BRANNP]R: THE STONE REEFS OF BRAZIL. 



75 



very even and nearly level along any lengthwise section. The first 

 break is 3.6 kilometres south of the Barra do Suape. South of this there 

 follows a series of breaks at various distances from each other over a 

 distance of three kilometres. Beyond this shattered portion the reef is 

 solid and unbroken to where it joins the land five and a half kilometres 

 further south. 



It is worthy of note that the breaks in this reef are in front and to 

 the north of the mouth of the Rio Ipojtica, whose waters are here deflected 

 to the north. Water runs through and beneath the fragments that lie 

 scattered in the bottoms of these breaks in the reef. 



There is but little difference in the height of the reef throughout its 

 entire length. In front of the Camboa residence it is Kiid to be a little 

 higher than near the Sucipe bar, but the diff"erence in level is not enough 

 to be apparent to the eye. 



The north end of the reef just south of the bar is from ninety to 

 one hundred metres wide ; along the fractured section north of the 

 mouth of the Ipojuca it is narrower than elsewhere, and in places here 

 it is not more than thirty metres wide ; opposite the Camboa residence 

 it is one hundred and fifty metres wide ; and at the south end where it 

 joins the land it is from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five 

 metres wide. 



At low tide the top of the reef seems to be about two metres high 

 (above low-water level) ; at high tide it is almost completely covered, 

 only a few blocks scattered over the surface projecting above water. 



The following cross-sections made at different points will give a fair 

 idea of its profile. It should be added, however, that by searching along 



Fig. 42. Sections across the stone reef south of Cape Santo Agostinho. 



the reef one could find here a section to match any or almost any section 

 observed on any of the stone reefs of this coast. In the main, tliough, 

 this particular reef is, through its solid portions at least, less broken on 

 the margins and less open to attack than most of the stone reefs. 



