CAPE SAN ANTONIO 163 



limestone, tending always to enlarge the holes 

 and thus eventually to destroy the rock. The 

 results of such chemical action must provide a 

 very rich soil, however scant in amount it may 

 appear upon the surface, for upon this seemingly 

 unsatisfactory base has sprung, as from the rock 

 itself, a forest of slowly growing hard woods and a 

 jungle of lesser but intensive growth. The roots 

 of these wander deep down into the crevices 

 searching out the little accumulations of soil 

 hidden away below. 



When we consider that all this area from Guadi- 

 ana Bay to the cape is a recently elevated coral 

 reef, the query naturally arises. Why do we see so 

 little coral upon it? This, I think, can be ex- 

 plained for two reasons. Wherever a coral reef 

 exists, whether barrier or fringing in type, a 

 very considerable area about it is composed of the 

 various residues from the breaking down of the 

 dead portions of the reef. These are the large 

 and small coral fragments near the actual reef, 

 the coarser and finer sands, and finally the white 

 soft mud, assorted and deposited by currents over 

 areas often many miles in extent. When raised 

 to form dry land by far the greater part of the 



