304 Naturalist at Large 



Referring to the same subject, Mr. Agassiz writes 

 (pp. 112-113): - 



At the time of this connection, if it existed, the 

 Caribbean Sea was connected with the Atlantic only 

 by a narrow passage of a few miles in width between 

 St. Lucia and Martinique, by one somewhat wider and 

 slightly deeper between Martinique and Dominica, 

 by another between Sombrero and the Virgin Islands, 

 and by a comparatively narrow passage between 

 Jamaica and Hayti. The hundred-fathom line con- 

 nects the Bahamas with the northeastern end of Cuba; 

 the five-hundred fathom line unites them not only 

 with Cuba, but also with Florida. The Caribbean Sea, 

 therefore, must have been a gulf of the Pacific, or 

 have been connected with it by wide passages, of 

 which we find the traces in the tertiary and cretaceous 

 deposits of the Isthmus of Darien, of Panama, and of 

 Nicaragua. Central America and northern South 

 America at that time must have been a series of large 

 islands, with passages leading between them from the 

 Pacific into the Caribbean. 



And on page 113: — 



While undoubtedly soundings indicate clearly the 

 nature of the submarine topography, it by no means 

 follows that this ancient land connection did exist as 

 has been sketched above. At the time when the larger 

 West India Islands were formed and elevated above 

 the level of the sea, they may have been raised as one 

 gigantic submarine plateau of irregular shape, in which 



