414 
DES. T. ANDERSON AND 4. S. FLETT ON T4IE ERUPTIONS OF THE 
estimate of the immbei' interred is l’295d" It is certainly an under-estimate rather 
than an over-estimate. The story of the ready response which the British colonies 
in the West Indies made to the call of assistance and relief is an inspiriting one, 
hut hardly falls to be narrated here. From Trinidad, from Jamaica, Barbados, 
St. Lucia, in fact from all the British islands of the Caribbean Sea, help was sent. 
The American Government, without delay, despatched the “Dixie” with .stores and 
medical comforts. Lists of subscriptions were opened in England and elsewhere, 
and money poured in with great rapidity. Nothing was omitted that could l^e done 
to save life or mitigate suffering. The efforts of the medical men were crowned 
with almo.st unhoped-for success, and comparatively few of those who were able to 
reach the ho.spitals and place themselves in the hands of the doctors died of their 
injuries or burns. 
Chateaubelair had been vacated durino' the afternoon of Wednesday, and its 
inhabitants were scattered through the villages and houses to the south, but on 
Thursday morning, as the noises from the mountain had almost ceased, jDeople began 
to return, as soon as day broke, to see what damage their houses and crops had 
suffered during the night. From 3 to 5 inches of ashes had fallen in the village, 
and some of the houses had had their roofs perforated by falling stones. Others 
had collajDsed under the weight of ash that accumulated on them. No buildings, 
however, had been set on fire, though on the .slopes to the south and east of the 
town in more than one place the grass had been ignited (probably by flashes of 
lightning). Most of trees had been stripped of their leaves, and the smaller 
branches had been broken by the falling stones. The air was still murky with 
dust, and the mountain almost completely veiled in vapours. 
Early in the day. Captain Calder, Mr. McDonald, Dr. Dunbar Hughes, Mr. 
Gentle, and several others arrived in a boat from Wallibu, and from notes 
supplied by them and by others who were residing in the vicinity of the SoufriG'e, 
it is possible for us to form a fairly accuiate idea of the progress of events during 
that and the following days. 
Columns of vapour so densely charged with fine ashy material as to be slate-grey 
in colour, ascended from the crater, and, as a gentle wind was blowing from the north, 
the dust was carried directly over Chateaubelair, which was in consecpience covered 
with a thick mist, in which it was difficult to recognise anyone at a distance even of 
only a few yards. The whole mountain and the region round it were enveloped in 
this cloud of falling ash, but about 10 o’clock there was a sharp .shower of rain which 
* Bluebook : “ Correspondence relating to the Volcanic Eruptions in St. Vincent and Martinique in May, 
1902,” p. 65. Despatch from Governor Sir R. B. Llewellyn (dated May 23, 1902). 
The total number of bodies found dead is .... 1295 
The deaths in hospital from injuries (burns) .... 70 
Missing... 200 
