262 A Geographical and Geological Sketch 



and then break, and suddenly disperse by a gust of wind ; so 

 that from being enveloped in a thick gloomy fog, which pre- 

 vents you from seeing more than a few yards before you, you 

 find yourself in an instant, and almost as if by magic, in a most 

 brilliant sunshine, surrounded by a prospect magnificent and 

 extensive in every direction. In descending, the author 

 travelled a very considerable distance, and with great rapidity, 

 by sitting down and allowing himself to slip over the long, 

 smooth, wet leaves of plants, of a liliaceous appearance, with 

 which the upper part of the mountain is thickly clothed. 



Brimstone Hill is about two miles from the foot of the above 

 described mountain, three from the west end of the island, and 

 half a mile from the sea shore on the south side. On it are 

 the principal fortifications of the island. It is composed of a 

 mass of madrepore limestone, and covered by many kinds of 

 volcanic substances, heaped together in great confusion. 

 There are, in many parts of it, abundance of the red and yel- 

 low oxides of iron ; and I am told that, in digging the founda- 

 tions for the fortifications, some masses of native vermilion 

 "Nvere found. This singular hill appears more like a stupendous 

 artificial mound, raised for a fortification, than like a pro- 

 duction of nature. It is seated on a gentle slope, but does not 

 appear at all to have been formed at the same time \yith the 

 plain it rests upon, as the latter has not the least slope towards 

 its base, but runs in its natural inclination from the mountains 

 to the sea ; while Brimstone Hill rises abruptly from it, at 

 about an angle of 55 degrees, to the height of 715 feet, and is 

 formed almost entirely of white madrepore limestone, whereas 

 the circumjacent plain is composed of strata of cinders, pumice, 

 terrass, and other volcanic matters ; it must, therefore, either 

 have been raised up by some subterranean explosion, or have 

 been hurled from the mouth of the volcano* In some of the in- 

 termediate spaces between the heads of the mountains, are plains 

 of some extent, nearly flat, — these are called levels. They are 

 well covered with grass, and are free from shrubs or wood, so 

 that, when they are accessible, they form good pastures for cattle. 

 The principal of these is Spooner's level, situated about the 

 centre of the range of mountains. It is a plain of considerable 

 size, which, from the height at which it is situated, is in an at- 



