INTRODUCTION. XIX 



an extinct crater, leading up to Mount Maitland, the highest 

 summit of Grenada. 



There yet remain Tobago and Trinidad, but they are bits 

 of the South American continent, left stranded on the conti- 

 nental shelf. 



Isolated from all the other islands, perhaps the least attractive 

 of them, stands Barbados, a volcanic cone, entirely surrounded 

 by coral terraces, which completely hide the cone. (See Figs. 

 39, 46.) In this the most flourishing of the English islands 

 the negro population is very dense. Barbados is comparatively 

 as thickly populated as Belgium, and every inch of the soil is 

 cultivated. It is a huge sugar plantation, dotted over with 

 windmills and sugar-houses. Bridgetown has somewhat the 

 appearance of an Italian town. Its streets are crowded with 

 negroes, who, like their West Indian brethren, are noted neither 

 for morality nor cleanliness. Only about one tenth of the 

 population is white. There is a large garrison, so that Bridge- 

 town has its parade, cricket-ground, clubs, and all that renders 

 a British colony dear to an Englishman in exile. 



The northeastern islands, Antigua, Barbuda, and Sombrero, 

 we did not visit. They are geologically more recent, and are 

 placed upon the eastern edge of the shallow plateau forming 

 the northern extremity of the submarine bank upon which the 

 Windward Islands rise. Of course they held out no induce- 

 ment to the " Blake " expedition, which was in search of the 

 deep water on the lee side of this plateau. 



For the third cruise I joined the '^ Blake," commanded by 

 Bartlett, at Newport, late in June, 1880. According to instruc- 

 tions, we proceeded to the northeastern edge of George's Shoal, 

 where we ran our first line of dredgings from the hundred- 

 fathom line to a depth of nearly 1,250 fathoms. Our second 

 line was run to the southeast, off Montauk Point. This was 

 interrupted by bad weather. We were compelled to put into 

 Newport, and completed the line on our return from the South. 

 This line extended to about 1,400 fathoms. 



On leaving Newport for the second time, we steamed directly 

 for Charleston, S. C. A line of dredgings was run from. the 

 hundred-fathom hne normal to the coast, directly across the 



