vi Preface. 



make the inquiries which will naturally follow. Why is one pebble smooth and round 

 while a second is smooth but angular and a third is both angular and rough ? Why is a 

 fourth marked with streaks, a fifth with spots, and so on ? Such questions would no doubt 

 in the first instance have to be answered by the teacher, but they should alwaj-s be answered 

 when possible by referring the pupil to a spot where he will see the answer demonstrated. 

 By-and-by he will learn to find answers for himself. 



This leads to the remark that the reader of these pages should in no case be satisfied 

 with merely reading the descriptions and conclusions of the writer, but should as far as pos- 

 sible visit the places named and see for himself. He should go armed with a lens and a 

 pocket compass, and verify the writer's observations, or correct them, as the case may be. 

 In this way he will find new points continually cropping up, and the range of his inquiry 

 continually increasing. By-and-by he will find that in the .study of even this little island 

 he has gained some insight into the ways in which mountains have been formed and lifted, 

 the way plains have been levelled and valleys carved out, not only here and in other islands, 

 but also in those greater lands which occupy a large part of the surface of our globe. As 

 an introduction to an intelligent study of physical geography, the local study will thus be- 

 come invaluable, and if these pages should lead the reader to undertake such local study, 

 they will have served the purpose for which they are intended. 



NOTES ON THE MAP. 



The map is reduced to half size, linear measurement, from the chart of Santa Cruz, drawn after a 

 survey by Mr. John Parsons in 1856, and published at the Hydrographic Office of the British Admiralty,' 

 London. 



It is hoped that the present map will be found fairly accurate ; but the reader who wishes to follow 

 up the observations noted in the following pages should procure a copy of the above-mentioned chart or of 

 one published at the Hydrographic Office, Washington, on which to note such faflts as he may learn about 

 the character and slope of the strata, etc. 



The full names of the estates and other points indicated by initials on the map are printed in col- 

 umns corresponding with the section in which the places are respectively found. They are also arranged, 

 as far as possible, in a descending order answering to the positions of the places. 



The reader is advised not to take any notice of the red and blue lines which cross the map until he 

 has read the account of them given in the text. They are mostly ruled lines, but it must not be supposed 

 that the bends in the strata indicated by them are equally straight, and it may be that further detailed ex- 

 amination of the rocks may make some modifications necessary. 



