36 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE BAHAMAS 



force, and probably ran out again with sufficient rapidity to cause 

 a small whirlpool. In another boiling hole near Mangrove Cay the 

 water was seen ascending. 



These facts prove not only that an underground connection exists be- 

 tween these holes and the ocean, but that the connection is an open one, 

 so that the water can flow freely through it, and thus the pressure result- 

 ing from the passing tidal wave is shown before the tide commences 

 to rise on the shore. The ocean holes, I believe, can be explained 

 by supposing them to be old boiling holes in which the connection has 

 been stopped up, and their greater size caused by the falling-in of the 

 ledge on the edge, which would aid in the stoppage. I regret that I 

 have no facts to offer on the depth of the boiling holes, for the only one 

 I stopped to examine was at Conch Sound, and this one ran under the 

 ledge, so that its depth could not be determined. The ocean hole at 

 Nicols Town, described above, is also, I believe, an old ocean hole 

 now elevated. 



Banana Holes 



These are holes found mainly on the elevated parts of the land on 

 both New Providence and Andros. They contain a quantity of earth 

 in the bottom, in which the natives plant their bananas, hence the 

 name. 



In shape and dimensions these holes vary greatly. Some are cylin- 

 drical, about four feet in diameter, but at the same time twenty feet or 

 more in depth. Others are from ten to twenty-five feet across, and 

 some even larger, and often of an irregular shape and much longer 

 than wide. 



The walls are often excavated below, so that the side becomes an 

 overhanging ledge and forms a small cave. In some a cave begins at 

 the side of the hole and runs backward. It is hence hard to draw the 

 line between these holes and the caves. There are also holes that are 

 not called banana holes, but which may be here described, as they dif- 

 fer only in shape. In some the opening is barely large enough to allow 

 a man to pass. One such I descended, and found that below it was over 

 five feet in diameter and cylindrical. The top had been excavated so 

 as to form a domed roof. 



Other holes were connected by a horizontal passage through which 

 I could crawl from one to the other. One of these I saw near Conch 



