WEST INDIES, a term applied to the archipelago which separates the Atlantic from the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The name perpetuates the notion of Columbus that by sailing west he should reach India, or Hinduatan; it was for some time synonymous with America. Geographers sometimes call these islands the Oolumbian A rch ipelago, because nearly all the islands were discovered by Columbus. On the continent of Europe the name ANTILLES has been generally retained. Various names are given by seamen of different nations to different portions of the archipelago. The Spaniards introduced the distinction of Windward and Leeward Isles (llarlovento and Sotto vent,). By Wiedward Isles English navigators mean the group that lies south of, and includes, Martinique; while the Leeward Isles com prise the islands between Martinique and Puerto Rico : these two group., together with a series of islets along tho north coast of Vene zuela, constitute the Lesser Antilles. The most northerly of the Lee ward Isles form the group of the VIRGIN ISLANDS. The larger islands —Puerto Rico, San Domingo, Jamaica, and Cuba—which bound the Caribbean Sea on the north, are called the Greater Antilles ; and outside these towards the Atlantic, on the north-east, are the great banks on which rest the Ltwayas, or BAHAMAS.
The archipelago of the West Indies extends from to 27° 30' N. lat., 59° 30' to 85° W. long., and the islands are divided into three groups : the Bahamas, lying between 27° 30' and 20° N. lat., 70° and 80' W. long. ; the Greater Antilles, between 23° 30' and 18' N. lat., 65' and 83' W. long. ; and the Lesser Antilles, extending from 10° to 10' N. lot, 50' 30' to 66° W. long. The most northern portion of this archipelago, or that part which is north of 20° N. lat., is noticed under BAHAMAS; the Greater Antilles are described under CUBA, HISPANIOLA, JAMAICA, and PUERTO RICO; the British West India Islands are severally noticed under their proper heads, as are also the more important of the islands belonging to France, Denmark, and Holland. Lists of the islands belonging to these different states are
given under A muss. The gross area of the West Indies is estimated at 86,023 square miles, that of the British possessions at 13,272 square miles. It remains in this article to take a brief glance at the formation, climate, and products of the archipelago.
The islands dispersed over the Bahama banks are low, with the exception of the islands of Heneagua, or Inagua, and Mayagangn, or Marignana, both eitunted in a wide opening to the north of the Wind ward Passage which separates Cuba from Hispaniola. They hardly rise more than Fix feet above high-water mark, and their shores are formed by nualrepores or coral. They are all long, and very narrow. Towards the centre of the islands the soil is composed of sand and caleareona rocks, with an intermixture of shells. It is generally hard, and partially covered with abrubs or with low trees, some of which produce dye-woods. The banks themselves rise nearly perpendicularly from an unfathomable depth. Where their edges are not formed by Wands there is a depth of three to ten fathoms of water on them, but this depth decreases gradually towards the inter for of the banks, where it is frequently only a few feet. There are also large tracts which are dry at low-water, and in other places there are single rocks or cliffs. The surface of the banks is composed of calcareous sand intermixed with shells.
The extensive banks which surround the greater part of the island of Cuba prove that this island rests on a bank similar to the Great Bahama Bank. These banks surround the island so as to leave only a few places of cornparatively small extent, where large vessels have access. [CUBA.) The eastern portion of Cuba however is free from banks, and in those districts alone the mountains rise to a considerable elevation, whilst those parts which are surrounded by banks contain only hills.