592 A. E. Verrill — The Bermuda Islands. 



way, to shrubs and young trees. Goats have always been kept on 

 the islands, but they were, in early times, very apt to die suddenly, 

 apparently from eating poisonous plants, including tobacco, so that 

 they have never been very numerous. The paucity of vegetation on 

 some of the smaller islands, like Goat Island (or Charles Island) is 

 probably due mainly to the pasturing of goats on them. 



d. — Destructive Effects of Drouths. 



There can be no doubt but that the unusually severe drouths 

 that occasionally occur, even on continental lands, serve to destroy 

 vast numbers of native plants that grow in the drier places, and in 

 some cases those that live even in bogs and swamps, in case these 

 become dried up. On islands of small extent, with a thin, dry, 

 porous soil, drouths are still more disastrous, for there is no great 

 reserve of moisture in the soil, and besides this, the less common 

 plants are generally localized in but few limited spots, so that if 

 these dry up the species is liable to become extinct. Probably this 

 has repeatedly occurred at the Bermudas in the past, before their 

 settlement, as well as since, and many plants that had established 

 themselves there for many years may have been exterminated in a 

 single exceptionally dry season.* This would affect chiefly the 

 plants of the uplands ; those of the bogs and seashores would suffer 

 much less. 



The cutting away of the forest trees, thus exposing the light thin 

 soils to the blazing sun, undoubtedly increases the destructive effects 

 of drouths to a very great extent. 



* During a long and very severe summer drouth, which occurred at Bermuda 

 in 1849, it is recorded that a large part of the cisterns and wells failed, all grass 

 and other green herbage disappeared on the hills ; the sage bushes lost their 

 leaves ; and even the cedars turned yellow. Many cattle died and numerous 

 people were ill with intestinal diseases. (Hurdis.) 



There was scarcely any rain from May 18th to July 31st. This same drouth 

 extended over the northern United States and British America, and in Canada 

 vast forest fires occurred, so that the dense smoke, like a fog, extended all the 

 way from New York to Bermuda. 



Undoubtedly many localized species of plants might easily be exterminated 

 by a drouth like this, even in a much larger and more varied country than Ber- 

 muda, but our lists of plants living there before that time are too imperfiect to 

 determine how many disappeared then. 



A prolonged winter drouth occurred in 1875, causing great damage to the 

 crops and other vegetation. Many of the cisterns failed at that time. Copious 

 rain came the last of March, otherwise there would soon have been very great 

 losses. (Jones.) 



