BERMUDA ISLANDS. 
275 
fringed tlie shores of the island, and once reached the sur- 
face. From some of these submerged banks reefs of living 
coral still rise abruptly, either in small detached patches, 
or in lines parallel to, but some way within, the margin. 
Besides the above banks which skirt the shores of the island, 
there is on the eastern side a range of linear banks, similarly 
constituted, 20 miles in length, extending parallel to the 
coast-line, and separated from it by a space between two and 
four miles in width, and from 5 to 15 fathoms in depth. 
From this range of detached banks, some linear reefs of 
living coral likewise rise abruptly ; and if they had been of 
greater length (for they do not front more than a sixth part 
of the circumference of the island) they would necessarily 
from their position have been coloured as barrier-reefs ; as 
the case stands, they are left uncoloured. 
Florida. — An account of the reefs on this coast, toge- 
ther with references to various authorities, will be found in 
Professor Dana’s work on Corals and Coral Islands, 1872, 
p. 201. 1 
The Bermuda Islands have been carefully described 
by Lieut. Nelson, in an excellent memoir in the Geol. 
Transactions (vol. v. part i. p. 103). 2 In the form of the 
bank or reef, on one side of which the islands stand, there 
is a close general resemblance to an atoll ; but in the fol- 
lowing respects there is a considerable difference, — first, in 
the margin of the reef not forming (as I have been informed 
by Mr. Chaffers, Pt.N.) a flat, solid surface, which is laid 
bare at low water ; secondly, in the water gradually shoal- 
ing for nearly a mile and a half in width round the entire 
reef, as may be seen in Captain Hurd’s chart ; and thirdly, 
in the size, height, and extraordinary form of the islands, 
which present little resemblance to the long, narrow, simple 
1 [See Appendix II.] 
2 [An interesting account -will also be found in Sir Wyville 
Thomson, Voyage of the Challenger, vol. i. chap, iv.] 
