AGASSIZ: BAHAMAS. 



129 



Matanzas. 



Plates I., XLII., and XLIII. 



As one approaches the entrance of Matanzas harbor the eroded hills 

 gradually pass into distinct terraces to the eastward of the mouth of the 

 bay. The low elevated coral reef forming the first terrace comes into 

 prominence, and next the line of the second can be distinctly traced, 

 while on the opposite shore near Sabanilla Point three of the terraces 

 are plainly marked. A part of the Bay of Matanzas and the Yumnri 

 Valley have undoubtedly been formed by erosion during the elevation of 

 the surrounding country. The extent of this erosion is seen on all sides 

 of Matanzas, from the terrace's of the eastern and western sides of the 

 harbor to the gently sloping hills rising to Bellamar, or to the conical 

 paps of Camarioca, or to the rolling foothills rising to the massive Pan 



PAN DE MATANZAS. 



de Matanzas, or to the vertical limestone cliffs nearly as high as the Pan 

 itself to the westward of it. The caves of Bellamar are the finest exam- 

 ples of the many caverns found in the limestone district of Cuba. Their 

 opening is on a comparatively level plateau from three hundred and fifty 

 to four hundred feet above the harbor; but to which one of the terraces 

 the plateau corresponds it is difficult to say. With the exception of the 

 terrace (perhaps the second) indicated in the railroad cutting as we as- 

 cend from the bay, there are no traces of other terraces. A few isolated 

 corals are found on the level of the entrance to the caves. The first ter- 

 race follows the line of the road, which runs round the bay on the east 

 side. At all cuts of the first terrace we find several species of corals, 

 apparently in place in the reef rock. From Montserrat one gets a 

 beautiful view of the Yumuri Valley. I found no corals anywhere in 

 the limestone on the way up, but a good many shells are embedded in 

 the limestone at an elevation of four hundred to four hundred and fifty 

 feet. The wide valley of Yumuri, with its terraces to the north, is shut 

 in by low ranges of hills, which are cut through immediately back of 



VOL. XXVI. — NO. 1. 9 



