4^2, 



ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH COLONY 



[January, 



from vegetation and th-e injuries of the weather as if they had fallen 

 but yefterday : and, what is remarkable, mo ft of them, probably all, 

 are evidently detached from the ftone upon which they reft, fo entirely 

 that they might be dragged from the places where they lie, if it were 

 thought worth while to apply a power fufficient to produce fo ufelefs 

 an effect. It would feem, then, that thefe loofe blocks have fallen 

 from fome place higher than that upon which they were found; but 

 that is impoffible, for they are higher than any part of the ifland. 

 And the fuppofition that the injuries of the air and the rain caufed 

 the removal of that part of the granite which might originally have 

 been of a correfponding height with thefe remaining blocks, feems 

 hardly admiffible in the prefent inftance. Perhaps fubterraneous or 

 volcanic fire may have caufed this curious appearance. 



The vaft bulk of thefe blocks renders them fo confpicuous, that the- 

 attention is firft ftruck with them upon approaching the ifland. 

 There is on the north fide, where the ifland is particularly low and 

 narrow, a flip of calcareous earth, w r hich difcovers itfelf near the fur- 

 face of the water. It is not, for the mo ft part, pure ; for broken pieces 

 of the granite are mixed with it in various proportions. Some parts 

 are a mere mafs of thefe broken pieces cemented together by the cal- 

 careous matter 3 whilft others are an almoft perfect chalk, and are 

 capable of being burnt into excellent lime. Broken fea-fhells and 

 other exuvi& of marine animals, are apparent throughout the whole- 

 imafs. 



Upon the beach, at the foot of this chalky rock, was found a very 

 considerable quantity of the black metallic particles which appear 

 in granite as black mining fpecks, and are, in all probability, grains 

 of tin. 



To find this fmall bed of the remains of fhell animals, of which 

 chalk is formed wherever found, in fuch an unexpected fituation, ex- 

 cited fome furprife ; and Mr. Bafs endeavoured to investigate the caufe 

 of this depofit, by examining the form of the neighbouring parts of 



the 



