in the roads only one, the British steamship Roddam,
escaped, and she, I hear, lost more than half on board. It was a dying
crew that took her out.

"Our boat, the Roraima, of the Quebec Line, arrived at St. Pierre early
Thursday morning. For hours before we entered the roadstead we could see
flames and smoke rising from Mont Pelee. No one on board had any idea
of danger. Captain G. T. Muggah was on the bridge, and all hands got on
deck to see the show.

"The spectacle was magnificent. As we approached St. Pierre we could
distinguish the rolling and leaping of the red flames that belched from
the mountain in huge volumes and gushed high in to the sky. Enormous
clouds of black smoke hung over the volcano.

"When we anchored at St. Pierre I noticed the cable steamship Grappler,
the Roddam, three or four American schooners and a number of Italian and
Norwegian barks. The flames were then spurting straight up in the air,
now and then waving to one side or the other for a moment and again
leaping suddenly higher up.

"There was a constant muffled roar. It was like the biggest oil refinery
in the world burning up on the mountain top. There was a tremendous
explosion about 7.45 o'clock, soon after we got in. The mountain was
blown to pieces. There was no warning. The side of the volcano was
ripped out, and there was hurled straight toward us a solid wall of
flame. It sounded like thousands of cannon.

"The wave of fire was on us and over us like a lightning flash. It was
like a hurricane of fire. I saw it strike the cable steamship Grappler
broadside on and capsize her. From end to end she burst into flames and
then sank. The fire rolled in mass straight down upon St. Pierre and the
shipping. The town vanished before our eyes and the air grew stifling
hot, and we were in the thick of it.

"Wherever the mass of fire struck the sea the water boiled and sent
up vast clouds of steam. The sea was torn into huge whirlpools that
careened toward the open sea.

"One of these horrible hot whirlpools swung under the Roraima and pulled
her down on her beam ends with the suction. She careened way over to
port, and then the fire hurricane from the volcano smashed her, and over
she went on the opposite side. The fire wave swept off the masts and
smokestack as if they were cut with a knife.

HEAT CAUSED EXPLOSIONS

"Captain Muggah was the only one on deck not killed outright. He was
caught by the fire wave and terribly burned.