16 Dr. Maycock on the Geology of Barhadoes. 



unusual phenomena. Associations of this kind bestow a mystic 

 interest on the place. 



The saline springs make their appearance at an inconsiderable 

 height above the level of the sea, through the sides and very 

 near the base of clay-hills, abounding in gypsum ; and it is quite 

 evident that the saline matter over which they flow and from 

 which they derive their impregnation, is subjacent to those mi- 

 nerals which appear as the external crust of Scotland. The 

 water of these springs has not been carefully analyzed ; in 

 taste and other qualities they resemble the waters of Chel- 

 tenham, and they are occasionally employed to answer the same 

 medicinal purposes. 



The several mineral substances enumerated, as forming the 

 hilly district, are composed principally of argil, or of argil and 

 silex, frequently blended with ferruginous or bituminous mat- 

 ter, and they very certainly and obviously rest on the coralline 

 mass, which constitutes the exterior crust of the other and more 

 extensive portion of the island. 



Having in the preceding pages given a faithful account of the 

 peculiarities which characterize the two districts, into which 

 nature has divided this little island ; we will now turn to the 

 consideration of those causes, secondary to the will of the 

 Creator, which have contributed to the production of the island ; 

 and of the distinctive features of each district. In conducting 

 this inquiry, it will be of great importance to keep our minds 

 constantly fixed on the two following statements of facts : — 

 First, the argillaceous minerals are constantly found super- 

 imposed on the calcareous : — secondly, the argillaceous mine- 

 rals appear only on the north-eastern portion of the island, and 

 principally in a deep hollow, protected to the west, north-west, 

 and south-west, by high ridges of coralline structure ; and they 

 are every where to be found on the north-eastern coast, extending 

 in a greater or less degree into the body of the island, accord- 

 ing to local circumstances. To illustrate the latter part of this 

 statement, I will instance only a single example to be found on 

 the coast, forming Skeet's Bay, on the north-east of the thickets, 



