ABSTRACT
THE West Indian Archipelago consists of a group of islands \vhich extend from the Gulf and Straits of Florida to the Gulf of Paria. They are situated between the tenth and the t\vcnty-cighth degree of north latitude, and between the fifty-ninth and eighty-fifth degree of ,,"est longitude from Grecn\\rich. Their general direction is frOln the coast ofEast Florida, south.. east to Cabo Engaiio, which fornls the eastern point of Hispaniola or St. DOluingo; from thence they describe a curved line, first eastward, and then southward. On the east and north they are bounded by the Atlantic; on the south by the Caribbean Sea, \vhich separates thenl from the northern coast of the republic of eOIOIUbia; and on the west, the Gulf of l\lexico intervenes between these islands and l\lexico. The south-eastern group, or those which extend fronl the Gulf of Florida to the southeast, contain the largest; they are Cuba, St. Donlingo, Jarnaica and Porto Rico; the others, "rhich stretch from north to south, are smaller j the principal islands of this group are Guadaloupe, l\lartinico, Barbados, and Trinidad.
