134 BULLETIN : MUSEUM OF COMPAHATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



of this region are " thickly covered with mushroom-shaped coral shoals, 

 which suddenly rise from soundings of five to eleven fathoms to just 

 awash." These coral heads are said to be especially thick in the vicin- 

 ity of Boca Grande, and extend towards the mainland. A prominent 

 reef extends all the way from Breton Cay north of Boca Grande as 

 far as Zai-za de Fuera Cay. From that point the reef is limited to a 

 short stretch of patches to the eastward of Trinidad. The coast there 

 is flanked by steep rocky cliffs. The 100 fathom line is close to the 

 shore as far as Cochinos Bay, the western shore of which is sandy, and 

 terminates in Piedras Cay, whence a bank extends to the westward 

 which connects with the Jardinillos Bank. The reef encircling this 

 bank starts from Diego Perez Cay in Cazones Bay, and extends on the 

 east face to East Guano Cay, the most easterly extT*emity of the bank. 

 The southern face of the bank is " skirted by a chain of reefs," broken 

 to form Rosario Channel. Beyond the channel a "formidable barrier 

 coral reef" runs on the prolongation of the bank out towards Dry 

 Shingle, to the eastern end of the Isle of Pines. Within Dry Shingle, 

 the Calapatch Mehagou Reef is one mass of corals just awash. 



The south coast of the Isle of Pines is skirted by a reef. On the 

 western side of the island there are, as on the shores of many of the 

 cays of the banks between Cape Cruz and Cape Corrientes, extensive 

 patches of " soboruco," parts of the first terrace or elevated reef of 

 Cuba. A coral reef closely skirts the whole west coast of the Isle of 

 Pines. The Isle of Pines is by far the largest of the islands and cays 

 which are dotted over the greater part of the wide banks off the south- 

 ern coast of Cuba. The eastern extension of the Isle of Pines Bank 

 reaches to Rosario Channel, and the western extension to Cape Frances. 

 The coral reef skirting the west coast of the island stretches to the 

 westward, bordering the San Felipe Cays, and from there to Cape 

 Frances there are patches of coral reefs. From Mangle Point, near 

 Cape Frances, to Cape Corrientes the coast is flanked by soboruco, with 

 here and there a short stretch of coral reef. 



On the north shore the Colorado Reefs extend nearly all the way from 

 Cape San Antonio to Cabanas. There are a number of openings through 

 the reef, with an inside channel navigable for small vessels (Plate XIII. 

 Fig. 5). To the east of Cape San Antonio the reef is at a consid- 

 erable distance from the coast line, extending across the mouth of the 

 wide bay formed between it and Buena Vista Opening. From here the 

 great barrier reef runs parallel with the coast, and is separated from 

 it by an irregular belt of low cays, not many in number, compared 



