86 A. EF. Verrill—The Bermuda Islands; Geology. 
that remain. One, close by the Walsingham house, appears to be of 
considerable depth, but I had no means of sounding it. The bottom 
was not visible in strong sunshine. It may be 20 to 30 feet deep. 
When I visited it there were several large green-turtles swimming 
in it. A smaller sink of the same kind exists by the roadside on 
Coney Island. It may be 30 to 50 feet in diameter. Its banks are 
of limestone rocks, on all sides, either perpendicular or overhanging, 
and large flat slabs, evidently parts of the fallen roof, lie loosely on 
the bottom. The water is 6 to 10 feet below the brink and about 
8 to 12 feet deep. Large numbers of snappers and other large 
fishes were seen in it. 
The famous Devil’s Hole, on the west side of Harrington Sound, 
is another sink of precisely the same nature, but much larger. It 
may be nearly 100 feet across. Its perpendicular walls rise 10 to 15 
feet or more above the water. The water is said to be nearly 40 
feet deep, but I know of no accurate measurements. It is walled 
around and kept as a skow-place, on account of the large numbers 
of Hamlet groupers and other large fishes that are kept in it.* 
Webb’s Pond, near the Flatts, is another good example of a sink 
filled with the sea water. It is near the shore and is about 200 feet 
in diameter. It is said to be 14 feet deep. 
When any of these caverns or sinks extend below sea-level, 
whether their stalactites and stalagmites are submerged or not, it is 
conclusive evidence of considerable submergence, for such caverns 
are always excavated by percolating or running rain-water, which 
also forms the stalactites by exposure to air. But to many persons 
the submergence of the stalactites seems more tangible and convine- 
ing evidence. 
I shall show later that caverns and sinks exist which are entirely 
submerged beneath the sea. 
ce. Peat-bogs and Marshes. 
Many of the peat-bogs and fresh-water marshes are known to be 
so deep that their bottoms are considerably below the level of the 
sea. In a region where the rocks are so easily permeable as in 
Bermuda, the land and fresh-water marsh plants of which the peat 
is composed could only have grown when the bottom of the valleys 
*It is located at D, on map II. See also these Trans., xi, p. 468; ‘‘ The 
Bermuda Islands,” p. 56. These sinks make excellent preserves for fishes and 
sea-turtles. 
