164 THE NATURALIST IN BERMUDA. 
by rain water percolating through the porous conglomerate 
of shell of which the entire Islands are composed, and that 
such rain water is met at a certain level by the water of the 
ocean penetrating through fissures or forcing its way by 
means of filtration. That fresh water, from being specifi- 
cally lighter than sea water, will, when undisturbed, float 
for some time upon the denser fluid of the latter, without 
much admixture of the two, is highly probable, but the 
bare contact of rain and sea water, in any degree, must, I 
apprehend, tend to deprive the former of its purity. Under 
such circumstances it is difficult to conceive how well-water 
should be fit even for the use of cattle. 
I will cite a case in support of this opinion. 
On my arrival in Hamilton, the principal town of Ber- 
muda—now some years ago—I observed that a well, a few 
yards distant from the Steam Grist Mill, was much resorted 
to for water, and on my enquiring if it were fit to drink, I 
was assured there was no finer water in the Bermudas. A 
similar well had been sunk inside the engine house of the 
said mill, for the express purpose of supplying the boilers 
(high pressure of ten horse power) with “fresh water.” 
The mill was worked with the water obtained from this 
well for five or six years, when a slight explosion of steam 
caused the boilers to be opened, and the interior of each 
was found to be coated on the bottom and sides with a 
solid crust of indurated grey salt and calcareous sediment 
about two inches thick, which required a stout blow from a 
sharp iron pick to detach even a small portion of it ; thus 
proving, beyond a doubt, that water, hitherto considered to 
be fresh, was in reality impregnated with a portion of 
salt. 
