THE KUII.DING OF AN ISLAND. 



2>7 



lighter green. Even the coarser vegetation shows in one place a like result 

 namely, on the south side of the northwestern block of hills, where on the 

 side of one of the hill-spurs the direction of the stratification may be recog- 

 nized from a distance of a couple of miles to the eastward by the parallel lines 

 of flourishing bush vegetation passing down the hillside. 



Fig. 



14. 



Jr. 



IXO-OLOU \)U/f^a.'L^ 



s. 



High Dip along West Fnd Koah. 



The dip to the south, above considered, extends over an extensive area, as 

 we shall presently see, and it is on the upturned edges of these highlv inclined 

 strata that the moderatelv sloping limestones at West End rest. In geological 

 language the limestone rocks here are said to rest unconformably on the Blue- 

 beach, and the same is undoubtedly the case in all other parts of the island 

 where the limestone formation is found. Let us, however, leave this question 

 for the present and return to the study of the early history of the older rocks 

 that is to say, the history of their making. While it is certain from the fact of 

 their stratification that these rocks were deposited in water, and almost certain 

 that the water was that of the sea, yet it appears at first sight that we can get 

 no other evidence on this point, the general absence of fossils giving us the 

 idea that the sea surrounding the land of that day was so disturbed bv the con- 

 tinual influx of detritus, volcanic ashes and debris perhaps, from the shore, that 

 the sea creatures had no chance to contribute even an occasional bed of lime- 

 stone to confirm the hint which the mere fact of their stratification affords, 

 that the rocks were built up in the sea. And" this idea of the prevailing con- 

 ditions, with certain limitations, is probably in the main correct ; vet as we 

 continue our observation of the rocks, we find, contrarv to our first impressions, 

 that there are after all a few remains of limestone beds, and that these present 

 clear evidence of their origin in the sea. One of these beds of limestone is 

 found in a little hill near the shore on the estate St. John's and near to Judith's 

 Fancy. Professor Cleve thus writes of it : " Greyish compact limestone is 

 found, as far as I know, only in one spot, near Judith's Fancy. The rock is 

 hard, dark grey and fine-grained. It contains a great number of badly pre- 

 served fossils, so altered that I have not been able to find out of what kind 

 they are." He also mentions a band of greyish limestone in Buck Island; a 

 band which is not known to the present writer. It does not seem, however 

 that the Professor's attention was called to the rocks at Waiter's Point, a head- 

 land on the southern shore nearly south of Christiansted, where the strata are 

 particularly interesting. 



