Montserrat of Montserrat is approximately east-southeast of Puerto Rico and southwest of Antigua. The island lies north-northwest of Suriname and French Guiana (France). It comprises and is gradually increasing owing to the buildup of volcanic deposits on the southeast coast. The island is long and wide, with rock cliffs rising above the sea and a number of smooth bottomed sandy beaches scattered among coves on the western (Caribbean) side of the island. Montserrat has two islets, Virgin and Statue Rock. In July 1995, Montserrat's Soufrière Hills volcano, dormant for centuries, erupted and soon buried the island's capital, Plymouth, in more than
Plymouth Colony the Pawtucket River to found the settlement of Providence, the nucleus for the colony of Rhode Island, which was formally established with the "Providence Plantations Patent" of 1644. Various settlers from both Rhode Island and Plymouth began to settle along the area, and the exact nature of the western boundary of Plymouth became unclear. The issue was not fully resolved until the 1740s, long after the dissolution of Plymouth Colony itself. Rhode Island had received a patent for the area in 1693, which had been disputed by Massachusetts Bay Colony. Rhode Island successfully defended the patent, and a royal decree