BAHAMAN TRIP 



The greater part of our sojourn on New Providence was spent at 

 *'Ryswick," a country place which we rented of one of the mer- 

 chants in town. It was about three miles east of Nassau and near 

 the best grounds for marine collecting. The house was situated on 

 the rocky coastal ridge and commanded a fine outlook. The gray 

 walls of old Fort Montague were on one side and Dix Point on the 

 other, while we looked across the bay to the low, wooded cays known 

 as Hog Island and Quarantine. Beyond these could be seen the long 

 narrow ridge of Salt Cay. A man and sail-boat were engaged, and 

 day after day we sailed to the outlying cays and reefs and collected 

 along their shores. The marine life was so wonderfully varied and 

 abundant that for several weeks we daily brought back starfishes, 

 holothurians, crustaceans, corals, or sponges we had not found before. 

 Dix Point and the sand flats in front of the house also proved profit- 

 able collecting grounds at low tide. Occasionally we would try dredg- 

 ing, but the coral heads and blocks made it difficult work, and we 

 did not find it as productive as shore collecting. What is termed the 

 "sea-garden" is near Ryswick. Here one looks down into a forest of 

 alcyonoid corals, pink, brownish, and yellow, while scattered over the 

 bottom were large sponges, some round and inky black, others clus- 

 tered and purple-tinted, also huge brain corals interspersed with 

 many of the delicate branching madrepores. Gaily colored fishes 

 darted about, the most striking being bright blue, while others 

 showed yellow bodies and blue tails or were silver spotted with crim- 

 son.. The water was so wonderfully clear that it was difficult to be 

 convinced that these marine treasures were not within easy reach. 

 We also visited the living coral reef off Rose Island, some miles to 

 the northeast, but the reef we saw later along the east coast of Andros 

 was much larger and finer. 



The principal work at New Providence was the collection of 

 marine invertebrates, but between times, and when it was too rough to 

 collect, we explored the island in many directions, visiting the south 

 side, the southwest beach, the extreme eastern end as well as Lake 

 Cunningham and the caves to the west of Nassau. Two or three 

 hundred species of plants were collected on these trips as well as some 

 birds and insects. 



January 1 1. Drove across to south side of island. The north side, 

 just back of the town, is a rocky ridge; then comes a comparatively 



