457 A. E. Verrill—The Bermuda Islands. 45 
steps, probably of wood, that led to its top are gone. It is sur- 
rounded by a stone fort of considerable size, and both are in fair 
preservation. This stone redoubt and the battery under it were 
evidently built on the site of Butler’s ancient Devonshire Redoubt 
and platform, of 1620. 
Near the western end there is another fort or battery, and the 
barracks, with the walls standing, but the slabs of stone have been 
stolen from the roofs and carried away by the natives of other 
islands, and all the timbers have disappeared, probably in the same 
way, but there are some iron pillars still standing here, so that these 
Figure 19.—Castle Island ; the ancient Citadel or Devonshire Redoubt. 
Phot. 1901. 
ruins look rather modern as compared with some others. Two of 
the old brick ovens remain, but small stalactites have formed in the 
interior. The vandalism of the natives from the other islands has 
probably caused much more destruction here than the elements. 
Could we have been sure of the exact period when any of these 
works were built in their present form, they would have afforded us 
excellent geological data by which to estimate the rate of atmospheric 
erosion and decay of the ordinary limestone rock, of which they 
were built. The actual amount is quite variable in different places, 
but nowhere so great as we should naturally have expected in works 
