THK I'.riLltINC OF AN 1SI,ANI). 



The Intervkninc. Neck. 



Wc mav now leave for the present the two divisions of the Island which 

 have been described as the -n'cstcrn oblong and the eastern triangle and turn our 

 attention to the intervening neek. We see from the map that this neck is 

 narrowest near Christiansted, where it joins the eastern triangle. It is there not 

 more than three miles wide, but it broadens westwards, for the coast from 

 Christiansted does not follow the general trend of the northern shore, but runs 

 northwest to Salt River Point, a distance of about four English miles. Along 

 this strip of shore lies a beautiful little jilain which, from the names of the 

 sugar estates which occupy it, may be called the ''Princess'' plain. At the 

 back of this plain and Iving parallel with the shore is a range of hills having as 

 its highest points heights of between 500 and 600 feet. Tliis little range forms 

 the northern edge of an undulating tract of country which slopes gradually 

 down from it towards the island's southern shore. This sloping tract, which 

 mav appropriately be called the Central Slope, is separated by valleys on either 

 hand from the higher hill ranges to the east and to the northwest of it. The 

 sketch shows how the hills forming its northeastern edge and looking over the 

 Princess plain, look in outline as seen from the sea. This is the only 

 part of the island where the sugar cultivation comes over, at the present 

 day, to the north shore. It is thus the most beautiful part of the north 

 coast, and for us in regard to our present purpose it has very great interest, 

 for it is with this Central Slope that we shall presently begin our study 

 of the island's structure. Turning for a moment to this slope as depicted 

 on the map, we see that on its eastern side it is scored bv vallevs that run 

 to the southwest while on its western side the valleys which furrow it 

 run to the south. The plain which separates it from the eastern range of hills 

 is onlv a small one; but that which divides it from the northern hills widens 

 rapidly southwards and opens into the wide plain south of those hills, forming 

 with it the richest part of the island. A few low hills along the south shore 

 are, as we shall see later, of the same general structural character as the central 

 hillv slope, but are separated from it bv a valley reaching the southern shore, 

 namely, past the estates La Reine, Barren Spot and Hope. 



Fic. 6. 



