chap, iv.] WEST INDIES. 147 
<■ 
gar, and 4,000 to pasturage. As sugar is the only 
commodity of any account that is raised, except 
provisions and a little cotton, it is probable, that 
nearly one half the whole island is unfit for cultiva¬ 
tion. The interior part of the country consists, in¬ 
deed, of many rugged precipices, and barren moun¬ 
tains. Of these, the loftiest is Mount Misery, 
(evidently a decayed volcano), which rises 3,711 
feet in perpendicular height from the sea.* Na¬ 
ture, however, has made abundant amends for the 
sterility of the mountains by the fertility she has be¬ 
stowed upon the plains. No part of the West In¬ 
dies that I have seen, possesses even the same spe¬ 
cies of soil that is found in St Christopher’s. It is 
in general a dark grey loam, so light and porous, as 
to be penetrable by the slightest application of the 
hoe; and I conceive it to be the production of sub¬ 
terraneous fires, the black ferruginous pumice of 
naturalists, finely incorporated with a pure loam, 
or virgin mould. The under stratum is gravel, 
from eight to twelve inches deep. Clay is no 
where found, except at a considerable height in the 
mountains. 
By what process of nature the soil which I have 
mentioned becomes more especially suited to the 
* There is an immense crater on the top of this mountain, the bot¬ 
tom of which is nearly level, and supposed to contain 50 acres, of 
which seven are covered with water; the rest are clothed with high 
grass and trees, among which the mountain cabbage is very conspicu¬ 
ous. From the crannies or fissures of this crater still flow streams of 
hot water, which are strongly impregnated with sulphur, alum, and 
vitriolic acid. 
