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II. TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS 
St. Mary's Island and Batiiurst 
St. Mary's Island is a long-, low-lying island at the mouth of the River Gambia, 
extending roughly from north-east to south-west along the south bank of the river. 
It is about four miles long and half-a-mile across at its widest part. The island is 
only separated from the mainland by a small creek, which, at the north-west corner, 
is bridged across. One fairly good road runs the length of the island, from the town 
of Bathurst at the one end to the Creek Bridge. This road runs along the beach, 
separated from it for the most part by mounds of sand and scrub. On the south 
side of the road an extensive mangrove swamp occurs, and in places encroaches on to 
the road. 
The town of Bathurst is situated at the east corner of St. Mary's Island. It 
occupies an J-shaped area of land, the long arm of which is almost separated from 
the island by an encroachment of Oyster Creek at the back of the island and the man- 
grove swamp. There is only a distance of some two hundred yards between the 
swamp and the beach, so that this area is for the most part cut off from the island, 
and is surrounded by a broad expanse of water on all sides, to the north and west by 
the River Gambia, which is here about four miles across, to the south and west by 
the creek separating St. Mary's Island from the mainland. In this area the land 
scarcely reaches the height of four feet above sea-level, the greater part of it 
being situated below the sea-level. Altogether it is scarcely a square mile in extent. 
The formation is of light sand and loam on the surface, followed by denser 
loam which rests upon the water-bearing sand and silt, about eight feet under the sur- 
face. This area is well though not too thickly wooded ; some very fine trees occur 
in the town. 
The town of Bathurst is very well laid out. The chief streets are broad and 
run parallel and at right angles to one another ; in fact there are very few narrow streets, 
even in the strictly native quarters. The chief houses and factories in the principal 
street, Wellington, face the mouth of the river. These houses are built of stone for 
the most part, the volcanic iron stone which occurs in great quantity across the river. 
These houses are very cool and airy, and the rooms are large ; they were probably 
built by the French. At the back of each house there is generally an enclosed 
piece of ground used as a garden. 
Unfortunately, in Bathurst, the houses of the Europeans are not segregated 
from the natives, many of the traders' and officials' houses, particularly, being sur- 
rounded by native compounds. Government House, the Colonial Secretary's house, 
