362 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [Vol. VII. 



Antillean tableland, now dissected and submerged. Again one finds the 

 old igneous basement, over the denuded surface of which are several 

 igneo-sedimentary deposits (of the older Tertiary era) surmounted by 

 the newer volcanic formations, which culminate in cones, one of which is 

 4,747 feet above the sea. The earliest eruptions occurred about the 

 commencement of the Pleistocene period, and the last in 1880. After 

 the renewal of volcanic activity, there was an early Pleistocene deposit 

 of coral rock, preceded and succeeded by gravel accumulations ; all 

 except the last of these formations have been mostly removed by 

 denudation so that only fragments are now to be found, on the small 

 remnants of the coastal slopes, the best example being the Grand 

 Savanna, as shown in its relationship to the mountains in figure 2, 

 Plate IV. Some little flat land is found in the rapidly widened valleys, 

 such as that at the mouth of the Layou river (figure 3, Plate IV.). 

 Fragments of terraces in their natural condition are few, but one may be 

 seen at Roseau, on which the church is built, (illustrated in figure i, 

 Plate v.). Back of the town is an erosion plain (Morne Bruce), at 400 

 feet above the sea, which was once a coastal feature. The correspond- 

 ing terrace, on the other side of the valley, shown in figure 2 (which is 

 almost a continuation of figure i, and might be joined at letters A B), 

 may be seen sloping outward, owing to the local elevation of the 

 volcanic centres, and not to the regional rising of the land. 



Dominica is the most beautiful of the islands. Portions of it have 

 never been cultivated, and in some of the valleys one may see a 

 tropical vegetation, among which are tree ferns of great size and loveli- 

 ness. The situation of the town of Roseau, the capital, at the mouth of 

 the Roseau valley, and in front of the terrace of Morne Bruce with the 

 sloping terraces on the other side of the valley, which is headed in a 

 high mountain (not seen in Figures i and 2 owing to cloud at the time 

 of photographing them), is unsurpassed in its graceful beauty, in spite 

 of the dilapidated appearance of the town. The valley itself becomes 

 enlarged, after passing above its mouth, which is, in fact, a canon or 

 gorge cut by the river since the recent elevation of the land. It is 

 shown in figure 3, Plate V., the view being taken from the summit of 

 Morne Bruce. 



On account of the floods of the swollen mountain streams, the coast- 

 wise roads are badly cut up, and because of the almost impossible under- 

 taking of maintaining bridges, one is compelled to travel on horseback, 

 except for a few miles near Roseau. There are a few degenerated 

 descendants of the freedom-loving Caribs, who were so ruthlessly 



