64 



the building of an island. 

 Fig. 24. 



/i.y. 



^rOA'^a*^ l/aAJjLyci 



How it is NOT. 



Fig. 2: 



How it is. 



we have selected to examine has heen effected. Along the lowest line of the 

 vallev we find a small stream runninsj, which starts amonar the hills at the back 

 af Christiansted and runs into the sea, near the estate Hope. If we examine 

 the sides of the watercourse aionsf which this stream runs, we see that it is 

 mostly bordered by steep banks, and that these, first in one part and then in 

 another, are being cut down by the water accumulated in the brook after heavy 

 rains, so that the material which forms them is removed farther on and lodged 

 there and ultimately carried out to sea. It seems, at first sight, impossible that 

 this little stream can be the chisel which has carved out the wide vallev through 

 which it runs. Neither could it have done this great work without assistance, 

 but when wi- notice what happens over the whole vallev after a heavy fall of 

 rain, we shall see that a number of tiny rills run down the sides of the valley 

 from all parts, everyone of them muddy, and everyone of them, therefore, show- 

 ing its power to remove a modicum of the solid land and lodge it lower down, 

 ultimately to reach the sea. Every other valley in the island shows the same 

 thing. Let us look, for example, at the three or four small streams that come 

 down during heavy rains from the hills lying south of Christiansted; we find 

 them all carrying down mud, sand, and sometimes even stones, to the sea. 

 After such a rain the harbour is discoloured for a long distance from the shore. 

 If we then look up at the forms of the valleys from which these streamlets run 

 and from which the\' are carrying away all this material, we see that the main 

 vallevs all have numerous smaller valle\s which have been cut out of the 



