BERMUDAS. 



475 



Bermudas, severally arrived at Virginia. Sir George Somers 

 " ' having returned to these islands in quest of provi- 

 sions for the c >1ony in Virginia, died there soon after 

 his arrival ; and from him they have been called by 

 the name of Somers' or Summer islands. His com- 

 panions and crew, instead of returning as they had 

 been commanded, with hogs to Virginia, sailed in 

 their cedar ship to England ; and made so favourable 

 a report of the beauty and fertility of the Bermudas, 

 that the Virginia Company, who claimed the pro- 

 perty, sold them to 120 purchasers, and James I. 

 granted them a charter. In 1612, this Bermudas as- 

 sociation fitted out a vessel, with sixty planters on 

 board, under the government of a Mr Richard Moore. 

 In the mean time, three English seamen, who had 

 deserted from Sir George Somen, and remained in 

 St George's island, had collected a considerable quan- 

 tity of ambergris, which they found on the coast ; 

 and were preparing to convey their valuable cargo in 

 an open boat Ho Virginia, or Newfoundland ; when 

 governor Moore arrived from England, seized and 

 sold the ambergris as the property of the Company. 

 This great, though scarcely just acquisition of wealth, 

 gave new spirit to the adventurers ; and, under the 

 good conduct of Moore, the island was soon fortified 

 with eight or nine block-houses, the town of St 

 George planned as it now stands, and considerable 

 returns made to the proprietors in England in drugs, 

 ambergris, cedar, tobacco, and other commodities. 

 The infant settlement was alarmed by the threatening 

 of an attack from some Spanish vessels, which appear- 

 ed off St George's, when there was not above one 

 barrel of gunpowder in the whole island ; but they 

 fortunately retired upon the first fire from the forts 

 of the English. About the same time the Bermudas 

 were greatly infested with rats, which had been im- 

 ported in the European ships : They multiplied with 

 astonishing rapidity ; made dreadful havock for se- 

 veral years among their fruits and grain ; and at 

 length suddenly disappeared. In 1616, Moore was 

 succeeded by Captain Daniel Tucker, who followed 

 out the beneficial plans of his predecessor, kept the 

 planters -under the strictest discipline, and greatly en- 

 couraged the culture of tobacco. In 1619 he was 

 succeeded by Captain Butler, who brought with him 

 500 new settlers ; raised a monument to the memory 

 of Sir George Somers; and established a new consti- 

 tution of government, resembling, as nearly as possi- 

 ble, that of the mother country. There were now 

 above 3000 English residing in the Bermudas ; many 

 of the first nobility had purchased plantations ; and 

 it became fashionable in England to visit these islands 

 from motives of curiosity and amusement. From 

 exaggerated accounts of the advantages of the cli- 

 mate, many persons removed thither from the Lee- 

 ward islands for the restoration of their health ; and 

 others, from the northern colonies, to enjoy their for- 

 tunes in a peaceful retirement. Numbers of royalists 

 took refuge in the Bermudas, during the usurpation 

 of Cromwell ; and, in 1643, the poet Waller, after 

 his condemnation by the Parliament, spent several 

 months in these islands, which he has described in his 

 poems, as enjoying a perpetual spring, and as furnish- 

 ing the most delightful residence in creation. De- 

 ceived by such flattering accounts of the serenity of 

 tbe climate, and the manners of the inhabitants, the 



benevolent and ingenious Bishop Berkeley made a ge- Bermudas, 

 nerous, but unsuccessful attempt in 1725, to establish v~ ' 

 a college in the Bermudas, for the joint purpose of 

 propagating Christianity among the American In- 

 dian's, and of facilitating the education of the British 

 youth in that country. See Berkeley. 



These islands, during the la3t half-century, have 

 increased very little either in value, or in population. 

 The navigation in their neighbourhood is dangerous ; 

 their situation is not favourable for trade ; and they 

 have been found very deficient in many of those ad- 

 vantages, which they were at first supposed to pos- 

 sess. It has been alleged even, that, in many re- 

 spects, they have suffered a gradual deterioration ; 

 and particularly, that from the cutting down of the 

 large cedar forests, which once covered the islands, 

 sheltering them from the violence of the north winds, 

 and protecting the growth of the more delicate plants, 

 their climate has actually become less temperate, and 

 their soil less productive. 



The Bermudas are about 400 in number; but their 

 whole compass does not exceed above six or seven 

 leagues. Most of them are merely islets and rocks ; 

 and very few of them are habitable. The four prin- 

 cipal islands are Bermuda, which resembles a hook in 

 its form, 35 geographical miles in length, and about 

 two in breadth ; St George's, which has a capital of 

 the same name, and which contains about 3000 inha- 

 bitants ; St David's, which is contiguous to the for- 

 mer, and which supplies the town of St George with 

 provisions ; and lastly, Sommerset. The population 

 of all the islands is not much above 10,000 ; and near- 

 ly one half of the inhabitants are blacks. The people 

 in the Bermudas have been often celebrated for the 

 correctness of their morals, their gentle treatment of 

 their slaves, and their many useful and benevolent in- 

 stitutions. The women are said to be handsome ; and 

 both sexes are represented as fond of dress. They 

 are clothed chiefly with British manufactures ; and 

 most of their implements also are made in this 

 country. The government is conducted by a gover- 

 nor, council, and assembly. The prevailing form of 

 religion is that of the church of England ; but there 

 is one presbyterian place of worship. 



The chief productions of the Bermudas are a soft 

 white stone, which is easily cut, and which is export- 

 ed to the West Indies v for building ; maize, vegeta- 

 bles, and most of the West India fruits in sufficient 

 abundance for the support of the inhabitants ; a great 

 variety of tame and wild fowl ; excellent turtle, which 

 forms a very profitable branch of trade ; palmetto 

 leaves, which are manufactured into women's hats ; 

 tobacco, which is rather, however, of an inferior qua- 

 lity ; and ambergris, once very abundant, but now 

 procured in smaller quantities. A considerable num- 

 ber of the inhabitants are employed in the manufac- 

 sure ot sails ; but their chief resource and occupation 

 is the construction of small ships of cedar wood, 

 which they sell to the Americans to good advantage, 

 and which are much valued, in those seas especially, 

 for the purpose of privateering. Part of their trade 

 consists, also, in carrying salt from Turk's island to 

 America; and they engage a little in the whale fishery. 

 Several plans have been proposed for improving 

 these islands ; and their soil is considered a? well suited 

 for the culture of vines, silk, and cochineal. In 1785, 



