown. After crossing the low ground it struck the slopes of 
the hill and ascended along the knife-edges between the ravines. The road was fairly 
good for a hush path in the West Indies, and horses could be ridden along most of the 
way. As the valleys are radial, the ridges between them swept right up to the 
edge of the crater, so that the track led up to the lip of the depression, then along it 
for a short space, and down another spur to Lot 14 on the windward side. The slopes 
on each side were often 40°, and sometimes still higher, and the back of the ridges so 
narrow that in many places there was only width sufficient for the path. After the 
eruption, the bush was all destroyed, and as the roots had served to hold the loose 
materials together, landslides were frequent, so that the path was dangerous in one or 
two spots, especially as one never knew what weight the new ashes which had 
gathered on it were able to bear without slipping. Except by this path, it would 
have been a matter of the greatest difficulty to reach the summit, and so dense was 
the undergrowth, and so numerous and profound the ravines, that no one attempted to 
explore the surface of the hill, and few, except a handful of wandering Caribs, were 
