4 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



est hills of the Bahamas. We then skirted Cat Island along its west- 

 ern face, rounded the southern extremity, and made for Riding Rocks 

 on the western side of Watling Island. We circumnavigated Watling, 

 passed over to Rum Cay, then to the northern part of Long Island, visit- 

 ing Clarence Harbor ; we next crossed to Fortune Island, rounded the 

 southern extremity, and passed to the east side, near the northern end of 

 the island, on the Crooked Island Bank. Leaving the bank by the same 

 track, we skirted its southern face, and steamed to Caicos Bank, crossing 

 that bank from French Cay to Long Island, passed by Cockburn Harbor, 

 and ended our eastern route at Turk's Island. From Turk's Island we 

 made Cape May si, skirting the southern shore of Cuba as far as Santiago 

 de Cuba. 



After coaling there we visited Inagua, and next steamed to Hogsty 

 Reef, a regular horseshoe-shaped atoll with two small cays at the western 

 entrance, where we passed three days studying the atoll. This to me 

 was an entirely novel experience ; we were at anchor in three fathoms 

 of water, surrounded by a wall of heavy breakers pounding upon the 

 narrow annular reef which sheltered us, forty-five miles from any land, 

 with a depth of nine hundred fathoms only three miles outside our quiet 

 harbor. I made some soundings in the lagoon and of the slope of the 

 reef outside. From Hogsty Reef we returned to Crooked Island Bank, 

 to the westward of which I also made some soundings to determine its 

 slope. Next we again visited Long Island, taking in the southern and 

 northern ends, which I had not before examined. From there we passed 

 to Great Exuma, stopping at Exuma Harbor and sounding into deep 

 water on our way out. We skirted the line of cays fringing Exuma 

 Sound to Conch Cut, where we entered the bank and sailed west, cross- 

 ing to Green Cay. From there we made the southwest end of New 

 Providence, and returned to Nassau. 



On our first cruise we were fortunate enough to strike Cape Maysi a 

 short time after daylight, and thus had a capital chance to observe the 

 magnificent elevated terraces and raised coral reef which skirt the whole 

 of the southern shore of Cuba from Cape Maysi to Cape Cruz, and make 

 so prominent a part of the landscape as seen from the sea. We were 

 never more than three miles from shore, and had ample opportunity to 

 trace the course of some of the terraces as far as Santiago, and to note 

 the great changes in the aspect of the shores as we passed westward, 

 due to the greater denudation and erosion of the limestone hills and ter- 

 races to the west of Cape Maysi, which seems to be the only point where 

 five terraces are distinctly to be seen. The height of the hills back of 



