448 
DES. T. AXDEESOX AND J. S. FLETT ON THE ERUPTIONS OF THE 
accounted for on the theory that the ash was simply rained down from above and 
gathered where it fell. A rain of ashes certainly took j)lace. It lasted for hours on 
Wednesday afternoon and night. Hot stones falling from the sky struck many people 
in the Carib Country who were running from one house to another in the gloom, 
seeking for their friends, and the noise of the ash clattering on the roofs was at times 
almost deafening. In this way a sheet of deposit must have been laid down all 
round the volcano, which thinned out gradually as it was traced further and further 
from the crater. Over Chateauhelair and Georgetown the black cloud did not pass, 
and the thickness of the ash is a measure of the violence of the shower. Since 
18 inches accumulated in Georgetown, it does not seem unlikely that the 3 feet or 
more of deposit in the Carib Country, and the 5 feet on the Mahoe, above Lot 14, should 
he due almost entirely to the hailstorm of sand and scoria which lasted through the 
night. Over the Carib Country the great black cloud rolled, hut we cannot believe 
that it piled up any considerable sheet of ashes, though we know it Avas laden Avith 
dust, as some of the surviAmrs state that on the floor of the huts a thickness of 1 or 
2 inches gathered during the passage of the AvaA-e of heat which killed so many 
people. Similarly, Ave may alloAv that the ash Avhich lay on the ridges and slopes of 
the spurs, on the mountain and on the edge of the crater, Avhich had originally A'aried 
in depth from a few feet up to 10 or 12 feet, might haA’e been entirely deposited during 
the rain of ashes. But this Avill not account for the extraordinary manner m which 
tlie ravines Avere choked Avith hot sand. The A^ery high temperature of these masses 
shoAvs that they did not gradually accumulate, hut must haA^e been practically 
instantaneously piled up in the Amlleys. So fine is the dust that it would haA^e fallen 
very sloAAdy had it been projected A^ertically upAvards from the crater, and should in 
that case have been nearly cold before it reached the surface of the ground. It would 
probably also have shoAAm traces of stratification, as after each outburst the coarse 
stones AA'ould first fall and the finer material Avould settle sloAvly afterAvards. But on 
the banks of the Wallibu and Babaka Dry BiA^er it was rare to see sections of the new 
ash Avhich exhibited any pronounced stratification. The whole mass—sand, stones, 
scoria, and burnt timber—seemed to haA^e reached its present position practically 
simultaneously. 
The distribution of the heaped-up ash is also significant. It is principally on the 
south side of the mountain, as if it had risen in the crater and welled OA^er the loATer 
southern lip. It is fmnd in the Rozeau and Larikai Valleys on the east side, though 
not in Amry great quantity. On the west side it lies only in the Rabaka Valley, there 
being hardly any in the gorges aboA^e Orange Hill, Overland Village, and Sandy Bay. 
Very little Avas able to surmount the great Somma rampart and reach the A^alleys 
aboA^e Fancy and Grand Baleine. 
MoreoAmr, it did not gather on the slopes and ridges of the spurs that descend to 
the Wallibu and Rabaka Dry RiA’er. Nor did it rest in the upper part of the raAune 
betAveen the spurs. It is only Avhen it reached the flatter ground beloAv that its 
