8 



" Nassau, the capital of New Providence, is considered a rival to 

 Nice as a sanitarium and winter resort. In many ways it is 

 indeed a superior residence, for the climate is milder and much 

 more equable. During my winter stay, the thermometer never 

 rose above 8i° or descended below 70°. There was scarcely a 

 breath of wind, and rain fell abundantly in the night, but never in 

 the day-time. 



" It is now decided by the leading medical authorities in 

 America, that in no part of the known world is there another 

 climate so beneficial to persons suffering from nervous diseases. 

 Rest of brain and muscle, body and mind, becomes almost 

 inevitable in the delicious balmy atmosphere of Nassau. You 

 insensibly give way to the prevailing dolce far niente of the place, 

 and there is absolutely no great excitement, social, political, or 

 artistic, to stimulate you. There is society, plenty of it, for the 

 hotels are often crowded to excess by persons of wealth and 

 fashion, but after eleven o'clock all have retired to rest, and the 

 whirl of balls and other like dissipation, is, although by no means 

 unknown in the fair ' Isle of June,' as the natives love to call their 

 charming island, of a less exciting kind than in most other fashion- 

 able resorts. 



" It was early on a bright winter morning that our good steamer 

 San yacinto passed into the harbour of the capital of New Provi- 

 dence. As I leaned over the deck and looked down into the 

 waters upon which I was sailing, I could scarcely believe my 

 sight. It seemed impossible that water deep enough to bear our 

 vessel should be so marvellously clear. We appeared to be pass- 

 ing over a sheet of pale sea-green crystal. Not a pebble, bit of 

 sponge, shell, fish, crab, or coral, but was distinctly visible as if 

 only a few feet under the surface. It was like floating upon ether, 

 for the sparkle of the sunlight alone persuaded it was water. No, 

 there was something else, for as we neared the wharf, a score or 

 so of dusky forms splashed into the briny mirror, broke up its 

 rippleless surface, sent into the air a spray of diamonds, and then 

 dived far down into its pellucid depths in quest of coppers liberally 

 thrown them by the amused passengers. ' Please, boss, give us a 

 small dive,' is the entreaty which greets you from a dozen little 



