778 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ously called Ficus indica, or banyan tree of India. It has the 

 same habit of growth as the banyan, sending down fibers which sink 

 into the soil. These fibers take root, and in turn become parent 

 trunks, shooting out new branches, which in time suspend their roots, 

 and these, swelling into trunks, produce still other branches. All 

 these trees bear fruit, but the figs are small and unfit for eating. 

 Ficus carica, the fig of commerce, and the India-rubber tree belong 

 to the same family, and are all characterized by a milky juice. On 

 these islands there are large timber trees, including, among others, 

 the mahogany, mastic, lignum vitse, etc. Some trees, like the cinna- 

 mon, are valuable for their bark ; others, like the logwood and fustic, 

 are useful for their dyes. On one of our several pleasant excursions 

 we drove through the pine woods and palmettos to Lake Killarney. 

 Here we saw the only species of pine growing on the island (Pinus 

 bahamensis), and along the roadside we noticed the beautiful and 

 conspicuous shrub, the sappens (Chrysophyllum oliveforme), with its 

 shining green leaves above, and below a down of rich golden-brown 

 color. The shores of the lake are lined with mangrove trees, which 

 send out aerial roots from their branches. They descend in arched 

 fashion, strike at some distance from the parent stem, and send up 

 new trunks, spreading like the banyan. The south shore of the 

 island is also overrun with the mangrove, the salt water at high tide 

 surrounding many of the bushes, giving a curious effect for miles 

 along the shore. 



Other excursions that we took included the bathing beach, the 

 caves to the west of Nassau, and the remarkable Lake of Waterloo, 

 which should be visited after dark in order that its wonderful phos- 

 phorescence may be seen. The greatest charm and wonder was a 

 sail of three to six miles to the sea garden. Leaving the sailboat, 

 we stepped into a dory with a glass bottom, through which the mys- 

 teries of the deep were as plainly seen as if only at the depth of a 

 pail of water. On the white sand, fifteen or twenty feet below us, 

 we saw coral, sea fans, and sponges, while exquisitely colored fish 

 darted in and out among the waving forms of life. 



Several times in the early morning we visited the market, which 

 is of great interest. Here it is not infrequent to see three or four 

 tomatoes, as many onions, and a little piece of garlic arranged to- 

 gether on a barrel head. The sale of two or three such lots con- 

 stitutes a day's business, for the needs of the people are small. The 

 natives walk from the surrounding country to the city, bringing the 

 fruit in baskets or trays balanced on their heads. The sapodilla is 

 one of the cheapest and most abundant of fruits. The tree is very 

 handsome with its glossy foliage, and freely bears a chocolate-col- 

 ored fruit about the shape of a peach and as variable in size. These 



