repute for ship's timbers, being hard and practically ever- 

 lasting. In former times the wooden walls of old England 

 were partly formed by timbers cut from Andros. The 

 fruits are oranges, lemons, limes, pineapples, bananas, plan- 

 tains, melons, yams, potatoes, tomatoes, sugar cane, ginger, 

 cocoanut, and many others. There is a large export of pine- 

 apples, oranges, and tomatoes. Tobacco and cotton grow 

 readily, but labour and perseverance has so far been 

 wanting to develop these important products. The castor- 

 oil plant grows wild, and the cascarilla and canella alba 

 barks are exported to a considerable extent. 



Animal life is restricted to the wild cat, raccoon, and 

 guano ; whilst a dog that did not bark is said to have 

 existed among the aborigines. 



Of birds, flamingoes, wild ducks, pigeons, are plentiful. 

 There are also parrots, geese, humming birds, cranes, 

 snipe, &c. 



Of fish the varieties are innumerable. Some of them 

 by their local names are as follows : Grouper, Red Snapper, 

 Market-fish, Barracouta, Hound-fish, Porgy, Goggle eye, 

 Jack, Mutton-fish, Shark, Stingray, Mullet, Cray-fish, 

 Sword-fish, Bone-fish, Hog-fish, Turtle, Angel-fish, June or 

 Jew-fish, Dolphin, King-fish, Grunts, &c. 



The fishing-boats, numbering lOO, and employing 500 

 men, are usually of the sloop rig, with a leg-of-mutton sail, 

 and a well for keeping the fish alive. The sponging and 

 wrecking vessels, numbering 500, are of schooner rig, fine 

 models, and fast sailers. They are built by the islanders, 

 the timbers being of native hardwood (horse-flesh), the 

 planking of yellow pine, from North Carolina, and vary in 

 tonnage from 15 to 60 tons. 



Fish are caught with fish-pots, hand-lines, and nets, the 

 nets being taken out some distance from the land, and 



