FLORA OF NEW PROVIDENCE AND ANDROS 123 



the west side where there were no settlements. From one to six weeks 

 were spent at each of the following places: Nicol's Town, Conch 

 Sound, Mastic Point, Fresh Creek, Lisbon Creek, and Deep Creek 

 on the east side, and Red Bays on the west. We sailed through the 

 northern and middle bights and partly through the southern, and pene- 

 trated the following creeks, most of them to the head of navigation for 

 a rowboat; London, Stafford, Fresh, Lisbon, Deep, and Grassy creeks 

 on the east; Loggerhead and Big Cabbage creeks and Wide Opening 

 on the west. 



Botanical Regions 



The following botanical regions, each with markedly characteristic 

 plants, were well defined on both islands : First, the maritime or coast 

 flora of the northern side of New Providence and the east side of 

 Andros. These shores were rocky with scattered sandy beaches. The 

 following plants were common on both islands : the sea-grape 

 {Coccolobis uvifera), the button wood (Conocarpus erecta), the sandfly 

 bush (Rhacciallis rupestris), and Strumfia maritima. The wild sapo- 

 dilla (Mimusops dissecta), Joe-bush (Jacqiiinia Keyensis), Cordia 

 Sebestena, Borrichia arborescens, and the ram's horn (Pithecolobium 

 Unguis-cati) were always found near the shore, while on the sandv 

 beaches flourished the cocoa-plum (Chrysobalanus Icaco), Scavola 

 Plumieri, Suriana maritima, Tournefortia gnaphaliodes, the bay 

 lavender (Ambrosia hispida), Euphorbia buxifolia, the widely dis- 

 tributed Salicornia ambigua, Sesuvium Portulacastrum, Cakile cequa- 

 lis, and the horse-bean (Canavalia obtusifolia). 



Second, the "coppet," or growth of angiospermous trees and 

 shrubs found on the more elevated parts of the islands and on the 

 rocky ridges. The highest elevation on either island was about one 

 hundred feet, but the ridge was in most places considerably lower than 

 this. On Andros the highest point was near the center of the island, 

 at the mouth of the northern bight, marked as Salvador Point on the 

 charts, but locally known as Bearing Point. The surface erosion was 

 much more marked on Andros than on New Providence. In some 

 places the rock was honeycombed with pits of all sizes, in others it 

 was covered with sharp knife-like projections. Banana holes were 

 far more numerous. On both islands the elevated ridges, covered with 

 the "coppet," showed the greatest amount of erosion. The trees 



