iii INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



possibly be several hundred feet deep. This ravine has evidently 

 been formed by torrents of rain, which, in the course of ages have 

 opened a large hollow, more than 500 feet across, and about 150 

 deep ; the sides of this hollow expose to view an infinite number 

 and variety of beautiful layers of coloured earths, which are 

 supposed to be of volcanic origin. I am, however, inclined to 

 believe that the colours are only superficial : this will be noticed 

 hereafter. 



But, it is not merely in this eastern part of the island that 

 there is soil of extraordinary depth. At the Plantation House, 

 the country residence of the Governor, which is 1700 feet above 

 the sea, and four miles west from Long Wood, I ascertained to the 

 depth of 25 feet, that the soil is uniformly of the same fine quality 

 as the upper stratum ; and probably it may be so to a far greater 

 depth. 



These accounts of the depth of soil, and of the fine plain of 

 Long Wood and Dead Wood, will no doubt surprise many who 

 have been taught to believe, that " St. Helena is a barren and 

 " unproductive rock :" indeed it will be seen by many facts stated 

 in the first part of this work, that its lands, of which 2 or -'3000 

 acres might be ploughed with the greatest facility (and even 

 much more brought into cultivation) are not infierior in the pro- 

 duction of wheat and every other grain, and of potatoes and all 

 sorts of esculents, to the very best lands in Europe.* The annual 

 produce is indeed mvich greater, on account of the certainty of 

 two seasons of rain, and two harvests in th«j year. 



From what has been noticed of the depth of soil, it seems at 

 least probable that neither the plain of Long Wood and Dead 

 Wood, nor the lands in the vicinity of Plantation House, have 

 ever been touched by volcanic eruptions : otherwise some traces 



* See Appendix III. 



