The Bahamas, Old and New 107 



land masses of what are now groups of many separate is- 

 lands. I also believe there may have been a lot of down- 

 thrusting of fault blocks in the Bahamas. It is impossible 

 even to guess when this occurred but there are many 

 reasons to postulate isostatic disequilibrium in the whole 

 Bahamas-Greater Antillean area. 



I agree with those geologists who believe that the Yunque 

 of Baracoa in Cuba (well-named the anvil because it is a 

 great steep-sided block of a mountain) and the similar- 

 looking Morro of Monte Criste in the Dominican Repub- 

 lic are upthrust fault blocks, and the channels between 

 the islands with their steep walls dropping off quite close 

 to shore are perhaps compensatory downthrust blocks. 

 While the Bahamas are flat the Greater Antilles are moun- 

 tainous. A vast predominance of limestone has gone into 

 their make-up. Of course this limestone has made possible 

 the perfectly unbelievable variety of mollusks that are to 

 be found there. Hundreds of valid species have been de- 

 scribed and the end is not yet by any manner of means. 

 Collecting mollusks in this part of the world is a most 

 fascinating pastime. The species, many of them, are un- 

 believably beautiful and although they have a tantalizing 

 way of disappearing in dry weather it only takes a shower 

 or two to bring them forth in utterly incredible swarms. 



I had an opportunity to visit the island of Great Inagua 

 on several occasions. Matthewtown, its principal settlement, 

 was a dreary relic of what once obviously was a place of 

 some importance. The great salt pans behind the town were 

 interesting only because of the presence of a few strag- 

 gling flamingos, while the animal life of the island had 



