288 ISLES OF SUMMER. 



py frame of mind, being relieved from all the harrassing cares 

 and severe labors of professional life, and having all our nerves 

 soothed and quieted by a most delightful climate, that while we 

 were ready to heartily assent to one line of the poet that " every 

 prospect pleases," we were by no means willing to unite in the 

 severe charge partially concealed and ambushed in the cxj^ress: m 

 that "only man is vile." But our eyes were neither blind nor 

 bandaged, and no one tried to pull Bahama wool over them. 



Small communities are inclined to overestimate their impor- 

 tance, magnify their merits, and to be unconscious of defects 

 and foibles which immediately attract a stranger's attention. 

 They often feel disturbed when unfavorably criticised, and the 

 pen of the traveler sometimes leaves upon a thin and morbidly 

 sensitive epidermis, an enduring mark. In our country, (which 

 we are pleased to call "'The Great Eei3ublic,") the inflated blad- 

 der of conceit has often been remorselessly punctured by Eng- 

 lish tourists. Across the Avide and stormy Atlantic the derisive 

 laugh has been distinctly heard. It has penetrated the depths 

 of primeval forests, and embittered the perfumed air of the 

 boundless prairies of the Great West. The people of the old 

 world are amused and astonished to find their Yankee cousins so 

 thin skinned. The latter are more vexed because they cannot 

 successfully retaliate. Hoary with age, and rich with the vast 

 accumulations of many centuries, the great countries of Europe 

 know little and care less what may be published concerning them 

 in the 'Se^ "World. 



We found so much to enjoy and commend in the Bahamas, 

 we trust its people will not consider us unfriendly if we allude 

 to some few things which are less complimentary. 



Completely isolated — an oasis in a wide waste of waters — Nas- 

 sau is necessarily a little microscopic world, but slightly connect- 

 ed with the great old and new worlds which the vast ocean, which 



