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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



reforested, at least, in part. East- 

 ward the land is low undulating locally 

 hilly and nearly level, underlain by the 

 cretaceous strata, the rainfall less and 

 xerophytic conditions evidenced by 

 abundant cacti and Agaves, obtain over 

 large areas. South of the northwestern 

 hills, extending eastward into the cen- 

 tral districts, slightly tilted, heavily 

 fossiliferous Tertiary limestones overlie 

 the older strata, which locally appear 

 as erosion areas in isolated hills. There 

 are numerous water-courses on St. 

 Croix, which may for the most part 

 run dry in periods of drought; along 

 these, locally, and along the coasts, 

 areas of natural vegetation are found. 

 Most of the arable soil of the island is 

 occupied by sugar-cane plantations. 

 St. Croix has an excellent system of 

 roads, except in its dry eastern parts, 

 which are not easily accessible. 



ST. THOMAS 



Forming the eastern coast of the 

 Virgin Passage, the rocky cretaceous 

 hills of St. Thomas rise abruptly; there 

 is very little level land and steep slopes 

 preponderate. Except for a few hun- 

 dred acres in detached areas at the 

 higher elevations, the original forests 

 disappeared long ago; the denuded steep 

 hillsides do not retain much of the 

 moderate rainfall, the run-off being 

 very rapid. Considerable areas at lower 

 elevations are rather densely covered 

 with scrub vegetation, among which 

 occasional larger trees exist, but truly 

 undisturbed natural conditions are 

 scarcely to be found., except locally, 

 along and near the coasts. As would be 

 expected, many species recorded by 

 early authors as found on St. Thomas, 

 have not been observed there in recent 

 times; a few of these are endemic, not 

 known from elsewhere, and have prob- 

 ably been exterminated. 



There is a limited amount of good 

 driving road on St. Thomas, most parts 

 of the island being reached only on foot 

 or by horse; the irregular coast line is 

 indented with many beautiful bays and 



coves, accessible l)y boats, sailing in 

 these waters and eastward through the 

 rest of the archipelago being highly 

 enjoyable. 



ST. JAN 



St. Jan or St. John, lies immedately 

 east of St. Thomas and forms the eastern 

 frontier of the United States in the 

 West Indies. Like St. Thomas, it is 

 almost wholly hilly, its rocks similar; 

 its coast line is less indented, but there 

 are bays at both the west end and the 

 east. This island presents a more 

 luxuriant appearance, however, on ac- 

 count of its forests of the bay tree or 

 bay-rum tree, covering extensive areas, 

 and yielding by distillation oil of bay 

 of superior quality; these forests or 

 groves are carefully maintained nearly 

 pure, by cutting out other trees and 

 shrubs, but there are also some small 

 areas of mixed natural forest, one of 

 them near the western end of the island 

 protecting a ravine of great beauty, 

 with a mossy brook. 



To study St. Jan the visitor must 

 proceed on foot, by horse and boat; 

 there are no driving roads. 



TORTOLA 



Separated from St. Jan by a narrow 

 strait, Tortola much resembles St. 

 Thomas in its hilly topography, and its 

 irregular rocky coast line. It is a little 

 higher, however, and one gets the 

 impression that its slopes, on the whole, 

 are scarcely as steep. A few hundred 

 acres of the highest hill are still in 

 forests, known as "High Bush" and at 

 the time of my visit in 1913 were essen- 

 tially undisturbed and made up of 

 characteristic West Indian tree species, 

 wholly suitable for a nature reservation, 

 and as a nucleus for reforestation. 

 Here, as on contiguous islands, little- 

 disturbed areas occur in places along 

 the coasts, most conveniently reached 

 by water. Tortola has several island 

 dependencies of considerable area, 

 rather heavily wooded, or at least so 

 appearing. 



