THE BEEMUDAS. 



451 



witli its lighthouse 400 feet above the sea. Nevertheless, the Bermudan heights 

 may possibly be due to the action of the winds, for these rocks, mostly granular 

 and friable, though hard and compact in some places, are in process of formation 

 under our very eyes, Hke the dunes of the landes in Gascony. Hence the geologist 

 Nelson has given them the name of " JEolian rocks." The moving sands of the 

 beach, stirred uj^ by the winds and carried inland, become gradually consoUdâted 



rig. 216. — The Beemudas. 

 Scale 1 : 650.000. 



64° 40' 



Depths. 



to5 



Fathoms. 



50 Fathoms 

 aud upwards. 



12 Miles. 



by a vesture of vegetation, while the fine calcareous dust of the slopes is partly 

 dissolved by the rains and transformed to a granular incrustation made fast by a 

 natural cement. Fresh sands, brought by the winds, are in their turn hardened 

 in the same way, and thus are formed regular stratified layers. There is not a 

 single roadside cutting in the Bermudas but presents a perfect section of these 

 thin scaly tufas, each recalling the geological work of wind and rain. 



The red earth covering the soil in horizontal layers is also of recent formation, 



