684 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



I left Nassau on the 3d of June, and, having called at several 

 places on the way, dropped anchor at Bustick Point on the evening 

 of Monday, the Gth of June. Bustick Point is on the island of 

 Abaco, the eastern side of which is fringed with a line of bays form- 

 ing an almost uninterrupted belt of land, with a few deep passages 

 throngli whicli ships can enter. On two of these bays are built the 

 settlements of Hope Town and Green Turtle Bay, the principal towns 

 of Abaco. Between the bays and the shore of the island the beauti- 

 fully clear water of the Bahamas is always smooth, and the sailing is 

 delightful, the changing views of island and bays affording constant 

 interest. 



We had arranged with two guides to meet us, and at 5 a. m. on 

 the 7th of June we landed. I was accompanied by Lord George Fitz- 

 Gerald, and Lieutenant Robertson, Second AVest India Regiment, 

 The air was still, but the morning was fresh and bright, and the walk 

 across the island was most enjoyable. The ground was picturesquely 

 rugged, and the path led up and down and around low hills planted 

 with pineapples, of which great heaps of the full but green fruit 

 were piled upon the shore ready for shipment, while the golden hue 

 of the fruit with wiiich the trees were still crowned showed that 

 much of the crop was already too ripe to bear the voyage to a foreign 

 market. All the care of cultivation could not keep down the creepers 

 of all kinds that covered every available stump ; white and purple 

 passion-flowers and wild grape-vine fringed the path. Convolvuli of 

 various hues opened their bell-shaped flowers to the morning sun, 

 while the broad, green leaves of the bananas planted here and there 

 were jeweled along the edges with sparkling dew-drops. 



Beyond the pine-field we entered a thick wood, completely car- 

 peted with maiden-hair and other ferns, while almost every tree was 

 laden with orchids. Over the crest of the hill the scene changed. 

 The wood ended and the path plunged downward through bracken 

 so thick and so high that the morning-glory climbed the stem to 

 thrust its bright, blue bells into the fresh morning air. One expected 

 to see the deer start from its lair, and nothing was wanting, save the 

 melody from the woods, to fancy one's self in an English park on a 

 summer morning. 



Beneath us the broad, lake-like lagoon stretched away to the dim 

 distance. Not a ripple ruffled its surface, and on its calm breast, as 

 in a mirror, were reflected two rocky islets, whose precipitous sides 

 were crowned with a tropical wealth of vegetation, while over them 

 wheeled in graceful circles a pair of " johnny-crows " found in the 

 Bahamas on the islands of Abaco, Andros, and Bahama only. Away 

 on the horizon to the west were low clumps of mangroves showing 

 where the flat banks of marl begin among the lagoons of which the 

 flamingoes build. 



Fastened among the great mangrove-trees that here fringe the 



