THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 233 



1 step. The variety seems interminable and on first acquaintance one is appalled 

 with the difficulty of becoming acquainted with them. 



ARTHURS TOWN, CAT ISLAND. 



The general configuration of the land is similar to that at Tarpum Bay, 

 and a wide, flat plain stretches inward from the western side. About 1 mile 

 from the shore there are a series of small fresh-water pools, where we found 

 many things to interest us. Utricularia was here first seen on the Islands, as 

 was also the beautiful waterlily, Castalia ampla (DC.) Green, not before 

 reported from the Bahamas, which dotted the water with pure white flowers. 

 Along the edges of the pools grew the two attractive little plants Spigelia 

 anthelmia L. and Sabbatia campanulata (L.) Britton, with Centella repanda 

 (Pers.) Small, a species of Polygonum, and several of the Onogracece. None 

 of these plants is often met with in the Bahamas, as they indicate fresh water, 

 and fresh water is exceedingly hard to find in these Islands. Myrica cerifera L. 

 and Inodes palmetto (Walt.) Cook (Thatch palm), which are also fond of 

 fresh water, were not uncommon here. 



The rocky plain was covered with about the same sort of growth as that 

 described from Tarpum Bay. Here we saw the scrub Bonamia cubana A. Eich., 

 a remarkable member of the Euphorbiacece, not before reported out of 

 Cuba. A large specimen of Ficus brevifolia Nutt., 40 feet in height, was 

 passed near the town; from its trunk and branches hung great quantities of 

 small and matted aerial roots. 



In a long, brackish marsh a few hundred feet behind the beach was a 

 fine association of Typha domingensis Pers. and the sedge Eleocharis cellulosa 

 Torr. mentioned from Powells Point. Except at this place, Typha was seen 

 only on New Providence, where it is abundant at Lake Killarney. 



Epiphytes were rather common in the coppice cover of the rocky plain. 

 Tillandsia utriculata L. with flower stalks about three feet high was most 

 conspicuous. One thatch palm was particularly attractive with its covering 

 of ferns and yellow orchids. 



PORT NELSON, RUM CAY. 



The town is situated on a sandy level which passing westward into a low, 

 damp flat, finally sinks into a mangrove marsh. Near the shore were vigorous 

 specimens of Mimusops sieberi A. DC. (Wild sapodilla), 20 feet high, the 

 largest that we met with. Here also grew a number of mahogany trees, 25 feet 



