IO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I.4S 



was 30.35 inches in 64 days. The greatest monthly rainfall in 1955 

 was 6.73 inches in September. Similar comparisons were noticeable 

 for the 7 years that followed. Fresh-water ponds were evident only 

 in the rainy season. In October, lakes are filled, foliage is lush and 

 green, and visibility is good because the air is clear. To compare 

 what Columbus found in October with what he would find in a 

 month of drought is inconceivable, and yet there are theorists who 

 attempt to do it, giving no consideration to the climate. 



Topography. San Salvador (fig. 2) is an island 18 to 20 miles 

 long, including the connecting-reef harbor at the north ; it is 6 to 8 

 miles wide. As one approaches the island, its aspect is seen to be long 

 and flat with scattered, low, rolling hills ; the highest, Kerr Mount, 

 is 140 feet. Surrounding the island are reefs and channels; there 

 are cays at the north and southeast, harbors at the north and south. 

 There are more than 20 lakes and salt ponds in the interior. Great 

 Lake, the largest, is close to 12 miles long and averages 4 to 6 feet in 

 depth. At one time it seems to have been considerably wider, al- 

 though it is still 2 to 3 miles wide ; several lakes are cut off from the 

 main lake by swamp. Although a few settlements can be reached by 

 boat and haul-overs, contrary to written reports, 13 this is not the 

 means of transportation today. There are only two small boats on 

 Great Lake, which natives scull or sail across to their "generation" 

 farms (farms that have been in their families for generations), 

 where root crops grow best. There is a creek at the southeast, ap- 

 proximately 9 miles long. 



San Salvador is the southeastern most island of the Bahamian 

 Archipelago above the Tropic of Cancer and north of the Antilles 

 and South America. 



Settlements. Through preliminary archeological excavations the 

 author has located approximately 20 Indian sites on the island. To 

 judge from these sites the prehistoric aborigines were concentrated 

 on the banks of Pigeon Creek, which is in the southeastern part of 

 Guanahani-San Salvador. Their settlements have also been found 

 around the island, away from the shores, on the ridges and small 

 hilltops, where there are villages today. After the arrival of Euro- 

 peans, the most populated area continued until the 20th century to 

 be on the southeastern part of the island, facing the open sea. The 



13 See footnote 10b. "This lake [Great Lake] provides the most popular form 

 of travel between settlements." 



