24 BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN MEMOIRS 



eluding its islets, of about 21 square miles. The total area of the 

 three islands, including their contiguous islets, is thus about 138 

 square miles, or not quite twice that of Staten Island. The areas 

 here used for St. Thomas and St. Jan are approximate, because the 

 total area of the contiguous islets is not definitely recorded. 



The harbor of Charlotte Amalia, coveted by commercial and naval 

 interests, is the most striking coastal feature of the islands, indenting 

 the southern coast of St. Thomas. It is something less than a mile 

 in diameter, a little longer than wide, and is nearly enclosed by the 

 hills, its mouth being approximately 900 feet wide. It is as safe an 

 anchorage as any tropical harbor can be, and affords anchorage for as 

 many vessels as would be at all likely to need it at any one time, in 

 water which is up to 37 feet deep. It is not as spacious as Guantanamo 

 Bay on the southeast coast of Cuba, but as a naval base, with the 

 hills fortified, would immediately command the Virgin Passage. 



Magen's Bay on the north side of St. Thomas, where a long penin- 

 sula juts out into the sea, and Coral Bay at the east and Cruz Bay 

 at the west end of St. Jan, are also valuable harbors, and there are 

 several other small harbors or coves. The so-called harbors at 

 Christiansted and Frederiksted, St. Croix, are open roadsteads. 



These islands, like Culebra, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda, are partly 

 plutonic in origin, being partly composed of rocks which have solidified 

 from a molten state. There is no present evidence of volcanic activity, 

 as there is in the Leeward and the Windward Islands farther south, 

 and there are no volcanic peaks. Conglomerate and other stratified 

 rocks, supposed to be Cretaceous, also occur. They are evidently 

 ancient, and show evidences of an enormous amount of erosion since 

 their upheaval; they have not been geologically surveyed. 



The soil, except that of some sand beaches and mangrove swamps 

 and salt marshes, has directly resulted from the decay and erosion 

 of the rocks; it is of good agricultural quality and locally deep, but 

 on the steep slopes and hillsides it ia meager, having been much 

 washed away since the cutting away of the forests. There are not 

 many sand beaches on St. Thomas or St. Jan, but there is a consider- 

 able area of beach on St. Croix. In sheltered coves and reaches with 

 shallow water, the mangrove is forming land, as everywhere in similar 

 situations on tropical coasts. 



Along large portions of the coast lines, the rocks come directly 

 to the sea, forming fine cliffs and headlands, often rising from deep 

 water, and much of the coastal scenery is highly picturesque. 



I have included records of the plants commonly cultivated either 

 for their products or for ornament and interest, but have made no 

 attempt to include the rarer or unusual garden plants. If the records 



