482 
DES. T. ANDERSON AND J. S. FLETT ON THE ERUPTIONS OF THE 
structures swept away by the floods. No better instance could be cited of the 
difference between Pelee and the Soufriere in the rapidity with which the crisis of 
the eruption came than this :—in Martinique the discharge of the crater lake took 
place four days before the climax arrived ; at St. Vincent the first overflows were 
seen only three hours before the avalanche of dust swept down the mountain slopes. 
From May 2nd onwards, no doubt remained that the volcano had resumed activity, 
and as each day passed the outlook became more threatening, the discharges of steam 
more violent, the detonations louder, and the rains of ashes more frequent and heavier. 
On the 4th the cloud of dust was so thick over the leeward side of the mountain that 
the steamer “Topaze” could not call at Precheur. The ash was very fine and light 
grey, resembling cement or flour, and covered the trees and shrubs as if there had 
been a light fall of snow. Animals were dying of thirst and hunger ; birds, overcome 
Ijy the fumes, or weighted down by the dust on their plumage, were lying dead by the 
sides of the paths; the crops were withering, and the outlying districts already 
abandoned and deserted. On the 6th, and again on the 7th, loud noises rose from 
the crater, aiid the red glare was visible in the steam cloud. But as yet no 
earthquakes; even though a rift could now be seen to have opened at the base of* 
Morne Lacroix. 
Wednesday, May 7th, the day of the great eruption of the Soufriere, was not 
marked by any special features in Martinique."^ That day the mountain was, in fact, 
rather less violent than it had been on the 6th ; but on the following morning, at 
7.50, the great convulsion came, and with it the end of all things for St. Pierre. 
So deadly was the blast that swept the city, so awful in its completeness the 
destruction that it wrought, that few survived who saw the great black cloud 
descending from the mountain, but of those few there are some who have placed on 
record what they saw, and it is clear from their descriptions that in Martinique there 
was a repetition of what had happened in St. Vincent on the previous afternoon. 
The mountain burst open and a great cloud aj^peared near its summit. It arose with 
a loud, growling noise, and some say that in it they saw a bright red glare. Like an 
avalanche it poured upon the city, covering the distance in a few minutes, and 
enveloping all in total darkness. It passed almost as rapidly as it had come, and 
when the darkness lifted a little, it was seen from the shqDS lying in the harbour that 
the city was razed, and fierce fires had broken out in many places. The north end ot 
the town was practically wiped out in an instant : nothing was left but blazing ruins, 
the inhabitants perished where they stood. But in the south end the devastation 
was not so complete, the walls were left standing in many of the houses, and the 
'* In the ‘ Report of the Commissioners of the Academy of Sciences ’ it is rem.arked that a tidal 
wave was observed on the 7th May both in IMartinique and Guadeloupe, and that it did not correspond 
to any eruption (of Pelee); needless to say that was the day of the great eruption in St. Yineent. 
MiM. A. Lacroix, Rollkt de lTsle Si Girauu, “ L’Eruption de la IMartinique,” ‘Comptes Eendus,’ 
vol. cxxxv., p. 390. 
