214 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
tle flat land. Bold headlands, on whose sides cling the huts of 
the natives, jut out into the sea; in places they alternate with 
swampy bay-heads, in which thrive mangroves and other halo- 
phytes. The leeward side is not so rugged but it is deeply in- 
dented by many shallow bays and fringed with a multitude of 
low-lying islands. Indeed, there is no dearth of indentations 
all about the island, but they are in the main too shallow to 
admit vessels of any considerable draught. The island is sur- 
prisingly dry and there are no streams of importance. The 
vegetation is of the xerophytic type and is very harsh and 
thorny. 
Geographically, Antigua is divided by the low central belt 
into three nearly equal parts. The southwestern part is hilly 
and rough with many peaks rising from 1,000 to 1,300 feet,— 
the highest being Boggy Peak, 1,330 feet. The central region 
is lower and flatter and is indented at one end by St. John’s 
Harbor and at the other by Falmouth and Willoughby bays. 
The northeastern part is rolling, with low ridges and hills of 
limestone marl. Since the geology of the island is different in 
each of these districts they may be further considered from that 
point of view. 
The southwestern part is generally known as the ‘‘voleanic’’ 
portion, and though many of the hills have the appearance of 
extinct voleanic cones yet a close examination reveals little if 
any evidence of rock of recent voleanic origin. However, the 
rock is much metamorphosed and contains weathered and trans- 
ported particles that are apparently of volcanic derivation; in 
places the rock reveals fairly clear stratification, while in other 
places the bedding is almost, if not quite, obscure. Where the 
strata are definite they dip at various angles, but the main dip 
is to the northeast. These hills have a thin soil which supports 
a scrubby lot of low trees and thorny bushes, but in places there 
are fairly large forest trees. Between the high steep-sided 
hills, as seen in a trip to the southwestern corner of the island, 
there are flattish valleys which meet the bases of the hills 
abruptly ; they are fertile and apparently well drained as seen 
in the vicinity of Jolly Hill, at Belden’s estate, and others; the 
seaward ends of the valleys are in many eases estuarine and in 
places filled with ‘‘dead sands’’ or mangrove swamps. An in- 
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