lets of L e Robert and L e François on the other side.
Below this huge gash, which is thickly plastered
with mangrove swamps, is another expanse of
mountainous territory to the south terminating in
the Morne du Diamant. T h e whole area of near
four hundred square miles is mountainous, the loftiest
height being Mount Pelée, 445° feeL
north-west, near the foot of whose western slope on
the coast is the bay upon which St. Pierre is built.
Farther south, midway of the oval, are the three
crests of Courbet, and all along the mighty ridge are
black and ragged cones of old volcanoes. These
slumbering monsters cannot y et be reckoned as
absolutely harmless, for in 1851, after a century of
seeming quietude, Mount Pelée broke out with a
dangerous eruption.
In the section south of the deep bay there are
two less elevated and more irregular ridges, one
running south-east and terminating in the Piton
Vauclin, and the other extending westward and
presenting to view on the coast Mounts Caraibe
and Constant. A ll the east coast is notched with
inlets and fringed with reefs, showing how the embroidery
of the tireless polyp still goes on. The
mountainous interior is torn and gashed with the
ancient throes of volcano and earthquake, and there
are perpendicular scarps, deep clefts and gorges,
black holes filled with water, and swift torrents
dashing over precipices and falling into caverns ;
but over all this ravage of the primal ages the soaking
rains and fervid sun of the tropic zone have
wrought upon the rich lava soil a robe of verdure