8 THE NATURALIST IN BERMUDA. 
known curiosities the Colonel says: “They are very fre- 
quently arranged in groups of from twenty to fifty, as if 
they had once been the roots of as many trees. It is the 
general surmise that these curious cylinders are the remains 
of the Palmetto (Chamerops Palmetto, Titf). I think it 
very likely that they belong to a member of the family 
of Palms; though I have my doubts as to the Palmetto 
being the individual.” 
To the caverns of Bermuda, which are so remarkable for 
their singularity and beauty, it will be well to devote a 
short space ; for we doubt if in interest and varied appear- 
ance, anything else on the Islands can be compared to 
them. It would be difficult to describe them, as any ac- 
count must necessarily fall far short of the reality ; but ifthe 
reader can imagine an opening of tolerably large dimensions 
in the limestone rock, and charmingly irregular in outline, 
from the roof of which shining stalactites descend, reflecting 
their protracted forms in the heht blue-green waters below, 
which cover the floor of the cavern, and in whose pellucid 
depths may be seen floating the forms of fishes, garbed in 
coatings of the most resplendent hues, he will have some 
idea, albeit a faint one, of the interesting features of these 
subterranean recesses. 
In Mr. Wood’s demesne at Walsingham, several exam- 
ples of the kind may be seen, and the manner in which the 
hospitable owner of this pretty estate has aided the charms 
of nature, by means of art, is smgularly manifest; the irre- 
cular masses of limestone rock, which hang above and 
around these natural caverns, having various kinds of 
shrubs, trees, and plants, growing from every crevice. The 
caverns, however, and the objects around them, are seen to 
