DRS. T. ANDERSON AND J. S. FLETT ON THE ERUPTIONS OF THE 
why base levels should have been reached at an earlier date by these streams than by 
the others in the middle and south of the island, which had thick lavas to cut throug-h. 
These masses of tuff are faudy well stratified, and dip towards the south, j^arallel to 
the slopes of the volcano. They have obviously jji'oceeded from the Soufriere, and 
appear to he the latest rocks of the hill. They show that the most recent out¬ 
bursts have been of purely explosive type, and that lava has not fiowed from the 
craters for a prolonged period. The volcano has undergone a change in the manner 
of its action, and has passed from what may be called a normal to a virulent and 
spasmodic condition. This may indicate approaching extinction. It is the opinion of 
most geologists who have studied the volcanoes of the Antilles, that the heyday of 
their activity is over, and that a general decadence has taken place. If so, the 
Soufriere, the last of the St. Vincent volcanoes, may be no exception to the general 
rule, and its decreasing vigour may have resulted in a change in the modus ojoerandi 
of its out-bursts. 
It is not easy to explain why these latest tuffs should have gathered to thick¬ 
nesses of several hundred feet in this particular valley, and not elsewhere round the 
cone. It may be that since the eruption which resulted in the formation of the 
Somma wall, the ejecta have been discharged mostly over the lower or southern lip of 
the crater, while the lofty northern wall has protected the country behind it. 
Possibly, also, the “ sand avalanche ” type of eruption may have been characteristic of 
the later activity, and great masses of fine ash and debris, as in the recent erujffion, 
may have overfiowed the southern rim of the crater and lodged in the depression at 
this side of the cone. As we shall see later, there is historical evidence in support of 
this view. 
Of the two craters of the Soufriere, the larger is known as the “ Old Crater,” 
while the smaller, which originated during the eruption of 1812, has for that reason 
been called the “New Crater.” These names are no longer very appropriate, as the 
old crater is that which took the princi23al part in the eru|)tion of this year, while it 
is doubtful whether any material was emitted from the smaller or “ New Crater.” 
In this report the larger or “ Old Crater ” is meant whenever we refer to the crater 
of the Soufriere. 
This crater (see Plate 37, fig. 2) is very nearly circular in shape, and, according to 
the map (see Plate 39), aj^joears to have been a little less than a mile across and 
somewhat smaller in the north and south direction than from east to west. Its northern 
lij) was 3623 feet above the sea, and about 600 feet higher than the southern. But the 
crater rim did not sloj^e regulaily down from its northern to its southern side, but 
was slightly serrate with alternating jDrojections and de23ressions. These are clearly 
indicated on the Admiralty chart.* The slo23es on both sides of this rim (which was 
* On the western rim of the crater there was a moderately deep notch leading into the valley of the 
Larikai. This is mentioned by Mr. E. 0. Hovey (“ Martinique and St. Vincent: a Preliminary Report,” 
‘ Bulletin American Museum of Natural History,’ vol. 16, p. 336, 1902). We never had a good view of it, 
owing to the mist which hung around the crater. 
