338 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



know more aboul them than I can toll now should read Obexes 

 "Camps in the < 'aribbees, 1 ' and Lafcadio Ileum's delight In I 

 book entitled "Two Years in the French West Indies." 



These French islands also excel the others in agricultural 

 development, and in the midst of the general Caribbean 

 industrial depression show at least some signs of vitality. 

 Furthermore, each is populated by a wonderfully pictur- 

 esque people, having costumes and habits which preserve 

 as nearly as possible the old-time French colonial life of 

 Haiti and Louisiana. 



Guadeloupe lies in latitude 15 N. and longitude 

 61 W., and has an area of five hundred and eighty- three 

 square miles more, in fact, than the combined area of 

 all the small Caribbees thus far described. It consists of 

 an archipelago, or rather one large double island with 

 several small dependent ones ; for the main Guadeloupe is 

 divided into two well-defined and. entirely distinct islands 

 by a marine strait known as the Riviere Salee, which is 

 navigable for small sailing-vessels. 



The western half, known as Basse-Terre, is a rugged 

 mass of old volcanic tuffs, like Martinique and Montserrat, 

 surmounted by four superb cloud-capped mornes. These 

 are known as Grosse Montague, Deux Mamelles, La Sou- 

 friere, and the Caraibe, and rise 2370, 2540, 4900, and 2300 

 feet respectively. Besides these there are dozens of smaller 

 peaks, such as the Houlemont, less than 1800 feet high. 

 The Soufriere was an active volcano in 1797, when it 

 hurled forth dense ashes, pumice, and sulphurous vapors. 

 In 1843 its convulsions shook the island and tumbled its 

 towns into ruins. There is no record of more recent vol- 

 canic action, but the many thermal springs and soufrieres 

 emitting vapors and gases show that it is not altogether 

 quiescent. Like all the volcanic Caribbees, the Basse- 

 Terre is beautiful beyond description, its mornes and 

 valleys, its steep coastal bluffs and mantle of vegetation, 

 being especially fine. The forests are interspersed with 

 valuable timber, but this is little worked. The mean 



