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“...MARTINIQUE 255
and cafés, at the tables of which the Martinicans
passed their leisure hours. A long, well-paved
street ran the whole length of the town, and the
houses on either side, with red roofs and green
jalousies, were far better built than those in the
neighbouring islands. Near the centre of the town
was the Roman Catholic Cathedral, and along the
sea front a shady boulevard, much resorted to by
the flaneurs of the doomed city.
On the fateful 8th May 1902, after many pre-
monitory symptoms^wmcI^^Sfê ignored by the
majority of the people, a huge mass of fiery
vapour burst from the side of Mont Pelé and
enveloped the town, including the Opera House,
the Cathedral, and the residences of the principal
inhabitants, bringing death and destruction in its
track. Indeed, not a building escaped the ravag-
ing flames, and it is computed that fully 40000
persons instantaneously lost their lives through
asphyxiation or burning. Such a sight as Pliny
witnessed in 79 a.d...”
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