88 ISLES OF SUMMER. 



tall wooden building, unsheltered, and so exposed to tlie wind 

 that the natives believed that it would fall an easy prey to the first 

 hurricane that should visit Nassau after its erection. They 

 therefore gave it the name which it still bears. But the evil 

 prophets of Nassau seem to have been uninspired, and, as if to 

 discredit and confound them, the fearful and most destructive 

 hurricane of 1866, while it turned many a solid and costly struc- 

 ture into a ruin, left this house intact and unharmed. Although 

 it survived the hurricane, it has been ruined by a bad name. 

 There it stands, gloomy and solitary — treeless, unprotected, and 

 unoccupied. Commanding a fine view, cooled by the trade winds, 

 fanned by every breeze that ruffles the surface of the neighboring 

 ocean, stately as an English ofiicial, seemingly in a good state of 

 repair, and having a very famous and curious tree for its nearest 

 neighbor, it has been rendered absolutely worthless, good for 

 nothing but for fire-wood in a place Avhere fires are a nuisance, 

 because some meddlesome jDcople have given it a bad name. 

 Thus has it often happened that Slander has given to Innocence 

 a name which has ever after remained like the brand of the divine 

 displeasure upon the forehead of Cain.* 



A low terrace has at some time been made under this tree out 

 of small fragments of coral limestone, thereby securing a more 

 level surface for those who might repose or have picnics in its 

 cool and grateful shade. This is now thickly covered with a net- 

 work of roots, and the branches and roots have extended far be- 

 yond its limits. Springing out of the rocks under the tree there 



* Since this was written, and during the time of our second visit to Nassau, 

 '• The Folly " was temporarily occupied by a medical gentleman and his fami- 

 ly, who, it was currently reported, for prudential reasons, left their more 

 central city residence, (located not far from our hotel,) which a malignant 

 disease had invaded. In a subsequent chapter this disease will be more par- 

 ticularly mentioned and considered. 



