Historical records of the 91st Argyllshire ... - waughfamily.ca

82 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE1836. This island, which has an area of only fortysevensquare miles, was, at the time the regimentlanded there, considered of great importance, asa port to water and obtain fresh vegetables forships to and from India vid the Cape. Itsappearance from the sea is gloomy and forbidding ;masses of volcanic rock, with jagged peaks, riseup round the coast, and form an iron girdle whichseems to bar all access to the interior.The whole island appears to bear evidence ofhaving been formed by the agency of fire, butso gigantic are the strata of which it is composed,and so disproportioned to its size, that it has beenthought by some to be the relic of a submergedcontinent. The highest point in the island isDiana's Peak, which is about six hundred milesdistance from Ascension (the nearest land), andtwelve hundred miles from the Capeof G-oodHope.James Town, the only town the place can boastof, is situated in the bottom of a wedgelike ravine,enclosed on each sideprecipices.by barren and overhangingIt consists of a long straggling streetrunning up a valley, with steep hills on each side.The houses are built in the same, style as thoseof small towns in England, generally of one, but