A. E. Verrill — The Bermuda Islands. 



45: 



steps, probably of wood, that led to its top are gone. It is sur- 

 rounded by a stone fort of considerable size, and both are in fair 

 preservation. This stone redoubt and the battery under it were 

 evidently built on the site of Butler's ancient Devonshire Redoubt 

 and platform, of 1620. 



Near the western end there is another fort or battery, and the 

 barracks, with the walls standing, but the slabs of stone have been 

 stolen from the roofs and carried away by the natives of other 

 islands, and all the timbers have disappeared, probably in the same 

 way, but there are some iron pillars still standing here, so that these 



Figure 19. — Castle Island ; the ancient Citadel or Devonshire Redoubt. 



Phot. 1901. 



ruins look rather modern as compared with some others. Two of 

 the old brick ovens remain, but small stalactites have formed in the 

 interior. The vandalism of the natives from the other islands has 

 probably caused much more destruction here than the elements. 



Could we have been sure of the exact period when any of these 

 works were built in their present form, they would have afforded us 

 excellent geological data by which to estimate the rate of atmospheric 

 erosion -and decay of the ordinary limestone rock, of which they 

 were built. The actual amount is quite variable in different places, 

 but nowhere so great as we should naturally have expected in works 



