A. E. Verrill—The Bermuda Islands; Geology. 105 
Such copious rains wash large quantities of the red-clay soil, loose 
shell-sands, and other loose materials from the hillsides into the 
valleys, and on steep sea shores much may be carried into the sea. 
The cutting away of the cedar forest and destruction of other 
native vegetation, even by the early settlers, very soon led to many 
of the hills becoming barren, and often nearly bare of soil over large 
areas, where the soil was at first fertile. This was especially the 
case on St. George’s Island, which was first settled, for Governor 
Butler, in 1619, said that even then the land had become barren and 
of little or no value, except for pastures. Laws regulating and 
restricting the cutting of the trees, prohibiting the burning of the 
brush so as to kill young trees, etc., were made before 1630, mainly 
in consequence of the increasing barrenness of the soil.* More 
stringent ones were made in 1632, 1659, etc. But the islands were 
overpopulated, fuel and lumber were scarce, and the laws could not 
be enforced. 
Although at the present time no permanent streams are formed, 
doubtless much of the copious rain finds its way into cracks and 
crevices of the rocks, and finally into larger passage ways, and thus 
into the sea. In a few hours after the hardest rains most of the 
water disappears from the surface of all the uplands. 
C. Erosion by streams in former periods. 
Although streams do not exist at the present time, there is evi- 
dence (see pp. 86-96) that in the time of Greater Bermuda, and later, 
they did exist, both above ground and in subterranean passages, 
leading into or through caverns, and finally reaching the sea. The 
agency of such streams in forming the great sunken or drowned 
sounds and their channels or cuts out to sea has already been dis- 
cussed. (See pp. 87-94.) 
No doubt the subterranean streams of Greater Bermuda were the 
principal agents in excavating the caverns that now exist on the 
land, as mentioned above, and consequently in forming the sinks, etc., 
derived from their ruins. 
A number of the passage ways through which they flowed are 
also known. I have mentioned on p. 84, that the large dry cave of 
Walsingham was probably once such a passage-way for a large and 
rapid stream of water. A narrow and deep chasm, with a small 
* For details see these Trans., xi, pp. 421, 477, 593, 598, 602, 603; ‘‘ The Ber- 
muda Islands,” pp. 9, 65, 181, 186, 190, 191. 
