216 ISLES OF SUMMEK. 



islands with honeycombed shores, and short patches of white 

 sandy beaches, also contribute other elements of beauty. The 

 purple haze resting upon the island of New Providence also re- 

 calls the aerial investiture of the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. 



We are soothed and lulled by a soft silvery melody, the water 

 rising and singing sweetly to us as we glide along ; the music 

 perfectly harmonizes with the calm and voluptuous beauty which 

 nature has lavishly bestowed upon this favored locality. 



Snatches of poetry long concealed in some of the nooks and 

 corners of the mind, and forgotten — the gathered gems of earlier 

 years — emerge from their hiding places amid scenes and sur- 

 roundings so congenial, (just as the beautiful and perfumed blos- 

 soms of the arbutus awaken from their winter's sleep in the warm 

 breath of the opening spring,) and Ave again exclaim with Fay : 



"Blow scented gale, the snowy canvass swell, 

 And flow, thou gleaming eddying current, on ; 

 Grieve me to bid each lovely point farewell. 

 That, ere its graces half are seen, is gone. 



"Nor clouds in heaven, nor billows on the deep, 

 More graceful shapes did ever have or roll. 

 Nor came such pictures to a poet's sleep, 

 Nor beamed such visions on a poet's soul." 



The "Marine Garden," through which the reader may remem- 

 ber we passed when returning from our yachting excursion to 

 test the capabilities of Sampson's Triton in a strong wind outside 

 the bar, is nearer to Nassau and more accessible than any of the 

 other localities Avhcre the corals aljound in this vicinity. Hence 

 it is the most visited and the best known. Situated between 

 two islands, it is more sheltered from the wind, and the conse- 

 quent comparative smoothness of the water enables the visitors 

 at all times to examine it. Beino- a flower garden under water. 



