Coral Reefs; Volcanic Islands; South American Geology — CompleteDarwin, Charles
Science
Coral Reefs; Volcanic Islands; South American Geology — Complete
Darwin, Charles
Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Coral reefs and islands; Geology -- South America; Islands; Volcanoes
must, in many instances, have been deepened. However this may be, as
several parts of this line of coast are undoubtedly fringed by living
reefs, I have coloured it red.—_Maleenda_ (3° 20′ S.). In the plan of
the harbour, the south headland appears fringed; and in Owen’s chart on
a larger scale, the reefs are seen to extend nearly thirty miles
southward; coloured red.—_Mombas_ (4° 5′ S.). The island which forms
the harbour, “is surrounded by cliffs of madrepore, capable of being
rendered almost impregnable” (Owen’s “Narr.,” vol. i, p. 412). The
shore of the mainland N. and S. of the harbour, is most regularly
fringed by a coral-reef at a distance from half a mile to one mile and
a quarter from the land; within the reef the depth is from nine to
fifteen feet; outside the reef the depth at rather less than half a
mile is thirty fathoms. From the charts it appears that a space about
thirty-six miles in length, is here fringed; coloured red.—_Pemba_ (5°
S.) is an island of coral-formation, level, and about two hundred feet
in height (Owen’s “Narr.,” vol. i, p. 425); it is thirty-five miles
long, and is separated from the mainland by a deep sea. The outer coast
is represented in the chart as regularly fringed; coloured red. The
mainland in front of Pemba is likewise fringed; but there also appear
to be some outlying reefs with deep water between them and the shore. I
do not understand their structure, either from the charts or the
description, therefore have not coloured them.—_Zanzibar_ resembles
Pemba in most respects; its southern half on the western side and the
neighbouring islets are fringed; coloured red. On the mainland, a
little S. of Zanzibar, there are some banks parallel to the coast,
which I should have thought had been formed of coral, had it not been
said (Boteler’s “Narr.,” vol. ii, p. 39) that they were composed of
sand; not coloured.—_Latham’s Bank_ is a small island, fringed by
coral-reefs; but being only ten feet high, it has not been
coloured.—_Monfeea_ is an island of the same character as Pemba; its
outer shore is fringed, and its southern extremity is connected with
Keelwa Point on the mainland by a chain of islands fringed by reefs;
coloured red. The four last-mentioned islands resemble in many respects
some of the islands in the Red Sea, which will presently be
described.—_Keelwa._ In a plan of the shore, a space of twenty miles N.
and S. of this place is fringed by reefs, apparently of coral: these
reefs are prolonged still further southward in Owen’s general chart.
The coast in the plans of the rivers _Lindy_ and _Monghow_ (9° 59′ and
10° 7′ S.) has the same structure; coloured red.—_Querimba Islands_
(from 10° 40′ to 13° S.). A chart on a large scale is given of these
islands; they are low, and of coral-formation (Boteler’s “Narr.,” vol.
ii, p. 54); and generally have extensive reefs projecting from them
which are dry at low water, and which on the outside rise abruptly from
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