I'S'W-] 495 [Abbe. 
that "the fine matter held in suspension hy tlie river water, as it 
enters the ocean, wouhl l)e dissipated by the currents along the 
coast, if a barrier were not raised by the ocean itself, which 
breaks the force of these cm-rents, and produces still water 
between the beach and the coast. 
" The Gulf Stream produces an eddy current which washes the 
coast southwardly, and the sand bars, so common on the coast, 
are formed in the diagonal or resultant of these two currents. 
Those formed at the mouth of rivers must also, it seems to me, 
be influenced by the force and direction of then- waters. These 
bars, however, are generally formed directly by the ocean, and 
not by the waters of the rivers."^ 
So we find that though he has observed the I)uilding of the 
bars and also found a southward flowing eddy current from the 
Gulf Stream, nevertheless Mr. Tuomey has not attempted to 
explain the cuspate form of the capes along neighboring shores, 
nor does he seem to have observed any southward shifting of 
their positions. 
The latest mention of these capes that I have been able to And 
is made by Prof. N. S. Shaler in a paper"^ on the " Geology of 
Harbors," printed in 1894. In this paper he explains that "their 
origin is probably due to original slight inecpialities in the coast- 
line, Avhich have been developed in regular curves by tidal action. 
At the inner part of each reentrant the rise of the tide is con- 
siderably greater than upon the neighboring horns of the bay. 
The result is that the tide works most effectively in the bottom 
of the curve and by its movement serves to convey the waste to 
the capes on the north and south. An evidence of this action is 
shown by the fact that the Avater is tolerably deep almost to the 
shore-line in the center of the curve and is prevailingly made 
more shallow by the occurrence of sand bars near each saUent." 
That such currents as these exist and exercise some influence 
on the building of the bars and beaches is no doubt true ; Imt it 
does not seem to me that they account for all the facts we have 
f(Uind. That is, such a set of currents does not seem to explain 
the regular cutting on the northeast shores of the capes, their 
1 Tuomey. Geol. survey of S. Carolina, 1848, p. 190. 
2 Thirteenth annual report U. S. geol. survey for 1891-92. p. 180. 
