ay or stood,
leaving a circular imprint of scorched and burned flesh. I brought
ten on deck who were thus burned; two of them were dead, the others
survived, although in a dreadful state of torture from their burns.
Their screams of agony were heartrending. Out of a total of twenty-three
on board the Roddam, which includes the captain and the crew, ten are
dead and several are in the hospital. My first and second mates, my
chief engineer and my supercargo, Campbell by name, were killed. The
ship was covered from stem to stern with tons of powdered lava, which
retained its heat for hours after it had fallen. In many cases it was
practically incandescent, and to move about the deck in this burning
mass was not only difficult but absolutely perilous. I am only now able
to begin thoroughly to clear and search the ship for any damage done
by this volcanic rain, and to see if there are any corpses in
out-of-the-way places. For instance, this morning, I found one body in
the peak of the forecastle. The body was horribly burned and the sailor
had evidently crept in there in his agony to die.

"On the arrival of the Roddam at St. Lucia the ship presented an
appalling appearance. Dead and calcined bodies lay about the deck, which
was also crowded with injured helpless and suffering people. Prompt
assistance was rendered to the injured by the authorities here and my
poor, tortured men were taken to the hospital. The dead were buried.
I have omitted to mention that out of twenty-one black laborers that I
brought from Grenada to help in stevedoring, only six survived. Most
of the others threw themselves overboard to escape a dreadful fate, but
they met a worse one, for it is an actual fact that the water around
the ship was literally at a boiling heat. The escape of my vessel
was miraculous. The woodwork of the cabins and bridge and everything
inflammable on deck were constantly igniting, and it was with great
difficulty that we few survivors managed to keep the flames down. My
ropes, awnings, tarpaulins were completely burned up.

"I witnessed the entire destruction of St. Pierre. The flames enveloped
the town in every quarter with such rapidity that it was impossible that
any person could be saved. As I have said, the day was suddenly turned
to night, but I could distinguish by the light of the burning town
people distractedly running about on the beach. The burning buildings
stood out from the surrounding darkness like black sha