130 



BULLETIN : MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



Matanzas by a deep gorge. This gorge must at one time have been the 

 entrance to a flask-shaped harbor very similar to such harbors as Nipe, 

 Padre, and the like, which once opened through this canon into the Bay 

 of Matanzas, but the bottom of which has been elevated above the present 

 level of the bay. 



We had an excellent opportunity, on going out of Matanzas on our 

 way to Havana, to observe the plainly marked first and second ter- 

 races inside of Sabanilla Point, just beyond the pilot station. Before 

 reaching Guanos Point the base of the second terrace is seen to be dis- 



TERRACES, GUANOS POINT, MATANZAS. 



tinctly undermined, the limestone sloping vei-y gently to the low bluff 

 of the first terrace. After passing Guanos Point the sea has encroached 

 upon the first and second terraces, leaving vertical bluffs which probably 

 represent the summit of the third terrace. The fourth terrace may be 

 seen indistinctly to the east of Guanos Point, at a height of from five 

 hundred to six hundred feet. In the background there are indications 

 of the fifth terrace. 



Matanzas to Havana. 



Plate I. and Plates XLIV. to XL.VI. 



On leaving Matanzas we come upon a stretch of coast line which 

 is in marked contrast with the configuration of the island to the east- 

 ward. The line of shore, protected by outlying cays, which extends 

 from Cardenas to Nuevitas, is now' replaced by a nearly continuous 

 vertical bluff, representing probably the summit of the third terrace, 

 which extends to about opposite the Managua Paps. This low shore 

 line belt of the third terrace is cut through by valleys following the 

 course of the small rivers which empty on this part of the north 

 shore between Matanzas and Havana ; as, for instance, the Rio Canasi, 

 the Santa Cruz valley, and the Jaruco River. An examination of some 

 of the cuts made by the rivers on this part of the coast might throw 

 important light on the history of the limestone forming the different 



