JAMAICA 193 



West of the Clarendon basin similar circular depressions 

 occur at short intervals, such as those at Oxford, on the 

 boundary of the parishes of Manchester and St. Eliza- 

 beth; the great head-water amphitheater of Black River, 

 St. Elizabeth; the basin of Niagara River; the Mulgrave 

 and Ipswich sinks; the Cambridge basin; the basin at 

 the head of Roaring River, and the King's Valley basin 

 near Jerusalem, the last two of which open into the 

 Savana-la-Mar (" Plain by the Sea "). Of these the Niagara, 

 Mulgrave, and Ipswich basins have no drainage outlets. 

 The basins above described constitute a line of depres- 

 sions along the central axis of the plateau. North of 

 these, in the high plateau region of the parishes of Tre- 

 lawney and St. Ann, are other basins. There are many 

 other smaller and less important sinks in the western 

 portion of the island, but those I have enumerated show 

 the character of these widely distributed phenomena. 

 From my descriptions it will be seen that many of these 

 sinks have no outlet, although in their bottoms may be 

 found limpid streams of water. The barriers of others, 

 like those of Anchovy, Montpelier, Cambridge, and Ches- 

 terfield, lying along Great River, have been broken by cap- 

 turing drainage, and they have become connected with 

 one another or with coastal plains. Others, like the Clar- 

 endon and St. Thomas valleys, were once entirely inclosed, 

 but in later times have found narrow outlets through 

 single gorges. The coastward barriers of still others, like 

 the basin of Westmoreland, have been largely destroyed. 



The back-coast border, as distinguished from the narrow 

 strips of coastal plain at its foot, presents a steeply -loping 

 mountainous sea-front of chalky cliffs rising sharply above 

 the sea, except where cut through by drainage; its sky-line 

 has an average altitude of twelve hundred feel along th-' 

 north coast. To the ordinary traveler this topography is 

 principally interesting from its charming scenic features. 

 To the student it reveals a series of most interesting 

 ancient terrace levels, representing the successive steps in 



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