AGASSIZ: BAHAMAS. 141 



opposite shore of the Great Bahama Bank indicates that beyond the 100 

 fathom line the extension of the wide plateau off the main island takes a 

 more gentle slope to the central part of the trough, while the bank slope 

 is quite abrupt. (Plate V. Fig. 1.) It is the opposite in a section from 

 Paredon Grande to Guinchos Cay, the Cuban slope being the more abrupt. 

 (Plate V. Fig. 2.) In a section from Cay Lobos at right angles to the 

 channel across to Romano Cay, the two slopes are equally abrupt. 

 (Plate V. Fig. 3.) The same is also the case in the deeper section from 

 Cay Romano to Diamond Point, though the Cuban slope is slightly less 

 abrupt, (Plate V. Fig. 4.) As we go eastward the sections across the 

 approaches to the Old Bahama Channel become deeper ; in that from 

 Maternillos Point (Cay Sabinal) to Blue Hole Point, the Cuban slope is 

 the steeper. (Plate V. Fig. 5.) The contrary is the case in the section 

 from Sama Point to Cay San Domingo and Ragged Island. (Plate V. 

 Fig. 6.) The section from Cape Maysi (Point Azules) to Inagua (Plate V. 

 Fig. 7) shows the first eight hundred fathoms to be steeper, followed by 

 a gentler slope to the deepest part of the channel, while the Inagua slope 

 is more uniformly steep beyond the 200 fathom line. Off Haiti in aline 

 from Cape Isabella to Turk's Islands the Haitian slope is seen to be 

 steeper than that of the Turk's Islands Bank. (Plate V. Fig. 8.) The 

 sections across the Straits of Florida and across the Old Bahama Channel 

 (Plate IV. Figs. 1—3, Plate V. Figs. 1-9) show the depths of the troughs 

 which separate the Bahama Banks from Florida and from Cuba. The 

 extension of some of these sections across the banks to the Atlantic give 

 us an idea of their great expanse, and of the deep channels which cut into 

 the banks. First, the Providence Channels, which separate the Little 

 Bahama Bank from the Great Bank (Plate IV. Figs. 2, 3) ; others, 

 like the Tongue of the Ocean or Exuma Sound (Plate IV. Figs. 4-6), 

 which form deep bays into the bank itself; and finally the deep passages 

 that separate the smaller banks and connect the Atlantic directly with 

 the deep valley forming the approaches to the Old Bahama Channel. 



A section run from Jupiter Inlet to Memory Rock (Plate IV. Fig. 1), 

 across the bank to Great Sale Cay, and running off the Little Bahama 

 Bank outside of Pensacola Cay, shows that the soundings on the bank 

 between Great Sale Cay and Memory Rock are slightly deeper than 

 those to the eastward towards Pensacola Cay. There seems to be little 

 difference perceptible in the steepness of the Atlantic slope of the bank 

 from the 10 fathom line to about three hundred fathoms, as compared 

 with the slope off Memory Rock into the channel of the Gulf Stream. 

 A section from Hillsboro Inlet across the Northwest Providence Channel 



