taY OF THE WEST INDIES. [Nor. 



rocks being like those found at that place. The white 

 or glassy I take to be feldspar^ which, with a black sub- 

 stance resembling hornblend, constitutes a great propor- 

 tion of the rocks of the volcanic islands in the West Indies*. 

 The nodules which are found occur more frequently in 

 the centre of other rocks, they are of a small compact grain 

 like greenstone and not unlike those rounded pieces found 

 in granite. 



About one mile and a half S. E. of Charleston, there 

 is a soufriere almost extinct, which occupies about two or 

 three acres of a level spot. One mile below, there is a 

 hot spring, the water of which rises to 110 degrees of Fah- 

 renheit, and is used as a medical bath; and on the edge 

 of the sea, about half a mile distant, the heat of the earth 

 is sufficient to make the water boil. To the north of 

 Charleston there are likewise soufrieres, and there can be 

 little doubt that on all the islands, there have been a num- 

 ber of soufrieres which are now extinct and wasted away. 



St, Christopher, This island, near Basseterre, con- 

 sists of beds of black, red, and gray cinders, varying in 

 thickness from two inches to many feet, containing black 

 and white crystals, resembling^ those found in the last cin- 

 der irruption of St. Vincent. The sand on the bay of 

 Basseterre is mostly of the black iron kind, with scarcely, 

 any of the broken shells or madrepore rock. Along the 

 coast to Old- Road, the formation is of cinders, with few 

 detached rocks, and the same from Old- Road to Brim- 

 stone-Hill. 



Brimstone-Hill is a stratification of madrepore lime- 

 stone, containing shells, at an angle of upwards of 50 de- 

 grees from the horizon, reposing upon a bed of volcanic 

 cinders, and partly covered by volcanic irruptions, making 



