Figure 1. Saint Pierre La Mar tiniqueβAppontements , postcard, c. Courtesy of Lisa Paravisini-Gebert. A peaceful port. Sailboats sleepily sway in the light wind. A seemingly empty steamer lies in silent pause. Barrels of rum, patiently waiting in aromatic oak barrels. This is what came to mind as I observed the postcard of St.
Pierre fig. On 8 May βAscension Dayβpyroclastic flows ravaged the port city of St. Once called the Paris of the Antilles, this attractive and bustling city became an empty, ghostly ruin. They arrived upon a scene of ruin and desolation; the bodies of the dead were still strewn around and smelling to high heaven. Thaly was deeply marked by the St Pierre tragedy as he had lost relatives, former classmates, teachers, and friends in the catastrophic events.
Born in Dominica on 2 December , Thaly had attended the St. A doctor practicing in Dominica, Thaly was immersed in art and literature: he was curator of the Victoria Museum in Roseau and worked as an archivist for the Schoelcher Library in Fort-de-France, Martinique. He describes his dear warm fountain, cooing in the ravine; the waves of diamonds; the boiling springs; and the Caribbean Sea with its deserts of emerald green.
No screams of horror pierce the night. There are no references to the sheer ghastliness of almost thirty thousand people burned alive. It is as if all the people had died in their sleep, quickly and painlessly. Figure 2. Place Bertin, Port and Lighthouse , postcard, c. By the direction of the water sprays and the flags on the idle boats, which floating outward, toward the horizon, one can see that the wind is blowing toward the open sea, away from the mountain.
One can almost feel the breeze getting hotter and hotter, the water in the fountain bubbling from the subterranean currents of the volcano, no longer refreshing the passers-by. In the daylight, the lighthouse stands as idly as the police officer, and most of the ships, with their bows pointing away from the land, look like they are poised for a rapid escape.
