Remarks on Anegada Robert Hermann Schomburgk Journal of the Royal Geographical Socie@ of hndon, Vol. 2. (1832),pp. 152-170. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=O266-6235%281832%292%3C 152%3AROA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London is currently published by The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/tems.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/rgs.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org/ Sat Dec 2 20: 18:25 2006 declaring that he WOIII~makc 11im responsible for the hindrance thus offered to the prosecution and snccess of tlie expedition ; and this 11:d tlie efrcct of creating alarn~,a11d inducing the conl- niandmt to rqucst :t copy 01. Mr. J{ro~v~~'sorders7 that he mi$t co11s11It at leisure about opening the governme~~tstores to hn. But thc (k1:1y ad uncertainty thus occasioned, together with the cleat11 of tlicir con~p~~ion~seem e:dy to have had an injurious effect oil t11c spirits of tllc party, a11d a very short time co~~cluded the SLeIle. 011 tlie 27th of Auqust, hlr. Browme? wlio had already several tin~ese\l)e~ic~uxd sl~ght attacks of fever, was taken more serioudy ill ; ad1115 jo11li1:1I tc~~n~uateson the Qd September. He appcars to ha\e (11e(!:~bont the 4th. Ado111sand A~itoniowere next se~zed. but rccovescd. Ajr. Kilpatrick was attacked 011 the 1st September ; a~idalt110~1gI1 lie hgercii a co~~siderabletime, and permission was eve~~t~~allygranted hin~to proceed to rl'ette7 his spirit gradually sunk?and he returned to C~liapongah,on his way down the river. Ile was 11ereqiin l~ospital~lyreceived by Do~inaPascoa, wllo rel~ewed her ciYost,s to persuade him to try the country nlethod of cure; but illstead of this, although his habits had been previously abste- mious, he sought comfort and consolation in excesses, which ter- n~inatcdhis life on the %tli October. He was faitl~fullyattended to the last by the two black servants, who, after his death, returned to Quilli~nane~and were re-embarked. 1Juri11gtlie first three or four days after the arrival of tlie party at S~IIII~,liglit wincls prevailed from the ~iorth-east?and the ther- n~on~etervar~ed from 70' to 76'. One night it stood at the latter at t~vclveo'clock. Tlie wind afterwards changed to tlie south- west7 wit11 iutcrvals of caln~s,but the ther~nonieteraveraged nearly as before. 'l'he se~isationof heat, however, is represented to have bee11 alwajs greater t11a1imight have been expected from the idi- catiom of the ther~iionieter. X.-Rcmu~lc~on A:zegudc~. Conm~micatedby Robert Herman11 Scl~ornbu~~k~l<s(~.~ 3lcn1ber of the lort ti cultural Society of lh Iin-2. 11c:d %th of JIIIIC~ISX?. Of its 11istory little is ~II~WII; aid there is no likclil1ood t11at it was settled early. Phe J~bat,the only early writer who speaks of the lesser \\'at India islai~ds,ol~scrves~ that the aborigines used it :IS an occasio~lalrendezvous, whest: hey procured great quan- tities of COIICIIS (strondm~$y~s) ; ai~dlarce pIIes of these shells are still to be seen at the east end of the island, but 1low11ere else ; wl~icllseenis to prove decidedly that it was not per111a11e11tIy occupied, but ~nerelyresorted to from time to the. rl'llcse COIICIIS are still foui~d111 great 11~111bcrs~II t11c sl~allo~vwaters at the cast end, cl~ieflyill the n~o~itl~sof May ad 3ovcn1ber; and the dry sl~ellspiled up have all a hole in the lower eucl of the spire, for dic11 the 111ost probable reasoii is,. that. the :11ii1m1 is thus n~ost easily estractcd. It aplmlrs surprlsnlg that so much care sl~ould 11ave been t:~ken to pile thein up, and it lm been surmised, in consequence, tl~tthese heaps were burial-places ; but sever:11 have been taken ciowu, a11d burnt for lime (the quahty of w11ich is excelle~~t)~witllout any trace llavins bee11 fou~dof IILI~~~IILOII~S, or otllcr extrmeous substance. A11d it is more probable that they were ~nerelypilcd up to be out of the way, the current not being strong euough to cassy then1 off had they been thrown into the sea ; wl~cre,11:1d tlwy rtm:~i~~ed,tl~cy WOLII~ 11aw embarrassed the iihing for the liviug a~lin~al. At a later period the retired bays of the island served :IS a lurk- place to the B~~ccaueers,iiirke adBoue behg said to have especially frequented it ; :III~the latter II~ISbequeathed his name to a creek on the 11ort11 side, wl~ichappears to 11ave beeu his favourite ~xxort. Lltir~~atel?,:IS the trade among the Wcst lnclia islands became more l~equeut,ad repeated sl~ipwrecks in this quarter 11cId out hopcs of :uIvantage to those who might be in the i~cigl~bo~~rl~oodto prolit by them, settlers took up their per111a11ent residence 011 the island, aud were, at one time, more numesous eveu than they :I~C IWW. 'Xlley found that the loose ground wl~iclicovered it was capable of bearing provisiou crops, and even cot to^^; vide the rearing of stock7 and sale of the under- wood, wl~icliwas progressively cleared away, and \\hic11, beiug very full of gum, 11ad a prefcre~icein the market of St. rl?~o~nas',fur- nislied a further resource. 'I'l~e great object, llowevcr, always was, and still is, the wreck of vessels ; ai~dthe i~~dolenceof the in1l:tbitmts is only tl~oro~~ghlyroused by the cry of--< A vessel on the reef.' rIh~all are roused to activity; scarcely is the news a~~nounced,t11a11 boats of cvcry clescriptio~~:sl~allops and saihg vessels, are pusl~cdoff with :ill hste towards the scene of :~ction; arms wI1ic11 hvc been idle for weeks are bro~~gl~tiuto exercise ; aud both skill and intrepidity are tasked to the ~~ttermostto get first on board. 'L11e scene7 i~~clced,baffles descsiptio~~; a~~d it is to be feared t11at fcw arc attracted by ~i~otivesof li~manity,tl~ougli 154 Remarks on Anegada. sonic such do exist; for the name of Mr. Gildersleve, in parti- cular, must ever be mentioned nitli respect and gratitude by all who have visited, or been driven on, Auegada. The surface of the island is the production of the industiious tribe of lit/mpfn/tce, based (it may be presumed) as usual on a submarine elevation ; and, as it has been supposed that the West Indies have been detached from the Floridas by an irruption of the ocean, the whole may be considered as a chain of moun- tains pro.jecting from tile American continent. The soundings between Virgin Cionia and Anegada are tolerably regular, beingfrom 8 to KJ fatlioms ; and there is, therefore, no doubt that the two coniniiiuic:ite, and form parts of one system. But their nature is quite different; primitive rocks ill the former, while, in the latter, we rind only layers of limestone and coral. Shall we conclude, therefore, that Virgin Gorda owes its existence to volcanic action, while Aiicgatia has only been raised progressively by tlie labour of the madrcpores'! No hag- nieuts of coral rock are found above a certain height0 in Viro-in0 Gorda; where, on the contrary, a particular kind of granite rises in huge masses, and is very peculiarly arranged at a place called ' The Bath.' Flic direct distance between the two islands is 114 nautical miles ; and the appearance of Anegada, when approaching it from this side, viz. from the south-west, is remarkable. First, single trees show themselves on the horizon ; then the most elevated part of tlic island, called Frank's Lauding, which may be distin- guished, in clear weather, about 8 miles oft; ad, last of all, the lower land. The lead usually brings up pieces of coral rock, with coarse sand and broken shells. The greatest depth of water is near Virgin Gorda. At eight miles distance from Anegada there are from 8 to 11 fathoms, decreasing, :;is tl~eshoals are approached, to 4 fathoms. The outer edge of the reef is marked in some places by the water breaking ; in others, merely the brown heads of the rocks, contrasted with the white colour of the bottom where clear. indicate the dansrer.a Considerable skill is renuisite1 to pass tlirough the openings ; but inside there is good anchorage in Q1- fatlionis. about a 1111le fiom tlic beach. Vessels drawinsr more .4 a water anchor outside, 111 Horn 4 to 6 fathoms. On hinding, the beach is found cvcrywl~crccoated with a grey, siliceous, and calcareous substance (the predominant ingredients in which are clay, fragments of limestone, and vegetable fibres), : which seems to be denosited bvJ.