ST. THOMAS. 



431 



thing that they i^equired, provisions, woven goods, machinery, as well as the most 

 costly products of European industry. Free trade thus enabled St. Thomas to 

 profit by its advantageous geographical position at the extreme convexity of the 

 great bend described by the West Indian Islands, that is, at the very ]3oint whence 

 commodities are most easily distributed throughout all the surrounding insular 

 gi'oups. 



Moreover, St. Thomas possesses an excellent harbour, although deficient both in 

 size and depth. It forms a nearly circular basin on the south side of the island, of 

 easy access and well sheltered from the trade winds by a promontory and an islet. 

 Nevertheless, hurricanes have occasionally penetrated into this amphitheatre, as 



Fig. 207.— St. Thomlis Island. 

 Scale 1 : 300,000. 



West cF Greenwich 



64"50' 



Depths. 



0to5 

 Fathoms. 



25 Fatlioms 

 and upwards. 



6 Miles. 



they have also into the port of Havana; in 1819 nearly all the vessels in the 

 harbour were stranded, and the shore strewn with dead bodies and wreckage. In 

 1837 and 1867 the j)lace was again visited by destructive cyclones. 



Steam has changed the commercial system of the "West Indies. The consumer 

 is now directly supplied with all his wants by regular services of packets, which 

 visit every island and which are independent of winds and currents. Hence a 

 general entrepôt is no longer needed, and St. Thomas has lost its former monopoly. 

 Nevertheless, the port, which bears the ofiicial name of Charlotte Amalia, is still 

 frequented, and long-established usage enables it to maintain an important com- 

 mercial position. Its 12,000 inhabitants speak every language- — Spanish, Dutch, 



