B E R 



HER 



Vauban. in hi* treatise on the defence of placet, ascribes 

 (Treat importance to the chrmin <ltt rondgi : be obawvM, 

 ilial the mini of the parapet, produced by firing at it from 

 . being retained oil this part of the work, increase 

 the height of the escarp, and thus compel the enemy, if he 

 would form a practicable breach, to establish his batteries 

 on the crc*t of the glacis, in order that he may be enabled 

 at or near the foot of the wall. A broad bcrmc is, 

 .ri. liable to some defects, for its protecting wall is 

 easily destroyed by the enemy's batteries, and it causes the 

 rampart to 'be wider than is in some cases convenient 

 Moreover, if the enemy should succeed in gaining it by 

 an escalade, he might form there in good order, and mount 

 tho parapet in force. It must inevitably happen, also, that 

 the missiles which the defenders might attempt to throw 

 from the parapet upon the assailants while in the ditch would 

 be intercepted by the berme. Vauban himself states that, 

 at the siege of Gravelines, the besiegers were enabled to 

 li! i\v up the rampart by a mine; the chemia des rondei 

 and part of its wall, which had been accidentally left stand- 

 Mi'.'. preventing the loaded shells, masses of stone, &c., 

 which were thrown by the defenders over the parapet from 

 falling near the miner while employed in piercing the 

 escarp. It is evident, however, that this rampart must have 

 been entirely un Hanked by the collateral works of the place. 



The position of the chemin des rondes is indicated by the 

 unshaded space on the exterior of the parapet along the 

 faces and flanks of the work V, which is given in the article 

 BASTIOX. 



HEKMU'DAS, THE, or SOMMERS ISLANDS, are 

 situated in the North Atlantic, 58U miles E. by S. 4 S. from 

 Cape Halteras in North America, the nearest point of 

 land, ami 645 miles N.E. of Atwood's Keys, the nearest of 

 the Wot India Islands. The name Bermudas is derived 

 from the supposed discoverer, Juan Bermudez, a Spaniard, 

 who is said to have touched there in 1522; or, as it is in 

 May's account, from a Spanish ship called Bermudas being 

 cast away there. The first printed account of them in Eng- 

 lish seems to be by Henry May, who being on board a 

 French ship, commanded by M. de la Barbotier, was wrecked 

 on them in 1593. (See May's account in Hakluyt; and in 

 the (ienerall I lit/of ie of Virginia, <-c., by Captain John 

 Smith, London, 1629.) The second and less common appel- 

 lation is from Sir George Summers, or Sommers, who was 

 driven upon them in 1609, on his voyage to Virginia. Sir 

 George and his party made their way from the Bermudas 

 to Virginia in two small cedar-built vessels, constructed by 

 his men, of which that in which Sir George embarked did 

 not contain an ounce of iron, except one bolt in the keel. 

 At the time of his arrival in Virginia, the colony was much 

 distressed by famine, and the account given by Sir George 

 Sommers of the abundance of large black hos (supposed 

 to have belonged to the Spanish ship above mentioned) and 

 other articles of provision at the Bermudas, induced Ix>rd 

 Delaware, the governor of Virginia, to send him back for a 

 supply. Sir George died on his arrival at the islands, nnd the 

 crew, in spile of his last orders, proceeded with the vessel to 

 England, instead of returning to Virginia. Two sailors 

 had been left behind at the time of the wreck, and one re- 

 mained from this expedition. A quarrel arose among the 

 three for the sovereignly of the islands, which had nearly 

 terminated fatally. Rambling along the shore, they found 

 a piece of ambergris, weighing about SO Ibs., and as this 

 treasure was valueless in their present situation, they formed 

 the scheme of sailing in an open boat, either to Virginia or 

 Newfoundland, to dispose of it. 



In the meantime, the Virginia Company, who claimed 

 the islands as the first discoverers, sold' their right to 

 a company of 120 persons, who, obtaining from King 

 James, in 1612. a charter for their settlement, sent out sixty 

 Millers with Mr. More as governor. More found the 

 Kailor-i healthy and in good condition. The new colony was 

 formed on St. George's Island, which was laid out and for- 

 tified . and in the course of the same year a second party 

 arrived with supplies of all kinds, when the town of St. 

 George was commenced. 



Captain Daniel Tucker succeeded (1616) Mr. More as 

 regular governor, during whose time, some rats, which had 

 come on shore from the ships which had brought out the 

 settlers, increased to such a degree, as to destroy almost 

 i very thing on the islands, even making their nests in I 

 but after five years this dreadful ami >}unrr su<)<] 

 In 1619 Tucker wu replaced by Captain Nathaniel Butler, 



at which time the islands were celebrated for their l>onuty, 

 richness, and salubrity : many of tho nobility purchased 

 plantations, and tin ir cultivation was highly encouraged ; 

 tho number of white inhabitants at this time amounted to 

 1000. The islands had hitherto )>ei>n governed by the go- 

 vernor and council alone ; but on the 1st August, IGio, \\ as 

 established, pursuant to the company's in from 



Entil.ind, the General Assembly at the town of St. (.' 

 Prosperity continued to increase for many years, and was 

 greatly favoured by the civil wars, which cm per- 



sons of character and opulence to take refuge here, and 

 among them the poet Waller, who celebrated the beauties of 

 these islands in an elegant poem, 'The Battel of the Summer 

 Islands.' Such indeed was the influx, that the mini 

 white inhabitants at this time has been esti'naled at I U.OOO. 



From this lime little occurs in their history worthy of 

 notice. The islands have always remained in the p 

 sion of the British, though, towards the close of the lii-t 

 American war. General Washington contemplated their 

 capture, as a station for vessels of war, to the annoyance or 

 destruction of our West India trade. For this purpose no- 

 thing could be more eligible, as they lie directly in the 

 homeward-bound track. 



The climate of the Bermudas is that of a perpetual spring, 

 mild, genial, and salubrious, though during s-ouil.erly 

 winds, which are the most prevalent, the atmosphere be- 

 comes charged with a humidity unfavourable to constitu- 

 tions predisposed to rheumatism, gout, or pulmonary affec- 

 tions. The fields and trees are always green : but the pre- 

 dominance of the cedar, while it refreshes the air with its 

 fragrance, imparts its dark hue to the landscape : 

 seldom falls, and rains are not frequent, though heavy 

 while they last. The islands are, however, very subject to 

 tempests, thunderstorms, and hurricanes. especially (luring 

 the autumn, a circumstance that may be attributed tu their 

 situation on the verge of the trade wind, where variable and 

 disagreeable weather always occurs. 



There is not an insular group on the whole globe so pro- 

 tected by nature from the effect* of a boisteroui 

 the Bermudas ; they are surrounded by dangerous rocky 

 reefs, extending in some parts ten miles from the inlands, 

 which render them very difficult of access. The few chan- 

 nels through the reef arc thickly studded with coral neks. 

 but the water is so beautifully clear, that they are visible to 

 the eye : and the negro pilots looking down from the bow 

 of the vessel conduct her through the labyrinth with a skill 

 and confidence only to be acquired by long habit. 



The islands lie in a N.E. and S.W. direction, including a 

 space about twenty miles in length, and more than six in the 

 greatest breadth ; they are all low, the highest point called 

 Tibb's Hill, at the southern extreme of the large island, being 

 only 1 80 feot above the level of the sea. There are no spri ngs 

 or freshwater streams in the islands, and but few wells, |M 

 water from which is brackish : each house has its own tank, 

 to which the roof serves as a conductor for the rain, nnd on 

 the island of St. George's are large tanks for the supply <if 

 shipping. 



The following remarks on the geological constitution of 

 this group are by Captain Vetch (London Geological Trant- 

 actinnt, vol. i. new series, p. 172-173), and were accom- 

 panied with some specimens sent to the Geological Society 

 ' The specimens,' observes Captain Vetch, ' six in number, 

 were sent me as affording all the varieties of rock to be 

 found in these islands; and as it will appear that they nrc 

 all composed of corals nnd shells of different magnitudes, 

 more or less consolidated by a calcareous cement, it seems 

 probable the Bermudas owe their existence to the accumu- 

 lation of such materials on a coral reef. From the extreme 

 narrowness of the channels that separate these islands, they 

 may be regarded as forming hut one; and in that rase ih,. 

 length will be about thirteen unlc:., while the grcatot 

 breadth hardly exceeds one mile, and no spot is di.-tant so 

 much as five furlongs from the sea. This lengthened nar- 

 row shape, with some other peculiarities of form, gives the 

 uholi: so much the character of a coral reef as almost to 

 confirm that conjecture. When it is moreover considered 

 that the Bermudas rise from a shoal twenty-three miles 

 long anil thirteen broad, all round which is the deep water 

 of tin- ocean, while Carolina, the nearest lund, is 700 i: 

 distant, it -i mi- ilitlicnlt to scribe the existence of such a 

 platform, thus rising in the middle of the sea, to any other 

 origin. 



1 The specimens above enumerated afford a perfect grada- 



