xiv INTRODUCTION. 



marked with a red letter in my journal as the spot where the 

 wonderful young Holopus was dredged. 



The diffieidty of dredging in the region of the trade winds 

 with a small vessel like the " Blake " is very great. No ex- 

 tended explorations to windward were possible, but fortunately 

 we were able to reach deep water under the lee of the Lesser 

 Antilles. In the channels between the islands the sea was 

 usually too rough to allow us to sound even, and when steam- 

 ing to windward, as during the passage from Jamaica to St. 

 Thomas, all deep-sea work was out of the question, as we could 

 scarcely forge ahead, and we rejoiced to reach at last the shelter 

 of St. Thomas. 



The appearance of the islands as seen from the deck of the 

 vessel is most interesting, each one having a physiognomy of its 

 own, yet all modifications of one type. If the physical features 

 are well marked, the national characteristics of the different 

 groups are no less so. Where Englishmen, Frenchmen, and 

 Spaniards once fought for the supremacy of the sea and the 

 possession of the New World, they are now content to live 

 in friendly rivalry with the Danish and Swedish West Indian 

 colonies. 



The island of St. Thomas, with its land-locked harbor, near 

 the junction of the Lesser and Greater Antilles, is the central 

 West Indian station. It is a long, low, undulating island, with 

 summits reaching perhaps 800 feet in height, continuations of 

 the crests of the extensive submarine bank which forms the Vir- 

 gin Islands, one of which. Virgin Gorda, rises to nearly 1,800 

 feet. These islands are almost bare, and the larger ones, cov- 

 ered with wrecks of plantations and remaining uncultivated, are 

 gradually being abandoned. The opposite island, Santa Cruz, 

 is, like the Virgin Islands, low, but its slopes are covered from 

 base to summit with brilliant fields of sugar-cane, and dotted 

 here and there with factories and thriving towns. 



In the channel separating St. Thomas from Santa Cruz we 

 find the deepest water in which the " Blake " dredged, and 

 near Frederichstsed, at the western extremity of the island, we 

 come upon one of those rich localities characterized by an 

 extraordinary abundance of deep-sea animals in comparatively 

 shallow water. 



