The outline of the island forms almost an irregular triangle; its greatest length, running from the South Point to Cave Point in a direction north by west half west, is nearly twenty-one English miles; the points of extreme breadth in a direct east and west line are between Kitridge Point and a point above Bat-rock on the lee-coast, a distance of about fourteen and a half miles.

There is however no point from which a similar breadth could be carried across, and as the coast extends north-west by west from Kitridge Point, it decreases rapidly; and the parish of St. Lucy averages scarcely four miles and a half in breadth. The circumference of the island is 55 English miles, excluding the sinuosities of the bays; and it contains, according to Mayo, a superficial area of 106,470 acres, or about 166 square miles. I cannot give a better idea of Barbados, both in size and in some measure in its outline, than by comparing it to the Isle of Wight, which is about 21 miles in length, and 13 in breadth. It is almost encircled by coral reefs, which in some parts, as in the parish of St. Philip, extend for nearly 3 miles to seaward, and prove very dangerous to the navigation. The shore rises boldly to a height of from 30 to 50 feet on the northern point, and on the south-eastern part of the parish of St. Philip, but otherwise we find long lines of sandy beaches, which are protected against the encroachments of the sea by coral reefs.

Although no very high summits are to be found in Barbados, the term flatness applied to the island would not convey a proper idea of its aspect. We find perhaps in no other island so many instances, on a small scale, of the geographical denominations of valley, hill, table-land, cliffs, gorges and ravines, as in Barbados. The low-lands are of comparatively limited extent, and are restricted to the northern, southern and south-eastern part of the island. Mount Hillaby is the highest elevation; its summit is, according to Captain Barrallier, 1147-55 feet above the sea1. If we choose this point as our station, we observe clearly two structures well-defined and geologically different from each other. A narrow strip of land runs parallel to the west, with the coast from north to south. We may easily trace it from Bridgetown to almost the extreme end of the island, where in the neighbourhood of Harrison's a bold bluff point ends it, from whence the coast assumes the rugged outlines which cliffs of soft material generally present, where encroached upon by the battering power of the breakers of a stormy sea. From the west or leeward coast, the ground rises in very distinct successive terraces to the

I measured Mount Hillaby in June 1846 by means of an excellent mountain barometer of the late Troughton, and likewise trigonometrically from a base line near Long Pond. According to the barometrical admeasurement, the height of the summit was 1145 feet, according to the trigonometrical operations I received 1141 feet as the result. The necessary allowance for the curvature of the earth, terrestrial refraction, &c. are included in my calculations.

central ridge. These terraces are interrupted by ravines (called gullies in the island). If we turn now to the east, an aspect of a quite different nature presents itself; we see before us a mountainous country in miniature; hills of a conical form radiate from the central ridge, and chiefly from Mount Hillaby in a north-eastern direction towards the sea-shore; their sides are rugged and worn by the heavy rains and mountain torrents; their colour, being generally of a dark reddish-brown, here and there tipped with whitish marl. This district has been represented as similar to the alpine country of Scotland, which name has been adopted for it.

Mount Hillaby does not rise exactly from the centre of the island; nature however has formed a deep valley, which passes from the eastern part of the parish of St. Philip through the parishes of St. George and St. Michael in almost a due west direction, and ends at Bridgetown. This valley divides the island into two portions, which I will call the southern and the northern, and of which the northern is by far the larger. If we consider Mount Hillaby with respect to its northern division, it will be found to occupy very nearly the centre. The southern division is an imitation of the northern on a smaller scale, only that the line of its greatest length stretches east and west, while in the northern division it extends north and south. If Barbados, therefore, be viewed from the west, we observe the land rises through several gradations in precipitous ridges with intervening table-land; if from the south, a similar aspect is offered, except that "the Ridge," which forms here the highest point, does not reach a similar high elevation. From the north the aspect is peculiar, in consequence of the great extent of the champaign ground, and the sudden rise of Mount Gilboa and Boscobelle. Seen from the east, we have a wild irregular and picturesque country; cliffs rise almost abruptly from the sea to a height of nearly a thousand feet; and, as if to enhance the beauty of the aspect when viewed from that point, at no great distance from the shore, a church built on a rock appears close to the very verge of the precipice, and stands boldly out in relief: a solitary palm-tree, the emblem of Christian faith, overtowers it. It is the parish church of St. John, standing only a few yards removed from the precipitous cliff, at a height of 823 feet above the sea1.

Rivers and Springs.-The calcareous nature of the greater part of Barbados does not permit us to expect a superabundance of water. In the Scotland district, where the soil is argillaceous, it is more frequent, and we find some streams which have been honoured with the high-sounding

1 I regret that the position of this church is not marked in nautical charts: it would serve during daytime as an excellent landmark chiefly for avoiding the dangerous reefs called the Cobblers, the north-eastern point of which bears from that church east-south-east. These reefs extend a considerable distance to seaward, and are but too frequently the scene of distressing shipwrecks. During calm weather there is scarcely a ripple over these sunken dangers.

name of rivers, although they are, when not swollen by rain, mere streamlets. The clays which prevail in the parishes of St. Andrew and St. Joseph, form frequently the substratum, and are so impervious, that at the time of tropical torrents, no percolation takes place; the water consequently accumulates on the surface, and follows the inclination of the ground, sweeping along with it the surface-soil and whatever offers resistance to its course. It is during such torrents that it proves impossible to cross any of these streams, and many accidents have occurred where it has been attempted, and loss of life has been in some instances the consequence.

The principal stream in Barbados is Scotland River in St. Andrew's; it is joined by Haggat's Spring, and another streamlet which receives the surface springs of the mountains, to the right and left of Bowden's and Turner's Hall Wood. They unite at a short distance from St. Andrew's Church, and form rather a large extent of water in consequence of the breakers having thrown up a barrier of sand at the sea coast which stems their course, and has forced them to expand. That expansion is called Long Pond.

Further southward is Joe's River, a similar streamlet to the former, which drains the valley of St. Joseph below cliff, and assumes likewise, during severe or continued rains, the character of a torrent.

A beautiful spring rises below the cliff at Codrington College, which is well-preserved, and of incalculable service to the cultivation of the sugar estate attached to the College.

In the parish of St. Philip is a somewhat similar spring, which irrigates three of the best estates in the parish. These estates have the use of the water alternately, and certain regulations are in force respecting it which are founded upon legislative enactments. These are called River or Watered Estates, and their produce is more certain, because in the dry season the cane-fields are refreshed from this stream by intersecting trenches.

Indian River lies to the north of Bridgetown and close to Fontabelle. The tradition of the former aboriginal inhabitants is closely connected with this river.

The leeward coast possesses several streamlets which make themselves a path towards the sea. The two largest are near Holetown and close to Six Men's Bay: Pory Spring gushes from a reservoir on the roadside, which leads through the parish of St. Thomas to Mount Hillaby. It is a highly romantic spot, to which I purpose dedicating a more detailed description hereafter; nor must I forget the spring which issues from the rocky sides of the cavern called Cole's Cave, and which is soon afterwards lost in a subterraneous channel.

There are, no doubt, a number of similar subterraneous channels carrying off the water which percolates from the surface through the porous rock. It is a well-known fact, that during low tide freshwater springs