4 THE BUILDING OF AN ISLAND. 



The hills of the nortli side of the island (or, on the north side of the 

 western oblong), though all connected by lower elevations, may then be regarded 

 as consisting of three parts : i The Mount Eagle Ridge, 2 The Salt River 

 Hills to the east of that ridge, and. 3 The much more important northwestern 

 block of hills lo the west of it. 



Thk Eastern Triangle. 



If we now leave the western oblong and cross over the intervenins' neck to 

 the eastern triangle (known as the East End), we find the central strip of that 

 triangle to be occupied by a range of hills, not so high as those of the north- 

 west, hut still reaching in several places a height of over 800 ft. The range is 

 continuous, yet, like the hills of the northern chain, it is naturally divided into 

 three parts. This division is plain enough when the range is seen from the sea, 

 and becomes very striking when it is viewed from the top of Blue Mountain, 

 from which elevated point it does not look like a continuous range at all, but 

 appears to be three clumps of hills, one behind the other. 



The three groups into which the eastern range of hills is seen to be divided, 

 are, first the Christiansted Hills, nexi the Mt. Washington Hills, and lastly, the 

 small Goat Hills group at the eastern extremity of the island. 



The Christiansted group is slit across from north to south by a narrow 

 valle}', which forms a locally well-known landmark for sailors and is called 

 among them " The Saddle." This valley, which in its highest point rises to 

 about 400 feet, has on its western side a peak of 855 ft. in height (Signal Hill, 

 looking down on the town), and on its eastern side several peaks of between 

 seven and eight hundred feet. The height of the group decreases eastwards, 

 and it is joined to the ne.xt group by low hills of about 300 feet, while it is well 

 marked off from that group by the small plains of " Southgate " on the north 

 side and " Great Pond " on the south, each having a large pond near the shore. 



The Mt. Washington group has a peak of 860 ft. with others not much 

 less, and sinks gradually to 400 ft. at its eastern end, where it is divided by a 

 valley crossing a narrow neck of the island at " Grape Tree Bay " from the 

 small " Goat Hills " group, the highest point of which reaches 660 feet. 



Having now seen that there are two principal hill ranges on the island, 

 namely, those of the ivestern oblong and those of the eastern triangle, we may 

 next look at them in their relation to each other. After noticing, as we have 

 already done, that they are parted from each other by what we have called an 

 intervening 7ieck, we notice that they are not in the same straight line; yet in 

 their general direction are parallel to each other, so that, if continued, they 

 would run side by side, with their crests about three and a half English miles 

 apart. The eastern range ends rather abruptly at Christiansted. The northern 

 range stops in like manner at Salt River, but is represented farther east by a 

 few low hills along the northwest shore of the " neck " and by the islet called 

 '' BuCfk Island" (summit 340 ft. above sea-level), and the submarine bank from 

 which that islet rises. 



