Note 54 — THE CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO.
Elizabeth Juliana Sabine translation
p. 209.—“A wonderful outbreak of fresh springs in the middle of the ocean.”
On the southern coast of the island of Cuba, south-west of the Port of Batabano in the gulf of Xagua, a few miles from the coast, springs of fresh water gush from the bed of the ocean probably under the influence of hydrostatic pressure, and rise through the midst of the salt water. They issue forth with such force that boats are cautious in approaching this locality, which has an ill repute on account of the high cross sea thus caused. Trading vessels sailing along the coast and not disposed to land, sometimes visit these springs to take in a supply of fresh water, which is thus obtained in the open sea. The greater the depth from which the water is taken, the fresher it is found to be. The “river cow,” Trichecus manati, which does not remain habitually in salt water, is often killed here. This remarkable phenomenon of fresh springs issuing from the sea has been most carefully examined by a friend of mine, Don Francisco Lemaur, who made a trigonometrical survey of the Bay of Xagua. I have been farther to the South in the group of islands called the Jardines del Rey, (the King’s Gardens), making astronomical observations for latitude and longitude; but I have never been at Xagua itself.