THE MAGAZINE 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



SEPTEMBER, 1836. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



Art. I. Notes on Natural Objects observed xvhile staying in Cuba. 

 By R. C. Taylor, Esq., F.G.S.L., Member of the Geological 

 Society of Pennsylvania, &c. 



JVIy last communication treated of scenes and natural history 

 in the back woods of North America [p. 72 — 74.]. With- 

 out undertaking to be profound in the details of natural 

 science, I propose now to trace a few out of the many objects 

 of interest in that department, by which I am surrounded, 

 during a temporary residence in a tropical region. It is not 

 probable that many of your readers are acquainted with the 

 north-eastern portion of the island from whence I write (Cuba) ; 

 for I believe that very little has been known or written on 

 this district, and that, possibly, it has never been visited by 

 men of scientific research. For the present, I shall limit my- 

 self to a very few points, selecting, in the first instance, one 

 that has furnished me with no small amusement during the 

 present year. 



EL BAXO.* 



By this Spanish name is designated the intermediate space 

 of moderately shoal water between the main land and the 

 reef. The spot possesses so many objects of a novel and 

 interesting character, particularly in furnishing a beautiful 

 example of a coral reef, that I propose to give the substance 

 of sundry memoranda of my visits to this coast. 



The reef stretches eastward, parallel with the shore, for 

 several miles, from the entrance of the fine bay of Gibara to 

 the smaller port of Vjaro ; and, although connected with the 

 land at its extremities, encloses an area of shallow water of 

 from a third to half a mile in breadth. Over this reef the 



* Pronounced Baho : the shoal, or shallow. 

 Vol. IX. — No. 65. l l 



