C H A P T E R X X X V I I
BARBADOS
TH E island of Barbados is isolated from the rest
of the West Indies in more senses than one.
It is ninety-five miles from the nearest point in the
Caribbees, which is the southern end of St. Lucia,
and the intervening space sinks to a depth of 1350
fathoms, or more than 8000 feet. It is still farther
from Tobago and the continental system of South
America, with abysmal depths of ocean between.
It is the flattened top of a vast cone, lifted during
the reign of “ chaos and old night ” by Titanic
forces beneath, at a weak spot in the earth’s crust,
out of the profound depths to the water’s surface,
and there covered during long ages with coral deposits.
Its limestone structure is in layers which
indicate a succession of upheavals, and from certain
points of view the present surface rises in terraces
toward a central elevation. Quarries reveal the different
coral beds distinctly. On the windward side
the aspect is more broken and the work of external
erosion is more apparent. There is a highland section,
popularly called “ Scotland,” where there is
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