een A 
BRANNER: THE STONE REEFS OF BRAZIL. 95 
or more at low tide along this side of the reef, 
grow on the faces of these reefs below low w 
The stone reef at Santa Cruz. — Santa Cruz, in the State of Bahia, 
is a small town about two hundred and seventy kilometres south of the 
city of Bahia. It stands at the mouth and on the south side of the Rio 
da Santa Cruz, which river enters the Bahia de Cabral from behind and 
around the north end of a stone reef, 
The general topography of the region 
Special note. There is a striking resembl 
raphy of Porto Seguro. 
The flat-topped hills with an elevation 
down to the shores, 
Santa Cruz river. 
In most cases corals 
ater." 
about Santa Cruz is worthy of 
ance between it and the topog- 
of about fifty metres here come 
The plateau is cut across at this place by the 
The valley, however, instead of being v-shaped, is 
steep only at the widely Separated margins, while the floor of the valley 
is broad and flat. The hills at the town of Santa Cruz 
the church stands are so steep on the northwest side that 
perpendicular ab several places. Low m 
the mouth of the river and follow up this stream for many kilometres, 
but it is to be noted that there is both near the mouth of the 
further up the valley much land standing at an elevation of 
metres above tide. This is flat land, however. 
across the mouth of this valley, but stands a little 
The river strikes the reef near its southern end, bends northward, and 
enters the sea around the north end of the reef, The south end of the 
reef laps back against the beach opposite the town. At its north end 
it is double, and as it breaks down isolated rocks continue for a few 
hundred metres beyond the end of the solid rock, At low tide this reef 
appears to stand about two metres out of water. 
To the landward of the reef is a long 
unlike most of such reefs this one is not much undercut by the river that 
flows from behind it. It has a large break at one point, 
I saw but little of the Santa Cruz reef and therefore give Hartt's de- 
scription of it.! He says that it begins “ on the shore just to the south 
of the village, continues in the trend of the beach, which is north a few 
degrees east, with an occasional break for a distance of about two miles, 
the river flowing 
behind it and escaping around its northern e 
At low water the bre 
and on which 
they are nearly 
angrove Swamps are visible about 
stream and 
about three 
The reef extends right 
way out from the hills. 
line of mangrove swamps, so that 
xtremity. 
akers show that the reef is continued under w 
with the samo general trend northward, tying in with 
ginning at a point 
ater 
a reef which, be- 
about a mile north of the tiver-mouth, fringes the 
1 Geology and physical geography of Brazil, р. 232-234. 
