A. JE. Verrill — The Bermuda Islands. 415 



the greater facilities for reaching the islands and the excellent hotels 

 now established there.* At present about three thousand Americans 

 visit the islands every winter, and the number is rapidly increasing. 



The smooth and romantic roads are ideal places for driving and 

 cycling. The transparent waters of the nearly enclosed harbors 

 and bays afford excellent places for boating, yachting, and fishing. 

 The beautiful views available for artists are endless, but the glorious 

 colors of the waters and sky are beyond the dreams of art. 



Many visitors to the islands are naturally more or less interested 

 in the unfamiliar or novel character of the subtropical vegetation ; 

 in the unusual forms of animal life abounding in the sea, or on the 

 coral reefs ; and in the strange geological phenomena, as displayed 

 in the curiously eroded cliffs and pinnacles of the shores ; in the 

 grottoes and caverns hung with huge stalactites, and with clear blue 

 sea-water beneath ; in the curious limestone formations, seen even in 

 the deep cuts made for the highways ; and in the ever moving sand- 

 dunes, composed of wind-drifted white shell-sand. Many other 

 unusual effects are due to the peculiar structure of the islands, where 

 the only rock is limestone, made from corals and shells, and the only 

 soil is an insoluble residue left after the decomposition of this lime- 

 stone, but yet sufficiently abundant and fertile to support luxuriant 

 vegetation. 



The association of some of the localities with the poems of Thomas 

 Moore, who resided here four months in 1804, is a source of interest 

 to many visitors. Those who are historically inclined can also find 

 much of interest in connection with the ruined forts on the distant 

 uninhabited islands and in the antiquated buildings at St. George's 

 and elsewhere, as well as in the ancient records of the colony. 



Many professional naturalists and scientific students visit the 

 islands, because they are so favorabty situated for the study of trop- 

 ical and subtropical life, and especially because the facilities for 

 studying living reef-corals and the various forms of life associated 

 with them on the coral reefs are here exceptionally favorable, and the 

 climate is agreeable and more healthy than on most tropical and sub- 

 tropical islands. The people are also very hospitable and kindly 

 disposed toward scientific visitors. 



Bright colored tropical fishes can also be easily procured here, and 

 many have been taken hence to New York, to stock the public 

 aquarium in the old Castle Garden. 



* The distance from New York is 675 nautical miles, and the passenger 

 steamers of the Quebec Line usually make the trip in fifty to sixty hours. 



