AGASSIZ : BAHAMAS. 11 



pods, all of species identical with those collected in the open part of the 

 bag dragged through the belt extending from one hundred fathoms to 

 the surface. It contained in addition some large Schizopods and Sa- 

 gittse, Tomopteris, Salpse, Diphyes, Pteropods, tasters of Rhizophysa, 

 and crustacean larvse. 



"We hoped also to have made a large number of deep-sea soundings ; 

 unfortunately the trades were unusually heavj' during the greater part of 

 our visit to the Bahamas, greatly interfering with such work on a vessel 

 no larger than the " Wild Duck," — one hundred and twenty-seven feet 

 on the water line. For the same reason, the number of deep-water pe- 

 lagic hauls was also much smaller than we had expected to make, as in a 

 heavy sea the appai'atus would have been greatly endangered. This was 

 something of a disappointment, as the yacht was specially equipped for 

 this work, and I had hoped, with the assistance of such skilled draughts- 

 men as were my assistants on this trip, Messrs. J. H. Emerton and A. G. 

 Mayer, to accumulate a large series of sketches of pelagic types. It is 

 a very different thing working at sea in a small yacht like the " Wild 

 Duck," from working in such vessels as the "Blake" and the "Alba- 

 tross," fitted up with every possible requirement for deep-sea work. 

 The " Wild Duck," on the other hand, was admirably adapted for cruis- 

 ing on the Bahama Banks, her light draught enabling her to go to every 

 point of interest, and to cross and recross the banks where a larger ves- 

 sel could not follow. I am under the greatest obligations to my friend, 

 Mr. John M. Forbes, for having so kindly placed his yacht at my dis- 

 posal for this exploration. 



The Bahamas (Plates I., VIII., IX., and X.) naturally divide them- 

 selves, first, into sunken banks like the Xavidad, Silver, and Mouchoir 

 Banks; next, islands occupying the whole or nearly the whole summit 

 of the banks from which they rise, like Watling, Bum Cay, Conception, 

 Samana, Mariguana, the Plana Cays, Inagua, Little Inagua, and the atoll 

 of Hogsty; then, banks having the semblance of atolis, like the Crooked 

 Island and Caicos Banks, which are fringed by low islands forming a cres- 

 cent with an open lagoon or flat between its horns ; next, Salt Cay Bank, 

 w T hich from its structure holds a position intermediate between the group 

 of sunken banks like Navidad and that resembling the Caicos Bank ; 

 and finally, such composite banks as the Little Bahama and Great Ba- 

 hama Banks, with the characteristics of a combination of banks resem- 

 bling all the others. 



Darwin, in his account of the reefs of the West Indies, 1 assumes "that 



1 Coral Reefs, 3d edition, London, 1889, Appendix, p. 266. 



