160 Mr. E. C. Taylor on the Birds of the West Indies. 



Islands, its position being about 100 miles to the east or wind- 

 ward of them. In its geological formation it is also distinct 

 fi'om them ; they are all (except Antigua) volcanic, while it is a 

 coral-island. The sea in the neighbourhood of Barbadoes swarms 

 with flying-fish, which are eaten and much esteemed : I found 

 them good, but rather dry. All the flying-fish I saw while in 

 the West Indies seemed to be of the same species; from the 

 length, and backward position of the ventral fins, I suspect that 

 they were Exocoetus exiliens. From Barbadoes a course of about 

 100 miles brings us to Sta Lucia, where we lie ofi" at the en- 

 trance of the fine harbour of Castries, the capital of the island. 

 Sta Lucia decidedly enjoys a worse reputation than any other 

 of these islands ; it is undoubtedly about the most desolate and 

 poverty-stricken of the lot, and it is said to be the most un- 

 healthy. And then Sta Lucia swarms with venomous snakes 

 to such a degree that I was told one could not go even a 

 step or two into the bush without being bitten ; and, if bitten, 

 one was sure to die. Any one living in a neighbouring 

 island looks upon a friend about to visit Sta Lucia as a " gone 

 'coon," and begs him to make his will before starting. It is cer- 

 tainly a remarkable fact that the adjacent islands, Sta Lucia and 

 Martinique, swarm with a peculiarly venomous species of snake, 

 while all the other Windward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and 

 Porto Rico are quite free from any venomous snake whatever. 

 The scientific name of this much-dreaded reptile is Trigono- 

 cephalus lanceolatus ; the English call it the Rat-tailed Snake ; 

 the French call it Serpent fer de lance. It attains a large size, 

 and is, I believe, peculiar to these two islands. In Sta Lucia 

 these serpents come even into the town at night, so that it is 

 not safe to walk in the dark without a lantern ; in the much 

 more cultivated and inhabited island, Martinique, they are less 

 numerous. En revanche, Sta Lucia is exceedingly lovely as seen 

 from the sea — so beautifully green and wooded. Its souffriere 

 is said to be very curious and well worth a visit, and it abounds 

 in conical sugar-loaf-shaped hills, locally called pitons. I do 

 not think that any of its mountains are very high ; but their out- 

 line is peculiarly picturesque. The next island, going north, 

 is the fine and important French island, Martinique, in which I 



