4(;o 
DRS. T. ANI)P:ES0N and j. s. flett on the eruptions of the 
island was neutral or debateable ground ; but in 1779 the French, with the aid of 
the Caribs, obtained the supremacy. In terms of the Peace of Versailles in 1783, the 
island was handed over to the British on the 1st January, 1784. Mr. Anderson’s 
ascent of the Soufriere took place in March of that year, and it is evident that at that 
time the Caribs still maintained their hostile attitude, for one of the dangers to 
which he considered himself exposed was the possibility of being cut off by some 
of their rovino- bands. In 1793 war broke out again between the Caribs and the 
English, and lasted for several years. 
Mr. Anderson seems to have never met the Caribs of the north end of the 
island, and relied principally on the planters, who had not long been settled in that 
fpiarter, as it was considered a reserve for the natives. His porters were negro slaves. 
He may never have heard of the eruption of 1718, or if he did so, may have 
considered the evidence for it unsatisfactory. 
The anonymous writer of the account of the eruption of 1812 distinctly refers to 
a previous eruption in the words, “ A century had now elapsed since the last convul¬ 
sion of the mountain ” (see p. 463). 
The internal evidence, also, is very strongly in favour of Defoe’s narrative 
having been founded on fact. The first news to reach England was that in Barbados 
the startling phenomenon of a rain of ashes had caused great alarm, and it had been 
preceded by sounds like distant cannonading. Similar noises were heard all over the 
Caribbean Sea from Antigua to Trinidad. The rain of dust had been heaviest near 
St. Vincent and in Barbados. Around the Soufriere the inhabitants had for a month 
previously been terrified by the frequency of the earthquakes. Then the mountain 
bui'st witli a tremendous noise, hot stones and sand rained down for hours, and there 
was complete darkness. Those who were in ships off the island saw a flash of fire, 
followed by loud crashing noises. The eruption was sudden in its outburst, and 
lasted only for a day or two. 
These are, in fact, the distinctive features of the eriq)tions of 1812 and 1902, as 
observed by those at some distance from the volcano, and the whole account resembles 
in many resjjects very closely some of the narratives which were published in the 
sjning of this year. If Defoe was able so exactly to predict the circumstances 
of future eruptions of the Soufriere, he must have had even more of the creative spirit 
of imagination than he has hitherto been credited with. 
Humboldt made several references to this eruption, though it is not exactly 
kiiown from what sources he drew his information. He seems to have had no doubt 
of its having occurred. 
If the statements regarding the area over which ash fell, from Hispaniola 
(Ilayti) to the moutli (ff the Orinoco, and the depth of the layer in Barbados and 
Martinique, are even approximately true, this was the greatest and most violent of all 
* Humboldt, ‘ Personal Narrative,’ English Trandation by INIrs, Wilt.iams, vol. 4, p. 20, 
