498 
DliS. T. ANDERSON AND J. S. FLETT ON THE ERUPTIONS OF THE 
mid tliere was no unusual disturbance. We watched careful] v for a strono; indraught, 
such as was descrilied by more than one observer, but the wind that rose from the 
south-east was very gentle, and increased gradually to a full-sail breeze. There were 
no reef points in our sails, which were all set, and the boat carried them quite easily. 
In the cloud tliere was a dull, low rumble, but we heard no detonations, and saw 
no sheet of Hanie, so that we both agreed that there had been no sudden ignition 
of quantities of explosive gases. The liglits in the cloud, in our opinion, were lightning 
and nothing else. 
No wave was noticed by us otlier tlian the slight roll already mentioned. Yet we 
learned in the morning that a sudden rise of the sea had lieen observed at Fort de 
France, and Professor Lacroix states that on July 9th, as on May 8th, May 20th, 
May 26th, and June 6th, the dates of the greater eruptions of Pelee up till that 
time, the sea level oscillated in syiiq)athy witli the volcanic outliursts. It was not 
to lie expected that any sucli disturbance would be very evident on board a boat on 
the open sea. 
(Jn the morning of July 11th we were strolling through the streets of Fort de 
France photographing the picturesque inhabitants of Martinique and the changing 
scenes of a tropical city, when a low rumbling sound fell on our ears. We paid little 
attention to it : it might have been the noise of a heavily-laden cart, or a military 
wagon passing along the ruads, but in a minute or tivo we noticed that the people 
were gathering in clusters on the pavement, gazing up in the northern sky and 
exclaiming, “ La montagne ! La montagne ! ” We raised our eyes, and there agahist 
the background of blue sky a long, nari’ow, tongue-shaped cloud, fleecy white, with 
I'olling, boiling, globular protuberances continually forming at its apex, was working 
its way upwards and southwards in the clear morning air. 
That morning on Pelee a small outburst had taken place, following the larger 
eruption of July 9th after the lapse of a period of about 36 bours, just as in 
St. Vincent the small eruption of the morning of May 9th followed the great 
explosion of the afternoon of the 7th. For some days thereafter the mountain was 
in a restless, unquiet condition, and on the morning of Sunday, the 13th, there was a 
fall of very line grey dust in Dominica after another eriqjtion, which must have 
occurred about midnight on the previous night. About 6 a.m. a very line powdery 
matter could be seen floating on the air and resting on the glossy leaves of the plants 
in the gardens. When gathered and examined microsco|)ically it proved to be 
undoubtedly dust from Pelee. We made Inquiries, and learned that an explosion 
had taken place in Martinique about six hours before. The path the dust had 
followed had been a very indirect one. It luid been projected southward as usual, 
had risen into the anti-trade I'eiiion and been floated awav to the east-north-east, 
O «/ 
then sinking into the lower strata of the air had been borne northward to Dominica 
* MM. A. Lacroix, Rollet de lTsle A Giraud, “Sur I’Eruption de hi Martinique,” ‘ Coiiiptes 
Rendiis,’ vol. cxxv., j). 390, 1902. 
