The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1904-08-25
Ia souFRlERE's RUIN.
Processes Of Nature Reassert Them
selves on St. vlncent,s Isle.

Processes Of Nature Reassert Them
selves on St. vlncent's Isle.
How far the ordinary processes OF
nature have begun to reassert them
selves since the conclusion of the vol
canic disturbances was the subject Of
investigation on a tour OF st. Vim
cents. The first thing that one no
tees Is the remarkable luxuriance of
the green growth Of vegetation OF all
kinds, says the London Times. It Is
true that vast quantity Of unassimi-
lated CLASSY ash Is visible everywhere,
painful to the eye and burning to the
feet-very different from the cool,
restful, dull blackness Of the soil that
/ remember two or three years ago.
But wherever the ash has mixed we'll
to the soil it seems to have had some
fertilizing effect, notwithstanding the
assertions Of the analysis.
But the havoc which has been
wrought among the smaller life of in
secLs and birds is deDlorable. / saw
no lizards in the grasses. only the
scantiest show Of f1reflies at dusk, far
fewer butterflies and far fewer hum
ming birds. All the high ridges Of
the mountains are denuded of the tall
forest trees and palms which used to
clothe their SUBMITS This is. of
course, due to the hurricane Of 1896:
previously one rarely saw the bare
outline Of an escarpment silhouetted
against the brilliant sky; wrinkled
waves Of foliage alone marked the
configuration: but now the presence
OF a large tree is the exception, and
even then 1t shows signs of ruthless
storm tear. 1t was pleasanter to ride
through the new settlements provided
for the Caribs and other refugees, suf-
ferers alike from the hurricane and
from the volcanic eruptions The wis
dom of the executive in removing the
jewellers in the extreme north Of the
island and finding them homes out
side what was then a dangerous local
ity was fully justified by after events,
although a considerable amount of
sore feeling and dissatisfaction was
created at the time. But. like many
OF the sufferers from the storm in
Barbados. the deDorted families are
now better housed than ever before
In their lives. The new villages with
their neat cabins and plots of land,
decorate the fertile slopes and add I'M
doubted picturesqueness to the lee
ward side of the island.
But what Of La Soufriere herself?
Her last utterance was in March, 1903,
and there is every sign that she is
composing herself for another long
slumher-how long or how short no
man can say. Still, the lake in the
bosom Of the crater is once again fill
ing, and this is considered to be a
token and promise OF good behavior.
The ascent Of La Soufriere can 10
longer be made by the old route from
Chateau Belair; one is obliged to 90
further north, to Wallibou, and thence
begin the long climb Of nearly 1000
feet. The scene from the summit re-
minds one. In it's gloom and desola-
ton Of the Cities of the Plain. Not a
bird, not an insect, not tree-save a
few charred stumps-oan be seen. A
black wall Of pitchlike looking cliff
confronts one where all used to be
verdure and thick scrub. and through
the broken rocks glimpse of the
smaller and unused crater now ap-
pears, the old knife edge partition
which formerly divided the two GRAFT
ers having been partially destroyed in
the violent paroxysm of the last erup-
tons. On the slopes lower down
chimneys, cattle pens. boiling houses
and negro cabins car be discerned
sticking an odd stone or rater or
trash roof through the mud where it
has been secured away by the torren-
tial rains.
And yet, amid all this destruction
and desolation there are the begin
nings OF a fresh era to be welcomed.
Already on the lowest sands there is
a profusion of silver ferns (no gold
ones. as l had hoped and not unrea-
sonably expected), guinea grass, sweet
potatoes and cassava are springing,
self-sown, On the ridges up to 1000
feet. Given five years Of undisturbed
natural processes, see no reason why
the north Of the island should not
once again be as cultivatable. fertile
and habitable as it was in the half
century preceding the eruptions of
1923.
Sued a President.