190I-2.] The Windward Islands of the West Indies. 357 



Saba banks have an area of 800 or 900 square miles, rising to within 

 100 or 150 feet of the surface of the sea. This is a fine example of a 

 submarine tableland not surmounted by any mountains. Its surface has 

 been levelled over by coral growths and sands derived from them. It is 

 the only conspicuous remnant of the coastal plains on the Caribbean 

 side of the mountainous back-bone of the Antillean ridge until the 

 Grenadines are reached. (See map, Plate A, appended). 



Saba and Statia (the colloquial name of St. Eustatius), are both 

 within sight of St. Martin, and can occasionally be reached by sloop 

 from St. Martin and St. Kitts. 



Statia, St. Kitts and Nevis are all situated on a narrow submerged 

 ridge. The north-western end of Statia and the south-eastern end 

 of St. Kitts are the remains of the old dissected and degraded mountains 

 composed of the ancient trappean foundation of all the Antillean islands 

 of the Windward chain, but the remaining portions of these two islands 

 and Nevis are surmounted by volcanic ridges, belonging to geological 

 days more recent than the early Pleistocene epoch, with the volcanic 

 activity continuing down so recently that some of the craters are still 

 preserved, such as that of Mount Misery (4,314 feet above the sea), with 

 one side removed to a depth of 600 feet. It is about a quarter of 

 a mile in diameter, with a lake partly filling the depression (according 

 to my friend, Dr. Christian Branch, who then resided in the island). 

 Statia has also a perfectly preserved crater, called the " Quill," 

 rising to a height of 1,950 feet. (See view, figure i, Plate II,). From 

 the central ridges, the surface slopes in the form of 2l glacis, which is 

 deeply dissected by valleys, as shown in figure 2, Plate II. At only 

 one point on the north-eastern side of the island did I see any lava, and 

 that belonged to a Pleistocene eruption, but Dr. Branch informed me 

 that some black rock had been reported from near the summit of Mount 

 Misery. The soil is made up of volcanic ashes of great fertility, which 

 is constantly creeping down the slopes. At Basse Terre, St. Kitts, in 

 1880, a cloud burst upon Monkey hill, back of the town. (See figure 

 3, Plate II.). Over thirty inches of rain fell within three hours. The 

 floods from such storms carry ruin before them. Great, deep valleys 

 are rapidly excavated out of the loose, volcanic soil, while the material 

 removed from them settles upon the more level land, in this case filling 

 the streets and gardens with mud to several feet in depth. On the slop- 

 ing ground every structure is washed away by the sheets of water, and 

 people overtaken by them are whirled into the sea. Sometimes where the 

 bodies are caught by an obstruction, this impediment to the current 

 causes a deposition of mud, so that they may be quickly buried on the 



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