VI INTRODUCTION. 



of Cat Island. On the western side of Andros and on the southern 

 side of New Providence are large areas known as "swash," subject 

 to overflow by the sea in storms. Beaches of white limestone sand 

 are occasional, and the interior of parts of some of the islands is 

 quite sandy (white-lands), notably Eleuthera, Little San Salvador 

 and some of the Berry Islands. Large salt-water lakes at sea level, 

 but without connection with the ocean, unless imderground, are 

 striking features on New Providence (Lake Cunningham) and on 

 Watling's Island. Mangrove swamps are local along the coastal 

 lines. There are no fresh-water streams, but fresh-water marshes 

 exist on some of the larger islands. 



The rocks of the Bahama Islands are wholly aeolian limestone ; 

 their surface is often greatly eroded into sharp "dog-tooth" pro- 

 jections, and there are many "sink-holes," these sometimes 10 feet 

 deep or deeper. Small caves are occasional. Where composed 

 mainly of sand, the soil is often of considerable depth, but it is 

 usually thin and meagre, often colored red or reddish (red-lands) 

 by iron oxide leached from the limestone. 



There are extensive forests of the Caribbean Pine (Pimis cari- 

 baea), much reduced in recent years by lumbering, on the Great 

 Bahama, Abaco, Andros and New Providence, and this tree occurs 

 again on the Caicos Islands, but does not exist on any other islands 

 of the Archipelago. On the larger islands, notably Andros, New 

 Providence and Great Bahama, and on some of the smaller ones, 

 hardwood forests (coppices) occur, sometimes wholly enclosed by 

 pinelands, like the similar "hammocks" of southern Florida. These 

 coppices are made up of a considerable variety of tall tree species. 

 On most of the smaller islands, however, and in parts of the larger 

 ones, the woody vegetation is wholly of shrubs and low trees, often 

 of great density of growth, forming the "scrub-lands." Portions 

 of these areas may have had larger trees upon them in the past, cut 

 out for lumber and firewood, but over great areas there is no evi- 

 dence of large trees ever having existed. Locally some of these 

 areas are known as "low coppices." 



The relationships of the native Bahamian flora are, as would be 

 expected, with those of Florida, Cuba and Hispaniola, and it may 

 be assumed that the species which are in common have been trans- 

 ported from one or another of the land masses by natural agencies 

 of winds, migratory birds or oceanic currents. 



