456 .I.E. Verrill—The Bermuda Islands. 



and covers so much space, that we cannot be sure as to which head- 

 land he intended to designate by this name, but there is not the 

 slightest doubt but that the headland of Castle Island was the true 

 Gurnet Head. The names of "Tuckers Island" and "Brothers 

 Islands" have also been transferred and interchanged subsequently 

 to Norwood's maps and descriptions, L663. 



Situated outside of all the other islands, off the entrance to Castle 

 Harbor under Gurnet Head, lies "Gurnet Head Rock." This is a 

 high, very steep, rough, and rugged rock, rising sheer out of the 

 water, with no beach, and very inaccessible except in smooth 

 weather. The sides are in most places nearly perpendicular and rise 

 to sharp, ragged summits, with little or no soil, as I ascertained by 

 personal examination, in 1901. This evidently took its name 

 because it was off the Gurnet Head of Castle Island, and was most 

 assuredly used for the bearings in entering the ship-channel under 

 Gurnet Head, by the earliest navigators, before there were charts. 



It is of scientific interest chiefly because it is still a possible breed- 

 ing place for the " Pimlico " or Audubon's Shearwater, which has 

 been mistaken by many writers for the extinct " Cahow." The 

 latter could not have bred on this island, for there is no soil in which 

 it could have burrowed to make its nests. (See plate lxxix, fig. 1, 

 and history of the Cahow in Part III, ch. 29.) 



The ancient wooden forts and redoubts undoubtedly were demol- 

 ished, if not already decayed, to make room at a later period for the 

 more modern stone structures, some of which were probably built at 

 about the time of the war of 1812, when this island was again gar- 

 risoned. The islands were so much impoverished in the time of the 

 Revolutionary war and the people were so much in sympathy with 

 the American colonies,* that it is not probable that any new fortifi- 

 cations were built at that time, even if the old ones were repaired, 

 which is doubtful. 



On the highest point of the island, toward the western end, there 

 is now a high stone redoubt, with embrasures for several guns. The 



* It is a matter of history that the powder magazine at St. George's was rob- 

 bed of all its powder, early in the war, and that the powder was sent to General 

 Washington, at his request, and contributed largely to the success of the colo- 

 nists. As if to emphasize their ill will and contempt of Governer Bruere, the 

 stolen powder was carried through his grounds. In return, Congress allowed 

 provisions to be shipped to the islands, where food was then scarce. 



An autograph Letter written by General Washington to the inhabitants of 

 the Island of Bermuda, Sept. 6, 1775, in regard to the seizure of this powder, 

 is still preserved. (Tin- Writings of George Washington, by J. Sparks, iii, p. ??.) 



