Give a detailed account of

• the evidence of fumarolic activities in Saint-Pierre during the years ofl901-1902

• the effects of the falling ashes on people and animals

• the situation in the city of Saint-Pierre

Ш

On May 3, from the pages of Les Colonies, the provincial newspaper of Martinique, came the following statement: "The rain of ashes never ceases. At about half-past nine the sun shone forth timidly. The passing of carriages is no longer heard in the streets. The wheels are muffled... Puffs of wind sweep the ashes from the roofs and awnings, and blow them into rooms of which the windows have imprudently been left open" (1).

Torrents of rain, resulting from the emission of great quantities of steam from the volcano, fell during this time on the summit of the mountain and on the lower crater of L'Etang Sec, which, with its natu­ral drainage blocked by the extensive ash falls, began to accumulate water in some quantity. This was brought to a boiling condition by contact with heated gases and molten rock. Suddenly, at about half-past twelve in the afternoon of May 5, the side of the crater fissured and masses of water mixed with ash flooded into the upper reaches of the valley of the Riviere Blanche.

In the sharp descent of three thousand feet to sea level, the flood rushed headlong, attaining tremendous velocity. The whole lake had been set loose and, upon absorbing great quantities of ashes and vol­canic debris from the crater, became a highly fluid mass of thin mud, which proceeded at high speeds down the confines of the stream val­ley. It took only three minutes for the flow, nearly half a mile wide, to traverse the three miles to the sea. It completely engulfed everything in its path.

Near the mouth of the Riviere Blanche was the sugar mill Usine Guerin. In its journey to the sea the boiling mud completely buried the mill, leaving only smokestacks protruding and burying alive forty men below its surface. Mount Pelee had claimed its first victims.

Within the flow of mud, said one observer, were boulders of fifty tons or more which, with the rest of the material, were carried along at a velocity of nearly a mile a minute. When the avalanche of boiling mud reached the sea, the latter withdrew about a hundred yards along the west coast of the island, as far away as Saint-Pierre. It then ad­vanced again, reaching the level of waterfront houses in the port area and causing some slight damage. At the mouth of the river a yacht, the Pecheur, anchored five hundred feet offshore, capsized, drowning all those on board.

This peculiar action of the sea, though not causing much damage, thoroughly worried the inhabitants of Saint-Pierre, and many started seeking higher and drier ground. About three hundred people left the city each day, many of them going to Fort de France, the provincial capital, and some to nearby islands. Those who lived outside the city, however, were apparently even more worried and began to flock into Saint-Pierre at the rate of a thousand a day. Thus, for about five days prior to May 8, the city's population was expanding daily by nearly seven hundred persons.

Ш Suggest how the following could be expressed in Russian:

the rain of ashes never ceases; the sun shone forth timidly; is no longer heard; the wheels are muffled; puffs of wind sweep the ashes; the windows have imprudently been left open; torrents of rain; emis­sion of steam; extensive ash falls; this was brought to a boiling condi­tion; water... flooded into the upper reaches of the valley; the sharp descent; the flood rushed headlong attaining tremendoius velocity; the lake had been set loose; volcanic debris; a highly fluid mass of thin mud; the confines of the stream valley; it took only three minutes for the flow to traverse the three miles; it engulfed everything in its path; the boiling mud buried the mill; mount Pelee had claimed its first victims; the latter (sea) withdrew about a hundred yards; as far away as Saint-Pierre; the sea advanced again... causing some damage; a yacht capsized;at the rate of a thousand a day