Yol. 57.] PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT Ol* ANTIGUA. 4^9 



rock an entirely different appearance from that of the White 

 Limestones upon which it rests unconformably, as shown along the 

 sea-coast west of the hill. At one point near here, the White 

 Limestones were seen to form a sharp anticline, the eastern arm 

 being much steeper than the western, the axis running north and 

 south. The age of these beds has not been determined ; but 

 as they have been involved in the dislocation of the White Lime- 

 stones, one suspects that the Hodge's Hill Sandstones belong to 

 an epoch not long subsequent to that of the former rocks. 



VIII. The Friae's Hill Series. 



Lying on the eroded surface of the White Limestones at Friar's 

 Hill is a thin layer of waterworn pebbles (formed out of the 

 harder material of the underlying formation), succeeded by a bed 

 of a homogeneous yellowish-white marl, 12 feet thick. In other 

 artificial cuts in the hilly country, in the northern part of the 

 island, as on the road to Millar's Mill, etc., one may observe the 

 eroded surfaces of the underlying series, covered by a mantle of 

 fragmental deposits of pebbles and marls not exceeding a thickness 

 of 20 feet, except in buried depressions. The marly beds of the 

 series are most frequently seen underlying the pebbles. The marls 

 are in places indistinctly laminated, in others the stratification is 

 shown only by lines of pebbles within the finer material. The 

 bedding appears to be everywhere horizontal, although there are 

 slight undulations (but not tilting). This deposit, whether marly 

 or pebbly, is evidently one of mechanical origin, where the lime- 

 stone has been more or less pulverized and rounded by the action 

 of the waves. Occasional fragments of the older rocks have 

 been seen included with other pebbles. The White Limestone- 

 pebbles form a very considerable portion of the whole mass. On 

 the gently-sloping hillside, from which the accumulation has not 

 been entirely denuded, the finer marl has been so washed out as 

 to leave the fields covered with a very stony surface — the pebbles 

 being those left from the denudation of the overlying mantle. 

 As the substance of these pebbles is identical with that of the 

 underlying rocks, it is not surprising that they should not have 

 been distinguished from disintegrated fragments of the older 

 surface-rocks, but the intervening unconformity should have been 

 recorded if not explained. Although they are waterworn, the 

 soft materials of which they are composed do not become so well 

 rounded or preserve their forms as do those of harder rocks. Further- 

 more, in places both the rounded pebbles of the upper series and 

 the more angular surface-fragments of the limestones are inter- 

 mingled; but where the waterworn pebbles are seen, they can 

 usually be traced to lower altitudes, where their relationship to 

 the typical deposits can be easily ascertained. The Friar's Hill 

 Series is widespread, covering most of the lower slopes of this part 

 of the island, and occurs up to an altitude of 200 feet, above which 

 the hills of the older formation rise from 100 to 250 feet higher. 

 This superficial mantle has been greatly denuded, so as to reduce its 



