THE BOTANY OF BERMUDA. 



From the limited area of the Bermudas, which does not exceed 20 

 square miles; from their evenness of surface, which nowhere rises 

 more than 250 feet above the sea; and from the uniformity of the soil^ 

 which is almost entirely derived from the disintegration of calcareous 

 or coralline sand, the botanist would naturally expect a native vegeta- 

 tion of very little range or variety, and if he remembers their position on 

 the eastern margin of the Florida Gulf Stream he will further expect a 

 predominance of West Indian species among those that may exist. Both 

 these inferences would be correct, but there are some other factors which 

 have materially modified the result. This green oasis in the desert of 

 Atlantic waters, so late discovered by man,* was for countless ages before 

 that epoch, as it still is a resting place for birds in their migrations from 

 the American continent. Man himself when he came found a soil of 

 virgin fertility and a singularly genial climate, giving welcome alike to 

 strangers from the north and from the south. Thus for nearly three 

 centuries seeds and plants from the most distant j^arts of the world have 

 been introduced by him, or have followed in his foot-steps and made 

 themselves at home, until it is in many cases difficult to decide whether 

 design or natural causes independent of human agency or mere accident 

 have produced the assemblage we find. 



For about eighty years Indian corn {Zea mays) and tobacco, both of 

 them exhausting crops, were the staple products of Bermuda, varied 

 chiefly by sweet potatoes {Ipomoea Batatas), and it is not improbable 

 that the opinion which prevailed in the last century of a deterioration of 

 the soil may have had some foundation, although the cause assigned, 

 "the cutting down of pine and spreading cedar trees," can have had 

 little to do with it. The cedar tree itself is the enemy of cultivation, and 

 nothing valuable grows under its shade. Its roots run to astonishing 



* About 1511. 35 



