4(56 
DR8. T. AXDEK80X AXD J. S. FLETT OX THE ERUPTIOXS OF THE 
Thesiger and Calvelly ; the works, situated in a A’alley, were entirely covered by the sand and ashes, and 
some hogsheads of sugar remain there at present calcined to a cinder. The Rabaka River was also filled 
up, and its stream seldom reaches the sea except in cases of heavy rains. It was at first feared that the 
island would be rendered barren by the ashes, which lay on its surface to a considerable depth, but they 
did not prove so injurious as rvas supposed. The great danger was famine; but the neighbouring colonies 
of Barbados, Demerara, and Dominica, with a generous promptitude, hastened to supply the island with 
provisions, and a Committee was appointed by the Council and Assembly for the purpose of purchasing 
supplies. An investigation of the losses sustained was also made, and a petition presented to the Prince 
Regent praying for relief, which vvas most favourably received, and, on the case being laid before 
Parliament, the sum of £25,000 was voted for the relief of the suft'erers. It is a wonderful circumstance, 
although the air was perfectly calm dining the eruption, that Barbados, which is 80 miles to the windward, 
was covered several inches deep with the ashes, and the inhabitants, on the last day of the eruption, were 
terrified by the approach of utter darkness, which continued for four hours and a half, and then slowly 
decreased. There also, and in several other islands, the troops were under arms, supposing, from the 
continued noise, that the hostile fleets w'ere engaging.” 
bHEPHARD ^v‘dh IcT soiiie years resident in St. Vincent, and must have been 
acquainted with many ■'vho had "witnessed the eruption. To Montgomeiiy Maktix’s 
‘ History of the West Indies’ he contributed an account of this eruption, with much 
other matter retrardiny the island of St. Vincent. 
In the Blue Book'" there appear also several letters and other pajiers which, as they 
were written within a short time after the outburst, give valuable particulars as to its 
history and consequences. 
It would appear that immediately before the eruption of 1812 the crater was in 
jjractically the same condition as when seen by Mr. Andeksox in 1784. The interior 
cone was still standing, and at its base were the two small lakes of water—one 
bitter and sulphurous, the other fresh. From apertures in this cone gases were 
still being emitted. It v/as a Soufriere ” giving out steam and sulphuretted 
hydrogen, like many others in the Caribbees, and from the action of the sulphurous 
vapours no vegetation grew on the upper part of this cone, but its base and 
the encirclin<>' walls of the crater were covered with low Imsh. On this inner 
cone a coating of sulphur had been deposited, and the acids generated by the 
oxidation of the sulphurous vapours had attacked the I'ocks, giving rise to aluminous 
salts which, with the precipitated sulphur, contaminated the water of one of the 
lakes. 
The eruption began about noon on April 27th with the emission of a great cloud 
of black smoke, accompanied by a trembling of the earth and a loud noise. For three 
days steam continued to ascend in a great column Iroin the crater, and line dust vith 
lapilli and scoriae rained down on the slopes of tlie mountain, covering everything with 
a deposit of grey ash, .and injuring all the vegetation, but causing no loss of life. One 
is irresistibly I'eminded of'the earlier stages of the eruption of Pelee in May, 1902, 
Blue Book: ‘CotTcspoiidence relating to the Volcanic Eruptions in St. A'incenc and Martiniipie in 
May, 1902,’-pp. 91 Dixy. - 
