192 Natural History Bulletin. 



appearing- on every side, as the schooner doubled and turned 

 in her course under the skillful guidance of the pilot, who- 

 seemed to be perfectly self-possessed and confident, although 

 a single false turn of the wheel might have ended the cruise 

 and the schooner. At times it seemed that there would 

 hardly be room for the vessel to pass between the rocks, and 

 at others we were apparently rushing right on to the svuiken 

 masses, which turned out to be many feet below the surface. 

 Had we been less nervous about the vessel, this run would 

 have been a most enchanting one. The crystal clearness of 

 the water made it possible to see the wonderful "sea-gardens" 

 over which we were passing, — gardens of waving plume-like 

 gorgonians, and patches of anemones rivaling the brightest 

 flowers in their conspicuous coloring. Great heads of coral 

 seemed to glide by or under us. and so clear was the sea that 

 they appeared just beneath the surface. Out to the right 

 were the patches of barrier reef, while beyond them, the 

 intense blue of the deep water added its pure and white- 

 liecked beautv to a superb marine view. On the left the 

 coast of Eleuthera, one of the largest of the Bahama group,, 

 was at times within a stone's throw of the schooner. At first 

 the coast was low, but later it became more rocky. A short 

 distance inland the country was rugged with limestone hills, 

 water-worn at times into fantastic shapes. On the face of one 

 of these cliffs a hole could be seen, which we afterward foimd 

 to be the mouth of a cave. At the water's edge the lime- 

 stone head-lands were being undermined throughout their 

 extent, the material thus broken up being carried along the 

 shore and built up into the sand beaches that gleamed daz- 

 zling white in many a sheltered cove. P'inally a ruggeder 

 headland than any yet seen came into view, and disclosed in 

 profile the outline which gives it its name of '• Ridley's Head." 

 Rounding this, the palm-embowered village of Spanish Wells, 

 with its white beach and prettx' harbor where all the boats 

 were drawn up or at anchor in Sabbath repose, was wel- 

 comed as the last station at which we intended to spend anv 

 considerable time. 



