BRANNER: THE STONE REEFS OF BRAZIL. 207 



its origin to the decay of the rock between it and the shore." He con- 

 sidered the rocks at Kio Formoso the same as the Cretaceous rocks of 

 Ceara, and he therefore must have considered the stone reefs to be 

 of Cretaceous age. 



He notes a reef at Aracati (154:), north of Cape St. Roque. 



Affouso H. de Souza Gomea. Relatorio sobre o melhoramento do 

 porto do Natal, apresentado ao Ministro e Secretario dos Xegocios 

 da Agricultura. . . . Natal, 1890. 10 pp. and maps. 



This report says the Natal reef is of sandstone like that of Pernam- 

 buco, hardened, as Hartt explained, by lime derived from shells in the 

 beds. The rock opposite and inside the bar — Baixinha — he says is 

 the same as the rock of the reef. The author speaks of one single con- 

 tinuous reef along the coast, but he thinks the weakening and breaking 

 of it due to the river current. The map of Hawkshaw is reproduced on 

 a small scale. 



The greater part of the paper is necessarily taken up with suggestions 

 regarding the improvement of the port.^ 

 Giaham, Maria. Journal of a voyage to Brazil. London, 1824. 



Mrs. Graham \asited Pernambuco in 1821, and examined the reefs. 

 She says (p. 101) that "the rock of which the reef is formed, is said to 

 be coral ; but it is so coated with barnacle and limpet above barnacle and 

 limpet that I can see nothing but the remainder of these shells for many 

 feet down, and as deep into the rock as our hammers will break. . . . 

 The reef is certainly one of the wonders of the world ; it is scarcely 

 sixteen feet broad at top." 



According to Maria Graham (p. 101), the Pernambuco reef was arti- 

 ficially mended by Count Maurice during the time of the Dutch occu- 

 pancy. The lighthouse was just being put up on the reef when she 

 went there in 1821. 



Guelen, Aug. de. Briefve relation de I'estat de Phernambucq, dedie a 

 I'Assemblee des Dix-neuf pour la tres noble compagnie d'West-Inde, 

 par A. de Guelen. Amsterdam, 1640. 4°, 22 ff. (Not seen; title 

 from A. L. Garraux' Bib. Bras. Paris, 1898.) 



Hadfield, "William. Brazil, the River Plate, and the Falkland Islands. 

 London, 1854. 

 Speaking of Pernambuco, he says (p. 101) : "The harbor is quite a 

 natural one, formed by a reef of coral rocks already described as running 



1 For a copy of tliis rare report I am indebted to my friend. Dr. Jose de Ber- 

 redo, Engineer, Natal. 



