44 THE BOTANY OF BERMUDA. 



would be difficult to find anywhere sucli neglect of ornamental planting 

 as is observable round the cottages of Bermuda. A sort of aversion to 

 manual labor, which survives among the whites wherever slavery has 

 prevailed, and no doubt also something enervating in the climate, 

 make amateur gardening less active and busy, especially among the 

 ladies of the island, than the great advantages of the climate would 

 lead one to expect. There are but few florists, and an inexhaustible 

 source of pleasure has still to be better appreciated. The record of 

 horticultural successes and failures at Mount Langton, and the pre- 

 sentation in one list of all the species, whether ornamental or useful, 

 cultivated or capable of cultivation, must stimulate horticulture, and 

 may possibly open a new industry. The director of the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History, Central Park, New York, had it in contem- 

 plation, in 1876, to establish a tropical nursery in Bermuda, and there 

 is no reason, in days when Oovent Garden market is supplied with 

 flowers from the south of France, why New York should not be supplied 

 from the Insulas ^stivarum. 



The writer lost no opportunity of ascertaining the names, if any, by 

 which plants are currently known. They are comparatively few in 

 number, and it is not easy to determine whether, for example, " Snuff 

 plant" for Buddleia neemda is, like " Wire weed" for Sida carpinifolia, 

 universal, or of limited circulation. For the particulars given of the 

 dates of introduction of many now common species, the writer is chiefly 

 indebted to the late Mr. W. B. Perot, of Par-la- ville, and to the Hon. 

 John Harvey Darrell. 



Francis Andre Michaux, who touched at Bermuda in 1806, is the only 

 botanist of eminence who has as yet done so. The following account of 

 his visit occurs in " Annales du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle," for 1807. 

 Having set sail from Bordeaux on February 5, 1806,..for Charleston, he 

 intended to explore the Southern States of America. On March 23, the 

 vessel was captured by H. M. S. Leander, and sent to Halifax, Michaux 

 being the only passenger who was allowed the privilege of going on board 

 the Leander, where he seems to have received every attention from Cap- 

 tain Wetheby, her commander. Arriving at the Bermudas on April 7, 

 they remained there eight days, and Michaux was allowed to go ashore. 

 Ho gives a fair account of the general appearance of the islands, but 

 his flora is very meager, only comprising the following species : Juni- 

 per us Bermudiana ; Verbascum Thapsus; AnagalUs arrensis ; Leontodon 

 Taraxacum; Plantago major; TJrtica urens; Gentiana 7iana; Oxalis 



