158 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



Misteriosa Bank (Hydrographic Chart No. 96G) is the western extrem- 

 ity of a submarine chain flanking the northern side of Bartlett Deep 

 to the east of Cape Cruz, of which Cayman Brae and Little and Grand 

 Cayman are the summits, and to the north of which the isolated Pickle 

 Bank rises, upon which are from ten to forty fathoms of water, with a 

 coral sand bottom. Misteriosa Bank is twenty-four miles long, oval in 

 shape, with general depths of from ten to twelve fathoms and a coral 

 bottom. To the south of it are four other small banks with from thir- 

 teen to nineteen fathoms of water. Still farther south are the Swan 

 Islands, but the limits of the bank from which they rise have not been 

 determined. The islands are separated by a coral reef; they are flat, 

 sixty feet in height, and bounded by a bold, rocky shore. The sound- 

 ings upon the bank are from six to thirteen fathoms, increasing rapidly 

 to forty fathoms on the western side of the islands. 



Grand Cayman (Hydrographic Charts Nos. 43, 373, 947, Admiralty 

 Chart No. 402) is about forty feet high. At the southwest end a reef 

 runs out half a mile. All but the west side is skirted by a fringing or 

 barrier reef, which is steep to for a distance of a quarter of a mile to a 

 mile. At the east end it forms a solid barrier for the distance of a mile ; 

 on the south side there are several small cuts through the reef. At the 

 western end there is a large circular lagoon, Great Sound, with from one 

 to two fathoms, and a passage leading through the reef with from two to 

 two and a half fathoms. Cayman Bank, about ten miles west of Grand 

 Cayman, is a ridge of coral five miles long and half a mile broad, with a 

 depth of from fifteen to twenty fathoms. The edge drops very suddenly 

 to more than one hundred fathoms. 



The highest point of Little Cayman (Hydrographic Charts Nos. 43, 

 373, 9 t7, Admiralty Chart No. 462) is forty-eight feet. The south 

 coast is skirted by a fringing and barrier reef with a wide passage on 

 that side. The north coast is only fringed in part. The 100 fathom 

 line of the bank is generally half a mile from the shore. 



Cayman Brae (Hydrographic Charts Nos. 43, 947, Admiralty Chart 

 No. 4&2) rises to fully one hundred and thirty feet. The north and 

 south coasts are skirted by a brokeu reef; the 100 fathom line is about 

 half a mile off. 



The Coral Reefs along the North Shore of South America. 



Along the north shore of South America (Hydrographic Charts Nos. 

 40, 964, Admiralty Charts, West India Sheets VIII. to XL, Nos. 394, 



