JONES GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE BERMUDAS. 23, 



mark, until Mr. Belt drew my attention to Darwin's statement in 

 regard to similar occurrences on the shores of Pacific Islands. 

 These foreign stones may be seen in situ at Point Shares in the 

 shore rock. Pieces of decomposed iron are also found imbedded in 

 the shore rock, brought there no doubt by wreck materials. 



In considering the geological structure of the Bermudas, we 

 cannot help noticing the similarity that exists in many instances 

 between the accumulations occurring in the sandstone, near shore, 

 and those on the shores of Pacific islands, and other places where 

 calcareous deposits occur. On the south shore of the main island 

 of Bermuda, I found in the friable cliffs some curious tubular bodies, 

 hard and compact, which left a cast in the sand on removal. I 

 thought they might be fossilized roots of trees. However, on com- 

 paring notes mth Dai:wi,n's account of Pacific calcareous deposits, 

 I found that the same substances had been found at King George's 

 Sound, on the S. W. coast of Australia, and at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. He styles them "branched bodies." "These branches," 

 he says, " are absolutely undistinguishable in shape from the broken 

 and upright stumps of a thicket ; their roots are often uncovered, 

 and are seen to diverge on all sides ; here and there a branch lies 

 prostrate. The branches generally consist of the sandstone, rather 

 firmer than the surrounding matter, with the central parts filled 

 either with a friable calcareous matter, or with a sub-stalagmitic 

 variety ; this central part is also frequently penetrated by linear 

 crevices, sometimes, though rarely, containing a trace of woody 

 matter. These calcareous branching bodies appear to have been 

 formed, by fine calcareous matter being washed into the casts or 

 cavities, left by the decay of branches and roots of thickets buried 

 under drifted sand. The whole surface of the hill is now under- 

 going disintegration, and hence the casts which are compact and 

 hard are left projecting. In calcareous sand at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, I find the casts quite similar to those at Kmg George's Sound ; 

 but their centres are often filled with black carbonaceous matter, not 

 yet removed. It is not surprising that the woody matter should 

 have been almost entirely removed from the casts on Bald Head, 

 for it is certain that many centuries must have elapsed since the 

 thickets were buried." In concluding his observations on these 

 branched bodie?, Darwin says: " Heflecting on the stratification of 



