272 
RECENT VOLCANIC ERUQTIONS IN THE WEST INDIES. 
accounted for by the great fissure at the top of the valley of the Riviere 
Blanche, which communicated with the main pipe of the volcano, and 
out of which the eruptions took place. This fissure, which was mentioned 
as existing in the eruption of 1851, pointed almost directly towards St. 
Pierre, and as the erupted material flowed out almost like a fluid, it was 
directed straight down on the doomed city. The lowest portion of the 
lip of the crater of the Soufriere was much broader and more even, so 
the incandescent avalanche which descended from it was spread much 
more widely. 
The latest accounts from Prof. Lacroix indicate that the recent small 
eruptions of Mont Pelee have filled up the highest part of the fissure 
and formed a cone, which covers up most of the former crater. In any 
further eruption, therefore, the avalanche of incandescent sand will not 
be confined to the district of the Riviere Blanche, but may descend on 
any side of the mountain. 
Coming now to more strictly geographical details, it is wonderful 
how small have been the changes produced, smaller than even those 
in St. Vincent. 
The north end of St. Pierre is completely buried in dust or levelled 
with the ground, so that nothing remains visible of the ruins of the 
houses except in certain protected situations, and the plateau rising 
to the north of the town towards the foot of the mountain is also 
covered. It is difficult to state the exact depth, but it is certainly 
inconsiderable in comparison with the 200 feet in the Rabaka, or even 
the 80 feet in the Wallibu. Further to the south, in the centre of the 
city of St. Pierre, the amount of ashes was much less ; a great deal has 
been already washed away, but I doubt if it ever was more than 2 or 3 
feet thick on an average, and on Morne d'Orange, at the south end, it 
w'as quite insignificant—only a few inches. The destruction of St. 
Pierre itself by the incandescent avalanche, and the hot blast and 
attendant conflagration, is an event of intense human interest as being 
attended by the sudden death of over 30,000 persons, but from the 
point of view of the physical geographer can hardly be called con¬ 
siderable, neither can the carrying away of a few 7 small bridges, nor the 
formation of a small mud delta at the mouth of the Riviere Blanche. 
It remains now to discuss the nature of these peculiar eruptions. 
They belong to a type which have hitherto been imperfectly, if at all, 
described, and w 7 e were fortunate enough to witness at a distance, at 
least as close as w 7 as safe, one of the characteristic eruptions of Mont 
Pelee, and thereby to confirm the views which we had previously formed 
by observation of the effects of those of the Soufriere. 
On arrival at Fort de France we found that the devastated area to 
the north of the island was still almost entirely unoccupied. The 
greater part of the inhabitants of St. Pierre and the neighbourhood had 
been killed by the eruption: and the few survivors were only returning 
