BERMUDA BIOLOGICAL STATION. 



407 



in the northern part of the islands, about Castle Harbor and Harring- 

 ton Sound. The floors of these eaves are in some places below sea 

 level, and since there is a free communication with the sea, deep pools 

 of sea water are not uncommon in them. The water is so clear and 

 unruffled that the incautious visitor is liable to walk into the pools un- 

 awares, even after being especially cautioned against it. The stalactite 

 and stalagmite formations point 

 to the solvent action of water as 

 the cause of the caves. It is 

 highly probable that many of 

 the depressed areas of the land 

 known as ' sinks,' as well as the 

 sounds and harbors, are the re- 

 sult of the falling in of the roofs 

 of caves. The ' sinks ' vary in 

 area from a few square yards to 

 many acres. 



These depressions contain 

 the peculiar reddish brown earth 

 that makes farming and garden- 

 ing possible in the Bermudas. 

 The richness of this soil and the 

 favorable climate allow the 

 farmer to keep the earth under 

 constant cultivation and to pro- 

 cure several crops in the course 

 of a year. 



Although trees and shrubs in great variety are to be found in Ber- 

 muda, most of them are not peculiar to the islands, but probably 

 owe their origin to introduction by natural agencies from the West 

 Indies and the United States before historic times, while many are 

 known to have been introduced by man, and not a few of these within 

 comparatively recent times. The Bermuda cedar (Juniperus ber- 

 mudiana) may be indigenous, though fifty years ago it was also 

 found in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The palms — a dozen 

 species of which are said to be growing in the islands — and the palm- 

 ettos, are the most noticeable growths to attract the eye of the north- 

 ener. The royal palm (Fig. 10) surpasses all others both in height and 

 in beauty, but the cocoanut palm (Fig. 11) is a worthy second, and 

 many specimens of it are striking features of the landscape. In Queen 

 Street, Hamilton, one drives beneath the sprawling branches of what we 

 call a ' rubber plant ' when it grows in pots in our conservatories. Here 

 its branches have a spread of a hundred feet or so. On entering the 

 Public Garden at St. George's, where many interesting exotics are 

 found, one is confronted by a stately screw pine of most symmetrical 



Fig. 10. 



Royal Palms at Pembroke Hall, 

 near Hamilton. 



