BERMUDA ISLANDS. 219 



parts of a single atoll, as first announced by Lieut. Nelson, 

 R. N., in his paper in the Transactions of the Geological So- 

 ciety of London, Vol. V. (1840); and this atoll is the most remote 

 from the equator of any existing. It lies between the paral- 

 lels 32° and 32° 35', and the meridians 65° 45' and 66° 55'. 

 It is a living coral reef; the principal species of corals are 

 mentioned on page 114. 



The general form and position of the reef and its islets are 

 shown in the accompanying map. The longer diameter of the 

 elliptical area trends nearly northeast-by-east, and is about 

 twenty-five miles in length, while the transverse diameter is 

 about fifteen miles. 



Although an elevated atoll, the emerged land — about fif- 

 teen miles in length — is confined to the side facing southeast, 

 excepting a single isolated rock on the north (between c and d 

 in the map), called North Rock. It is broken into a hundred 

 and fifty or more islets — in consequence partly of degradation 

 since the elevation, and partly of the unequal height of the reef 

 formation before its elevation. The surface is made up of 

 hills and low basins. The highest point, Sears' Hill (E), is, 

 according to Lieut. Nelson, 260 feet in elevation above the sea, 

 and Gibbs Hill (D), the site of the lighthouse, 245 feet. "Wreck 

 Hill (F), near the western point of the principal island, is about 

 150 feet high, and North Rock is 16 feet high. H is the posi- 

 tion of Hamilton, the seat of Government, and G of St. 

 George's, the other principal town. A (Castle Harbor), B 

 (Harrington Sound), and C (Great Sound), are three encir- 

 cled bays, looking as if once the lagoons of sub-atolls in a 

 Maldive-like compound atoll. The surface, about half way 

 between the sounds A and B, is low. Most of the land is 

 covered with cedar trees, where not cultivated or given over to 

 loose sand. 



