To the north of the western extremity of Tortola is Jost van Dyke's Island, which is more than 3 miles long and about 1 mile wide. It resembles Tortola in soil and productions. To the south of Tortola, about 4 miles from the island, extends a row of islands from Broken Jerusalem on the east-north-east to the western extremity of St. John. They are all rocky and elevated, but small. The largest, St. Peter's, has an area of 1890 acres. Between this row of islands and Tortola is Sir Francis Drake's Channel, which is of difficult navigation ou account of the numerous rocks and shoals, the strong tides, and the heavy swell of the sea.
The Danish Virgin Islands, St. John, St. Thomas, Santa Cruz, and numerous islets, are situated between 64° 40' and 65° 10' W. long.
The island of Si. John lies about a mile distant from Tortola : it is about 8 miles long, and on an average 3 miles wide. The surface is very uneven, the mountains reaching a height equal to that of the Tortola eminences. Sugar, coffee, and cotton are cultivated on level tracts near the sea-shores. In the interior maize and ground pro visions are cultivated. There are several good anchorages, the beat of which is Coral Bay. St. John, a small town at the western extremity of the island, possesses a good harbour. The island of St. Thomas, west of St. John, has an area of about 30 square miles. Its uneven ness of surface renders a considerable portion of it unsuitable for agriculture.. The soil is mostly a dry loam. Maize, ground pro visions, and fruits are cultivated to some extent. Moat of the white inhabitants of this island and of St. John are of Dutch origin, and Dutch is the common language. The town of St. Thomas is built on the north shore of a fine bay, which has good anchorage for 200 vessels. Being a free port, open to all nations, it is an important entrepot for articles of plantation consumption, and is the chief mart of the inhabitants of the Virgin Islands generally. The town is fortified. The population is about 3000, of whom about 400 are whites. The most important of the Danish possessions is Santa Cruz, or St. Croix, in the Columbian Archipelago. Though it does not pro perly belong to the group of the Virgin Islands, it is usually reckoned along with them. It lies between 17° 40' and 17° 50' N. lat., 61' 30' and 65° W. long., and is 24 miles long and nearly 8 miles broad in its widest part, containing an area of about 110 square miles. Along the northern shores there is s. chain of hills, of which the eastern extre mity spreads over the whole width of the island. The island is com paratively fertile, the sugar-cane, cotton, and provisions being produced. The island is traversed In its whole extent lengthwise by three good roads. The greater number of the whites on the island are of English origin, and English is the language moat generally spoken. The population is upwards of 30,000, including about 2500 whites. The capital of Santa Cruz is Christianstadt, also called the Basic, which stands on a small bay ou the northern shore. This town, one of the beet built in the West Indies, stands on the gentle declivity of a hill.
The streets, which are parallel to the sea, are wide and straight, and rile like terraces one above the other. Christianstadt is the seat of the governor of the Danish possessions in the West Indies. The government-house has the appearance of a palace, and there are several other handsome publio buildings. There are four churches (Danish, Dutch, English, and Roman Catholic), and two elementary schools for poor boys and girls. Frederickstadt, at the western extre
mity of the island, has a population of 1500, and a good roadstead.
The Spanish Virgin Islands are a short distance from tho eastern coast of Puerto Rico, and consist of two islands of moderate extent, and of several islets. The northern island, called Culebra (Snake Island), or Passage Island, has an area of about 10 square miles, is rocky, and risen to a moderate elevation. The products are auger and coffee. The population is only about 300. The southern island, called Bisque, or Crab Island, extends from east to west about 16 miles, and is between 3 and 4 miles wide. On the northern side is a great lagoon, which usually dries up at the close of the dry season. The western part of the island is rocky and hilly. About two-thirde, of the surface of the bland is low, level, and overgrown with trees and bushes.
Climate.—These Wands have two rainy and two dry seasons. The short rainy season begins in May, and Lute from 15 to 20 days. The heat in this season is equal to that of tho summer in Southern Europe. In July and August the heat is considerable, the thermo meter in August usually marking 92' at noon. lu September the rain comes down like a deluge, and speedily make? the surface of the Wands a sheet of water. Between July and October hurricanes occur. The summer or dry season commences generally in December, and from this period till the month of April showers are rare, and the beat is moderate. This is the meet healthy and the most agreeable season of the year. Earthquakes occasionally occur, but the shocks are generally alight. On the northern shores of these islands a very heavy swell, called tho 'groundeea,' is experienced between October and May, and sometimes later. This swell has worn away much of the lower parts of the northern shores, leaving the coasts lined in many places with high rucks or cliffs.
Productions.—The chief articles of export are sugar, rum, a little cotton, and salt from Auegada. Maize and guinea-corn are cultivated. The castor-oil plant and the tamarind grow wild, but are also culti vated. Other wild-growing and useful plants are the Aloe perfoliata and the Agave Americana. In the forests are many useful trees, among which are mahogany- and fustic-trees. There are no wild quadrupeds, and birds are rare. There are two or three kinds of turtles. Fish is plentiful.
History.---Santa Cruz and the Virgin Islands were discovered by Columbus ou his second voyage, 1494. They were then inhabited, and Santa Cruz was the most northern island in which the Caribbees had established themselves ; but towards the end of the 16th century no inhabitants were found on them. In the 17th century these islands became the resort of buccaneers; some Dutch buccaneers began to settle Tortola in 1648, but were expelled from the island by the English in 1666, and since that time the island has always been iu their possession. The island of St. Thomas was settled by the Danes in 1672; and a few years later the Danes also possessed themselves of St. John. These islands were taken by the British in 1801, but were restored in the following year. They surrendered to the English in 1807, and continued in their hands till 1815, when they were again restored to the Danes. The British islands are under the authority of the governor of St. Kitts, but they have a separate legislative assem bly, which meets at Read Town. The Danish islands are under the care of the Danish governor residing at Christianstadt; and the Spanish islands are dependencies of PUERTO Rico.