358 
DES. T. AKDEESON AND J. S. FLETT ON THE EEETPTIONS OF THE 
THE PHYSICAL FEATUEES AND GENEEAL GEOLOGY OF ST. VINCENT. 
The Lavas and Tujfs of the Old Volcanoes of the South End of the Island. 
The outline of St. Vincent is the elongated oval which is characteristic of the 
Windward Islands, the main axis lying north and south, and corresponding with the 
direction of the group as a whole. The length of the island is 18 miles, the greatest 
breadth 11, and the total area is estimated as 150 square miles. In the coast line 
there are no inqDortant indentations, the largest being Kingstown Bay, near the 
south end, on which the principal town stands. The only villages of any size are 
Georgetown, on the windward side of the island, near its north end, and Barrualli and 
Chateauhelair on the leeward, the latter almost opposite Georgetown. The popula¬ 
tion of Kingstown is estimated at 7000, that of the whole island at 40,000, and is 
for the most part black or coloured, there being only 1500 whites. Arrowroot is the 
staple product—St. Vincent arrowroot has long had a high reputation. Sugar has 
almost gone out of cultivation, but cocoa, coffee, cocoanuts, nutmegs, bananas, and a 
great variety of fruits grow well, and are to some extent exported. 
The island may be described as almost mountainous, there being little flat land 
except in the valley bottoms and around the shores of the larger bays. On the 
windward or eastern side there are old terraces or benches of marine erosion which 
form a narrow rim of comparatively level country skirting the coast. On the leeward 
side the land slopes steeply to the sea. The average density of the population is high 
—nearly 300 per square mile—or almost equal to that of the Isle of Wight and some of 
the less populous English counties. Yet it is only the valleys and the low ground near 
the coast which are really inhabited, for the higher ridges are covered with forest and 
bush, through which there are few paths. Some of the mountcun peaks have rarely 
been ascended, as may be understood when it is explained that a journey in these 
regions cannot be made without several sturdy labourers armed with cutlasses with 
which to hew a way through the dense undergrowth which often obstructs and may 
obliterate the paths. Owing to the fertility of the soils, the warm climate and the 
abundant rains, a very small plot of ground is sufficient to support a black man and 
his family in comfort. They require little clothing, and there is almost no demand 
for luxuries. Many of the blacks are employed as labourers and as servants on the 
estates, but it has of late year's been the policy of the Government to plant them out 
on the Crown lands as peasant proprietors, each on his own small allotment. The best 
ground, however, is always occupied by the arrowroot and sugar estates, many of 
which have been in cultivation for nearly 200 years. 
A ridge of hills runs along the centre of the island in a north and south direction, 
the principal peaks being the Grand Bonhoimne (3193 feet), the Morne Garu and 
