411 
SOUFRIEEE, AND ON A VISIT TO 
MONTAONE PELEE, IN 1902. 
a distinct vibration of the recording jjeii of the barograpli in the American 
Weather Bureau, in Bozeau, Dominica, as was shown to us by Mr. Hobbs, who 
was in charge of the station. He told us also that in the observatory in St. Kitts 
similar effects had been traceable in the barographs on the days of several other 
eruptions. In every case the air-pressure wms temporarily increased by the appearance 
of the great black cloud. We have already remarked how it was noted in 
Chateaubelair, St. Vincent, that during the climax of the eruption a peculiarly 
painful sensation was felt Avhen loud sounds Avere heard, and this finds its explanation 
in the sudden rise of atmospheric pressure on the tympanic membranes. 
Along the whole chain of the Antilles, from Trinidad to Santa Cruz and St. Thomas, 
detonations resembling distant cannon firing Avere heard on Wednesday afternoon. 
In Trinidad they Avere very distinct and their origin was at once suspected. In 
the late afternoon the sky to the north was very hazy and thick, and in Port of 
Spain there was a slight fall of fine dust."^ In Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, 
Montserrat, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and Santa Cruz there were loud distant noises 
heard, especially between 2 o’clock and 3 o’clock in the afternoon. No ash seems to 
have fallen in any of these islands, aiid there Avere no earthquakes of importance. 
Tidal waves were observed in Martinique and Guadeloupe. In Demerara there were 
neither falls of ash nor sounds of detonations, though the latter are said to have 
been heard in Venezuela, t In Jamaica it was observed that from the 7th May 
onward the atmosphere Avas hazy, and at sunset and sunrise there Avere remarkable 
colour effects in the sky. Mr. S. T. Schabschmidt, of Hanbury, Jamaica, reports 
that a thin film of dust Avas observed on the iron roofing of houses at that locality. 
He collected it by means of a wet sponge, and found it identical in character 
with the ash which fell in Barbados, only very much finer. The self-registering tide 
gauge at Port Ptoyal, Jamaica, shoAved no effects of sea waves or sudden rise or 
fall in the sea level. 
Falls of volcanic dust from the Soufriere are recorded over a very wide area, Avhich 
seems to be elliptical in shape. It is broadest from east to west, as it extends from 
Jamaica to at least 900 miles east of St. Vincent, a total distance of about 2,000 
miles. Its north and south diameter is much shorter, as the probable limits in these 
directions are the north end of St. Lucia and Port of Spain in Trinidad. In both 
these places the amount of dust Avhich fell Avas Amry small, and there is no reason to 
believe that tire actual area covered was much more extensive than this. Far the 
greater part of the dust cloud travelled eastAvards before the upper anti-trade 
currents, and the heaviest falls of dust Avere all in that quarter. Many ships passing 
through that part of the Atlantic which lies to the east and south-east of Barbados 
encountered dust clouds during the 7th, 8th, and 9th of May. The most interesting 
* Despatch from Captain F. L. Campbell, H.M.S. “Indefatigable,” printed in Bluebook; ‘Corre¬ 
spondence relating to the Volcanic Eruptions in St. Vincent and Martinique in May, 1902,’ p. 70. 
t ‘Nature,’ vol. 66, p. 554, 1902. 
3 G 2 
