122 ALFRED IV. G. WILSON 



side probably a little coarser than that on the west. The spit, as 

 a whole, resembles a cap which has been built by the gravels on 

 the end of a minor salient of the mainland by the waves when 

 readjusting the shore curves. The main portion of the spit con- 

 sists of a large irregular or wavy topped terrace of coarse gravel, 

 built out in front of the mainland. For the most part the earlier 

 beaches have lost their individual identity. At the outer margin 

 several of the later ones are still persistent, inclosing shallow 

 lagoons. 



The spit was particularly interesting as it exhibited several 

 features, which are described in detail because it is thought that 

 their mode of formation is an index of the way in which the large 

 V bars and V terraces were built up. The eastern side of the 

 spit at the water line had a serrate margin, there being ten dis- 

 tinct, well-marked minor cusps, which for convenience in descrip- 

 tion may be called cusplets. Each of these had a long, gently 

 curving shore line on the side toward the advancing waves. The 

 free end of the cusplet was joined to the main shore by a short, 

 abrupt, concave curve. Sometimes the free end of the cusplet 

 was drawn out into a sharp, well-developed point. The best- 

 formed cusplets had a sharp median ridge extending down the 

 axis, and often prolonged as an apical spine at the free end. 

 The outer slope, toward the water, was very steep, at first almost 

 a straight line, and then gradually curving around to the normal 

 subaqueous beach curve. The inner slope was much flatter. The 

 curve of the shore line of the individual cusplets was approxi- 

 mately adjusted to the curve of advance of the front of the waves 

 which were building and shaping them (see Fig. 9). The finer 

 gravel lay on the longer back slopes, the coarser fragments, often 

 small plates rather than rounded pebbles, were concentrated on 

 the steeper frontal slopes. 



These serrations on the side of the spit seem to owe their 

 origin to the attempt of the waves of a particular series of 

 storms, coming from a nearly constant direction, to readjust the 

 curvature of the shore line to the curvatures of their own fronts. 

 Off shore the waters are very deep, and the shore line of the bay 

 is yet in a very young stage of its development ; consequently 



