The Mountains of the West Indies. 8i 
quite possible that St Croix was always an island, situ- 
ated near the northern coast of the inland sea we have 
supposed, as are now Margarita, Curacoa, Oruba, and 
others on the southern. It may be well to mention here, 
incidentally, that although these latter islands, along 
with the great country of the Guianas, are generally 
looked upon as forming a part of the West Indies, we 
do not consider them as such, — at least, in so far as our 
subject is concerned. 
Anguilla is a flat island of coral formation, and St. 
Martin is little better. In St. Barths, Saba, and St. 
Eustatius the submerged mountain chain again seems to 
rise, into what must have been some of the loftiest of its 
peaks. In the latter island there exists the crater of an 
extin6l volcano that gives evidence of having, not many 
centuries ago, been the seat of formidable activity. The 
range next appears in St. Kitts, in beautiful peaks 
and ridges, which slope down to the sea on all 
sides, covered, for the most part, with fields of 
cane. A little over a mile from St. Kitts is the 
fairy-like island of Nevis, in which the range rises 
into a single mountain 3,000 feet high. On the top- 
most ridge of this great mountain, the base of which 
covers an area of 38 square miles, is situated a crater 
in which is said to exist a spring that waters the whole 
island. 
The next appearance of the chain is in Montserrat, 
the conformation of which island answers admirably to 
the description that Columbus gave of Hispaniola, — a 
crumpled sheet of paper. The scenery amongst the 
hills is remarkably fine in some places. 
The islands of Antigua and Barbuda appear to be 
L 
