GARDINER'S ISLAND 39 



existing conditions are so unlike those commonly prevailing 

 throughout the surrounding region, that the observer may 

 easily fancy himself transported to the early part of the 

 last century. 



Only an island could so actively play the part of pre- 

 server. No fence, no trespass sign, no warden is so effective 

 as several miles of deep water. Of no less importance, in 

 the present instance, is the possession and occupation of this 

 fair land by but one family, its descendents and dependents, 

 since Lion Gardiner purchased it from its red-skinned own- 

 ers in 1637, for, it is said, " ten coats of trading cloath." 

 Here, then, is the prime requisite of isolation rendered po- 

 tent and continuous by sympathetic guardianship. 



Seven miles from end to end and, in the middle, one- 

 third as broad, Gardiner's Island contains 4000 acres; an 

 area more than sufficient to supply the needs of its occu- 

 pants, and large tracts are still in a primitive condition. We 

 have, then, the advantages resulting from nature primeval 

 as well as those arising from man's cultivation. The first 

 is represented by shell-strewn beaches, grassy marshes mir- 

 rored with ponds and seamed with inflowing arms of the 

 sea ; rolling plains, dense thickets of cedar, bay berry, and 

 cat brier ; magnificent first-growth, hard wood forests, now 

 high and dry, now watered by singing brooks, again low and 

 swampy with luxuriant vegetation and green-coated pools. 

 On the other hand, man's presence is made manifest by 

 abundant crops of grains and fruits, of which the birds reap 

 a by no means undeserved share. 



With these benefits, conferred by man, are none of the 

 ills which invariably follow him. There are no rats in this 

 island Eden and, more astonishing still, there are no cats, the 

 ogres of the bird-world. No less remarkable, and perhaps 

 an accompaniment of insularity, is the absence of foxes, 

 minks, weasels, opossums, red squirrels and chipmunks, all 

 natural enemies of birds, and when the Fish Hawks come 

 in the spring, virtually all other Hawks depart. In short, 



