266 
APPENDIX. 
the chief part of the Gulf of Suez. 1 In the Gulf of Acaba, 
as I am informed by Captain Moresby, there are no coral- 
reefs, and the water is profoundly deep. 
West Indies. — My information regarding the reefs of 
this area is derived from various sources, and from an ex- 
amination of numerous charts ; especially of those lately 
executed during the survey under Captain Owen, E.N. I lie 
under particular obligation to Captain Bird Allen, B.N., 
one of the members of the late survey, for many personal 
communications on this subject. As in the case of the 
Bed Sea, it is necessary to make some preliminary remarks 
on the submerged banks of the West Indies, which are in 
some degree connected with coral-reefs, and cause consider- 
able doubts in their classification. That large accumula- 
tions of sediment are in progress on the West Indian shores, 
will be evident to any one who examines the charts of that 
sea, especially of the portion north of a line joining 
Yucutan and Florida. The area of deposition seems less 
intimately connected with the debouchement of the great 
rivers, than with the course of the sea-currents ; as is 
evident from the vast extension of the banks from the pro- 
montories of Yucutan and Mosquito. 
Besides the coast-banks, there are others of various 
dimensions which stand isolated ; these closely resemble 
each other ; they lie from 2 or 3 to 20 or 30 fathoms under 
water, and are composed of sand, sometimes firmly ag- 
glutinated, with little or no coral ; their surfaces are smooth 
and nearly level, shelving very gradually to the amount of 
a few fathoms all round towards their edges, where they 
plunge abruptly into the unfathomable sea. This steep 
inclination of their sides, which is likewise characteristic 
of the coast-banks, is very remarkable : I may give as an 
1 [Wherever I have seen the coast of the Eed Sea, it shows clear 
signs of upheaval in low coral cliffs. There are, nevertheless, reefs 
which would be classed as barrier on both sides of the central part 
of the Red Sea. — Capt. Wharton. Por Masamarhu Island, see App. II.] 
