SOUFPJERE, AND ON A VISIT TO MONTAGNE PELEE, IN 1902. 
447 
“At the bottom of the old crater, I saw three lakelets. The bottom of the crater consists of broken 
rock and sand. The depth from the edge of the cone to the surfaces of the lakelets does not seem 
to be much greater than was the depth from the edge of the old crater before the eruption to the 
surface of the old lake. The water in the three lakelets is not of the same colour. The northernmost 
one is of a dark olive-green colour, that of the central one is of a light sea-green colour, and that 
of the most southerly one is black and muddjn This lakelet is constantly bubbling and boiling, 
emitting steam with a hissing noise, the vapour rising, at the time of my visit, considerably 
above the crater’s mouth. The side of the crater, at the base of which this black boiling lake lies, 
is very steep. This bubbling pool cannot be seen by looking over the side of the crater, at the Ijase 
of which it lies. I had to walk at least a hundred yards to the western edge before I could get a clear 
view of it. Large stones were seen and heard falling into the boiling lake, which is separated from 
the middle lakelet by material, from which an apparently ashen-coloured smoke seemed to ascend. 
In addition to these three lakelets there is a small pool of yellowish mud resting on the top of a 
mound that lies close to the base of the eastern side of the crater. 
“ I was anxious to complete my inspection of the mountain l)y visiting the New Crater so-called, but 
I was unable to do so owing to the great difficulty of passing to the other side of the crater—the guide 
))eing unacquainted with that part of the mountain.” 
It would seem that during the three weeks which had elapsed since we were 
there, no considerable change had taken place in the appearance of the crater 
and of its lakes of water. 
The latest account which we have received is one which is given in ‘ The Sentry,’ 
on 15th August, 1902, in the form of an interview with Messrs. Adolphus EiCHAtiDS, 
Ivan Richards, and Fraser Richards, of Kingstown. From this it would appear 
that there was then only one lake, which was about one-third the extent of 
that which occupied the crater before the eruptions. They state that steam and 
pebbles were being intermittently thrown up with a hissing noise from a small 
opening on the lij^ of the crater. This looks as if the activity were increasing. 
Two weeks later another eruption broke out. 
The Evidence for the Hot Blast and the Avalanche of Dust. 
The statements of the survivors in the Carib Country and of those observers who 
were in Chateaubelair, place beyond doubt the existence of a great black cloud which 
swept from the crater down the flanks of the mountain on the fatal afternoon of the 
7th May. It remains for us to discuss the bearings of our observations on the deposits 
of ash and other associated phenomena in the devastated country on the peculiar 
features which are exhibited by eruditions of this remarkable type. These establish, 
we believe, the presence also of an avalanche of dust, sand and stones, and of a hot 
blast, and that they are intimately connected with one another and with the great 
black cloud. 
The Avalanche of Dust, Sand, and Stones. 
The distribution of the materials emitted during this eruption on the Soufriere and 
in the valley at its base, cannot fail to be regarded as very remarkable, and cannot be 
