1 6 BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 



CHAPTER II 



NASSAU. 



It was a bright and cloudless Christmas morning on which I 

 first entered the harbor of Nassau, and as the ship came to an 

 anchor off the bar, the bay presented a very pretty appearance ; all 

 the ships at anchor, as well as innumerable small craft, which were 

 constantly passing and repassing, were covered with flags of all 

 colors and nationalities. Upon the shore, just rising above the tops 

 of a group of cocoanut-trees, the white spires of the city were plainly 

 to be seen, their tops glistening in the reflected light of the first rays 

 of the rising sun. 



In a short time the ship was surrounded by a number of small 

 boats, which flocked around us like birds of prey around some dead 

 sea-monster, all anxious to carry away something for themselves. 

 Each boatman was loud in the praises of his own boat, and a war of 

 words was kept up, which showed no signs of abating as we slowly 

 glided towards the wharf in the small craft which we had selected. 



One of the first things that attracted our attention was the won- 

 derful transparency of the water. Objects were plainly seen at a 

 depth of fifteen feet, and, by the aid of an instrument which is called 

 a water-glass, one can gaze down into the water and watch the 

 fishes darting in and out among the many-colored " sea-ferns " and 

 corals as clearly as if they were contained in an aquarium. Often- 



