History Of The Island Of St Helena From Its Discovery By The Portuguese To The Year 1823

Author : E. L. Jackson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331922209
Total Pages : 442 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (222 download)

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Download or read book St. Helena written by E. L. Jackson and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-21 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from St. Helena: The Historic Island, From Its Discovery to the Present Date This most solitary island, probably an extinct tertiary volcano, is one of the peaks of a range of mountains traversing the South Atlantic Ocean, Ascension, with Green Mountain, and Tristan d'Acunha, with peak 8, 000 feet high, being parts of the same range. Geologists have been unable to fix with exactness its chronological position, from the circumstance of its fossils being peculiar to the island, and therefore furnishing no clue to the geological age of the formations in which they occur. The volcanic forces which have produced the complicated disturbances so conspicuous throughout the island must have ceased at a very remote period, as it has evidently retained for ages its existing conformation. At the height of many hundred feet above the level of the sea, shells in considerable numbers are found, embedded in the soil; these shells were formerly supposed to be of marine origin, but a more careful examination has shown them to be (altogether) of a land species, and of a kind no longer found in a living state. Their destruction, which has been imputed to the clearing away of the original forests, is more probably owing to geological causes. The principal component of the island is a dark lava, the successive streams of which are very distinctly marked on the faces of the abrupt cliffs which form the coast. In its central and higher parts, a different series of rocks has, from extreme decomposition, produced a clayey soil, which, where not covered with vegetation, is seen in bright bands of colour. Some of this mud or clay presents a wonderful appearance, the tints being of all shades. On one side is seen the beautiful mauve and violet peculiar to the pansy, on another the shaded reds and pinks of geraniums, and, at a distance, the colourings appear suitable for pigments, but on inspection are found to be of a very coarse nature. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.