Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-24
THE ISLAND OF ST. VINCENT
HOW Nature is Reasserting Itself
After Volcanic Disturbances
From the London Times.

From the London Times
AS L have just returned from a fortniebt,s
tour in st. Vincent, during which had on
Porturlties OF seeing the greater part of the
isltnu' IL may be interesting to the readers
ol the Times to Know how far the ordi-
nary processes of nature have begun TO
IaSSeLt themselves since the cessation OF
me Volcanlc disturbances. The first thing
ma. one notces Is the remarkable luxuri-
oiiCe ol the green growth of vegetation of
All KINDS 1t is true that a vast quantity
OF unasSimilated CLASSY ash is visible every
Where' painful to the eye and burning to
the feet-yery different from the cool rest
full dull blackness of the soil thar 7 ramen-
DER TWO or three years ago. But wherever
the ash has mixed well in the soil If seems
70 nave mad some fertilizing effect, not
Wlthstanding the assertions of the ana
lystS.
But the havoc which has been wrought
among the smaller life of insect and bird
Is deplorable. l saw no lizards in the
grasses, only the scantiest show of frenies
at DUSK, far fewer butterflies and far
fewer humming birds. All the high ridges
or the mountains are denuded of the tail
forest trees and palms which used to
cIothe their SUBMITS. This is of course
due to the hurricane of 1898: previously
! one rarely saw the bare outline of an es-
carpment silhouetted against the brilliant
SKY; Wrlnkled waves of foliage alone mark
ed the conhguratfOn; but now the presence
OF large tree is the exception and even
then 1t shows signs of ruthless storm tear
II was pieasanter to ride through the new
settlements provided for the Caribs and
other refugees, suffering alike from the
hurricane and from the volcanic eruptlons
The wisdom of the executive in removing
the jewellers in the extreme north of the
island and hndinS them homes outside what
was then dangerous locality was fully
justified by after events. although a con-
siderable amount of sore feeling and dis
SATISFACTION was created at the time. But,
IKE many of the sufferers from the storm
IN Barbados. the deported families are now
better housed than ever before in their
hves. The new villages. with their neat
cabins and plots of land. decorate the fer
tile slopes and add undoubted picturesque
ness to the leeward side of the island
But what of La Souffriere herself? Her
| last utterance was in March. 1903 and
| there is every sign that she is composing
herself for another long slumber-how long
or how short no man can say Still, the
lake in the bosom of the crater is once
again filling and this is considered to be
token and promise of good behavior. The
ascent of La Souffriere can no longer be
made by the cid route from Chateau Be-
| lair; one is obliged to go further north to
| Waliibou. and thence begin the long climb
of nearly four thousand feet. The scene
| from the summit reminds one in it's gloom
and desolation. of the neighborhood of the
| Cities of the Plain. Not bird. not an in
| sect not tree-Save few charred StumpS
| can be seen. black wall of pitchlike
1
| TO be verdure and thick scrub. and through
| the broken rocks a glimpse of the smaller
| and unused crater now appears, the old
| knife-edge partition which formerly divid-
| ed the two craters having been partially
| destroyed in the violent paroxysm of the
| last eruptions. On the slopes lower down
| chimneys. cattle pens, boiling houses and
negro cabins can be discerned sticking on
| odd stone or rafter or trash roof through
| the mud where il has been secured away
| by the torrential rains
And yet, amid all this destruction and
| desolation there are the beginnings of a
| fresh era to be welcomed Already on the
| lowest sands there is profusion of silver
| ferns, gold ones, as l had hoped (and
| not unreasonably expected). and guinea
| grass. sweet potatoes and cassava are
| springipg, self sown. on the ridges up to
| 1000 feet. Given five years of undisturb-
| ed natural processes. / see no reason why
| the north of the island should not once
| again be as cultivable. fertile and habit
| able as 1t was in the half century preceding
| the eruptions of 1902'O3.