298 CUBA AND POETO EIOO 



give to then] ;i glaring white aspect in the sotting of blue 

 waters and crystalline atmosphere. 



The islands are merely the exposed tips of a great sub- 

 merged ridge, having an outline and configuration which 

 would bo crudely comparable to the island of Cuba if the 

 latter were so submerged that its highest points merely 

 reached the surface. In fact, the trend and character of 

 tli is 1 tank are such as to suggest that it might possibly rep- 

 resent one of the lost Antilles. The bank is more of a pe- 

 ninsula than an island, projecting as it does southeastward 

 from the narrow submerged shelf of the Atlantic coast a 

 kind of submarine extension of eastern Florida, as it were. 



The shallow waters around the Bahamas are beautiful. 

 Some of the deeper basins, encircled by reefs, are called 

 sea-gardens, from the lovely growth of polyps and marine 

 algae which can be seen beneath the water. Crocodiles and 

 manatees are also found near some of the shores. 



There are several groups of these islands, the largest of 

 which, constituting fully one half the area, and situated to 

 the westward, is known as the Great Bahama Bank, from 

 the vast shallow platform from which it rises above the 

 water. This group comprises Andros, the largest of the 

 Bahamas, at its northern extremity, Green Key, New 

 Providence, Eleuthera, Watlings, and Long islands. To 

 the east there are four smaller groups the Fortune island 

 group, the Caicos or Turks island group, and (just north 

 of Samana, San Domingo) the Silver and Navidad banks. 

 Great Inagua, situated near the Windward Passage, oppo- 

 site the converging ends of Cuba and Santo Domingo, is a 

 kind of outlier to the south of the main chain. 



Some of these islands, like Navidad, Silver, and Mou- 

 choir banks, barely reach the surface of the water ; others 

 are similar banks which project well above it ; while others 

 still are compounds of the two types. 



From the sea the Bahamas appear as low stretches of 

 green land bordered by a strip of white beach or surf, with 

 here and there a few villages, built of American lumber. 



