Sharpies.] 248 March 21, 



form the principal elevation on the island. These hills are never 

 very high; the principal one being about 150 feet in height, and is 

 called by the negroes" Filamingo Hill," otherwise Flamingo, from 

 a pond at its base where this bird is frequently seen. The hills 

 in which the main deposits of guano have been found do not 

 exceed fifty feet in height. These hills have been most thoroughly 

 honey-combed by the action of the waves at a date that must be 

 comparatively remote, since many of the caves are now half a 

 mile or more inland. There is, however, but little evidence of 

 elevation of the land, though a rise of a few feet may have taken 

 place. They seem rather to have been abandoned by the sea, 

 the gradual growth of the land having closed their entrances. 

 That they are true erosion caves, formed by the waves and not 

 like the caves in our limestone stone valleys formed by under 

 ground streams, is shown by their general character, and their 

 great resemblance to the caves that are now being formed 

 wherever the sea has access to a limestone bluff. In many places 

 are found well defined bench marks, which correspond to the 

 ordinary bench which is generally found where rocks of this 

 character are acted upon by the waves. In one of the largest of 

 the caves the water still ebbs and Hows, although it is at least a 

 quarter of a mile from the shore. The caves are remarkable for 

 the almost entire absence of stalactites and stalagmites although 

 they may occasionally be seen. This is accounted for by the 

 compactness of the roof and its thinness, for it rarely exceeds a 

 few feet in thickness. Access to these caves as a general rule is 

 obtained through openings in the roof, where the thin roof has 

 broken away. Many of these openings are not over a foot in 

 diameter, and seem in many instances to have been caused by 

 the growth of roots through crevices of the rocks. 



At the largest entrance, where we made our first descent the 

 opening is about ten feet across and is partially blocked up by the 

 rocks from the roof; the pit is surrounded with roots of fig and 

 other trees which make a convenient ladder for the descent. 

 Growing in the centre of this opening is a pawpaw tree having a 

 diameter of six or eight inches. At another opening the only 

 means of access was a single fig root having a diameter of about 

 two inches, down which the party slid sailor fashion. In passing 



