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Show QAe BERMUDA IcSLANCvS I (J hztfCbf 1 1 3 T 4 T L V -, - J0 J i . ,"rrr7, Ttuuo-5 J "I j Map Showing Location of the Bermudas, With Inaet Map of the Islands. (Prepared bj the National Oeorraphle Society. Washington. D. C) THE Bermudas, island outposts a the Atlantic of the North American continent, have long been a resort for sojourners from the eastern United States, but never before have they been so speedily reached from the mainland as recently when the trip was made from New York by seaplane in about eight hours flying time. Boats from New York require 4S hours for the voyage. In the I'neifle, where there Is much island competition, the Ber-niwhKs Ber-niwhKs would be a negligible group; but in the- nlmost islandless Atlantic Atlan-tic they have played an Important role. They form a microcosm, the catastrophes, the vicissitudes, the political, economic, and religious controversies, and the development develop-ment of whose people, as a solitary unit, far out to sea, reflect much of the world history of the English-speaking English-speaking peoples. They are a group of what are said to be 3(55 Islands (one for every day in the year) north latitude lati-tude 32 degrees and west longitude 64 degrees. There are only five Important islands, and all of the group are so close together that those capable of use are united by bridges and causeways, so as to give to the sojourner in his drives the Impression that they are but one Island, wii& large ' Indenting bays and inlets. Strung together, they have the form of a fish hook with the stem pointed to the northeast and the curve of the hook to the southwest. From the northeast end to the point of the hook, you can piece out a curving drive 22 or 23 miles long, and the width of the land from sea to sea through which you drive will hardly average a mile. The superficial area, of the whole group is 10 miles. The islands are nearly 600 miles from Cape Hatteras, the nearest mainland ; they are 700 miles from Charleston, S. C, . opposite which they lie in the Atlantic; they are nearly 700 miles from 'ew York and about 50 miles farther from Halifax. Pulverized Shell on Volcanic Rock. They -are Irregular hills and ridges .of pulverized shells, reaching reach-ing in-some places to a height of 25Q feet, drifted and deposited by the wind on the top of a mountainous mountain-ous column of volcanic rock rising from the floor of the sea three miles below. This peak is a solitary soli-tary one in all that part of the Atlantic, ocean. It has heen. covered cov-ered by this wind-formed limestone and a thinner plaster of coral rock. After the expedition of H.. M. S. Challenger on her scientific exploration ex-ploration of the Atlantic ocean bottom and Islands in 1S73 had disclosed the lonely column upon which the Rermudas rested, there was an effort to. reconcile what, seemed . a pile of coral rock three miles high in the sea with Oar-win's Oar-win's conclusion that the coral animal ani-mal would not work more than 100 fathoms below the surface. A desire to find fresh water on the-islands led to the sinking of a well 1,200 feet deep, and while it did not bring what was sought, it greatly gratified a lot of puzzled scientific men by disclosing that the coral rock and limestone were a mere Cap to what was- an old volcano sticking its cratered top up j to within Jess than one thousand feet of. the shining surface of the translucent sea. The top of this undersea mountain moun-tain Is much greater, in superficial area than that of the visible islands, is-lands, but it Is everywhere crowned with coral and limestone, which protrude In dangerous reefs on the north, west, and south sides of the islnnds, as far ns eight and ten miles from their shores, sometimes peeping above the surface, and at others lurking just beneath. One need not say that such a situation makes Bermuda an awkward awk-ward place for ships to reach and safely land, and this circumstance is an important factor In her history. his-tory. Interesting to Scientists. Bermuda is all by herself in the scientific and naturalist world. Her soil, which Is red, is nothing but the result of the working of the weather on the limestone and coral rock. These Islands came from the wind and drift and currents cur-rents of the seas. As one writer says: "Probably we could not se-i se-i lect a more perfect example of I current-formed islands than the I Bermudas." ; This origin has turned the closest clos-est attention of natural scientists to these Islands and brought out from them many articles and volumes vol-umes on the geology, conchology, zoology, astinology, arachnology, ichthyology, meteorology, and the flora and fauna of this little punctuation punc-tuation point on the surface of the Atlantic. While we cannot entirely exclude from the enthusiasm and prolific activity of our scientific men the motive which the charm and bodily comfort of the islands furnished for these expeditions thither, the publications manifest an exceptional excep-tional interest on their part in this tiny spot on the world's and ocean's surface which the peculiar history of its creation has justified. Some of the most fruitful sources of the spread of life, animal ani-mal and vegetable, are wind, current, cur-rent, and birds; and here we have the result of them all in an isolated isolat-ed form, so set apart as to permit the most satisfactory study of their results. There are no more snakes In Bermuda than there are In Ireland. They have a lizard and some varieties varie-ties of turtle, but that Is all of the reptile life. The turtles must In old times have been of huge size;- one, It was said, was large enough to give a good meal from its meat to fifty men, and the eggs and the oil of such monsters were equally useful. There are turtles there still, but they have been discouraged in their expansive amhltlons and do not furnish forth a marriage feast as generously as In the dawn of civilization civ-ilization in that little community. New Varieties of Life Flourish. The Bermudas are the land pf adopted nativity. They are most hospitable to new varieties of life. Some enterprising grower of plants introduced a toad to take care of the Insects which were trouhling him in his garden, and though this was only in the latter part of the last century, one runs across every-' where frequent evidence of these Immigrants of a size startling to one used to a more modest variety at home. Very early In the settlement, and before 1620, a vessel brought sorne enterprising rats, which, with enthusiasm en-thusiasm worthy of a better cause, multiplied until they ravaged the Islands, ate everything In sight, swam In great multitudes from one Island to another, leaving havoc . In their train. Cats were Introduced, but to no immediate purpose. Even the fish took part in resisting the rats.'ahd many of the finny tribe were caught' with rats in their stomachs. Suddenly Sud-denly they disappeared as they had come and left nothing but-a plague of cats, with their night blooming characteristics, as a reminder of this rodent visitation. The flora of the Bermudas Is full of beauty for the observer and full of interest for the man of science. I Of the -trees and plants and shrubs In tlio tclonrlo CO Ul.nkl. in ion., i u.7i, mi iici n.r-ui tnii.lUII also the West Indies and southern Florida. In the landscape, the Bermuda cedar -furnishes the prevailing green. It is the most abundant and characteristic tree of Bermuda. It is the Berraudlan juniper, with berries which are edible but not nourishing. Lovely Flowers and Climate. The luxuriance and wealth of color of the flora of the Bermudns have attracted the poets, who have sung their beauties. The purple bougalnvlllea, with its varying shades In and out of the sunlight, is entrancing In Its beauty beau-ty and welcomes one Into the grounds of the government house, climbing over the smoothly cut walls of coral through which the white road makes its way to the home of the governor. The oleanders are so fine and so gorgeous in their hues that II has been suggested that these he called the Oleander Islands. Coffee. Indl go. cotton, and tobacco are of spontaneous spon-taneous growth. The climate of Bermuda has a maximum temperature of about SS degrees, a minimum of about 43 degrees, and a mean of about 70 degrees. This mild climate assists the growth of esculent plants and roots and promotes early growth of onions, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, toma-toes, and beetroots, as well as lily bulbs and arrowroot, though the last two have not been successful of lute. |