\ 



black urchins, who, on the least encouragement, jerk off their 

 coats and shirts and plunge into the sea. Sometimes they catch 

 the coin before it touches the bottom ; at others, however, the diver 

 remains quite a time searching for it, looking, as seen from above, 

 with his wriggling legs and arms, for all the world like a huge 

 black spider." 



When, on October 17, 1492, Christopher Columbus 

 landed on the shores of "Guanahai," and named the 

 present island of New Providence San Salvador, he was so 

 enchanted with its beauty that he wrote a letter to the 

 Spanish sovereigns, in which he expressed his delight and 

 enthusiasm. " The loveliness," says he, " of this island is 

 like unto that of the Campana de Cordoba. The trees are 

 all covered with ever-verdant foliage, and perpetually laden 

 with either flowers or fruit. The plants in the ground are 

 full of blossoms. The breezes are like those of April in 

 Castille. The nightingales (mocking-birds?) sing more 

 sweetly than I can describe. It seems to me that I could 

 never quit so enchanting a spot, as if a thousand tongues 

 would fail to describe it, as if my hands, spell-bound, 

 would never be able to write concerning it." Due allow- 

 ance being made for the nervous enthusiasm of an ex- 

 plorer inebriated with the treasure he has found, it must 

 still be confessed that his words, all-glowing as they are, 

 scarcely exaggerate the charms of the peaceful scenery 

 which so inflamed his poetic ardour, for the Bahamas are 

 islands like unto the one chosen by Shakespeare for the 

 scene of the ' Tempest ' : — 



" Full of infinite delight." 



Surgeon-Major Bacot, in his interesting work 'The 

 Bahamas,' published in 1869 by Messrs. Longman and Co., 

 gives a great deal of curious information concerning the 



