The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-04-19

Z learned that the Governor and the Ameri
can Consul had been notified Of my alb
sence and that searching parties were tc
start ouu in the afternoon II l did not max;
my appearance.
! NJ. Bezenhn. superintendent at vfve. evi.
/ IDENTIFY felt much relieved to see me ridins
/ into the yard about o'clock and the or
ders for searching parties were joyfully
! countermahded.
Returning TO Fort de France as speedily
a. possible after this experience. which re-
! suited in no injury in spite OF twenty-four
hours OF wet and exposure. I came with
' NJ. and Nine. LacroiX to ST. Vincent on the
1 French gunboat JoufTroy- We arrived al
Chatsaubelair soon after noon on March >
| and at once began me study OF la Sou
fr:ere.
ISLAND OF ST. VINCENT
Is SLOWLY RECOVERING.
The Island OF st. Vincent is slowly recov-
ing from the disaster which overlook It
last year. though II will surely be many
wears before the estates on the immediate
slopes Of the volcano are again fertile.
From River to Windsor Forest
on the leewaTd twestern) side. and 4 similar
area on the windward side. may be taken
as the measure of this total devastation
The mud CO the two May eruptions might
lave been washed of more rapidly had It
rot been that the heavy sand and gravel
OF the September eruption compacted all
deposits on the ieeward. and those OF the
October eruption did the same for the wind
ward estates
The area affected by the September and
October eruptions. beyond the area devas-
tated by the May outbursts. ia now covered
for the most part with verdure and Is bear
Ing its crops
The immediate slopes Of the mountain are
d~esoIate. even II there be no additional
eruutions. until the d~ecomposing action OF
rain and atmosphere have converted the
volcanic ash into fertile soil.
The coating OF recent ash now upon the
hill slopes Is so heavy and 80 well com
pacted that il forms m integral part OF the
whole. and it Is only where rilis have cut
through this coat and into the old soil be-
meath that any vegetation IL appearing.
The tremendous deposits OF ash in the
gOrges of the radiai valleys. such as the
wallibon. Rozean and the Rabaka. have
been worn way by their rivers in marvel
Gus fashion.
The waIIibon Valley. for instance. was
flied by the May eruptions with ashes to an
average depth which now il ia safe TO put
at sixty feet. and the September eruption
added its quota to the amount.
Now almost the entire valley Is clear OF
ash. and the river is not far above its old
bed. Here and there the angles OF the
original gorge have protected the new bed
from erosion. and small secondary erup-
tons OF hot ash stiIl occur in these pro-
tected spots; such is the retention OF heat
BY the ash.
One day. in company with the Reverend
T. Huckerby. Of C~hateaube'air. j assembled
the gorge OF the Wallibon for three miles
or more. walking along the bed Of the
stream as IL IL had been a broad avenue.
\ simple calculation. taking the average
breadth Of the gorge for this distance at i5D
feet. showed that not less than 10.OGl.cOl
cubic feet. more han 100000 tons. of the
recent ash had been carried out to sea By
this river alone since the eruption Of May :.
1902 and. OF course. most Of this work was
accomplished in the rainy season
BXTENT TO WHICH CRATER
HAS BEEN ENLARGED.
On Tuesday. March ,. 1 stood again upon
the rim Of the grand crater OF this volcano
and ohtained a perfect view OF what is one
Of the grandest caldrons in existence.
1t would require careful measurement to
determine the extent to which the crater
has been enlarged since May 81 of last
year. when Messrs. Jaggar. Curtis. Mac
Donald and I stood upon the same spot
and were the first men to gaze into the
awful depths after the beginning Of the
present series OF eruptions.
The sene-al impression among local OBJ
servers IS that there has been considerable
Increase in the size Of the crater. especially
in the diameter from east to west.
My photographs of the caldron taken on
May 81 look so much III what one sees