497 A. FE. Verrill— The Bermuda Islands. 15 
In several places there are thick clusters of tall, graceful bamboos, 
which sometimes overarch the roads. One of the finest of these 
groups is situated close by the house occupied by the Empress 
Eugenie, while she was living here several years ago. This is on a 
cross road a short distance west of Hamilton. (See plate Ixvii.) 
Near Elbow Bay, on the south shore, there are extensive modern 
sand-dunes, only very recently stopped in their destructive advance 
over the fertile soil, which they had kept up for more than a century. 
These are of special interest to many persons, but they are still very 
barren, and are only occupied by sage-bush and other sand-loving 
plants. In their progress they buried groves of cedars and one dwell- 
ing house. (See under Geology.) 
Hungry Bay, also on the south shore, with its dense mangrove 
swamp, is a weird and solitary place, but very interesting to the 
naturalist. 
Figure 7.—Cathedral Rocks on Somerset Island. This appears to be the ruins 
of an ancient cavern, partly broken down and dissected by the sea; the 
roof has partly fallen down. The cclumns are hardened by infiltration of 
calcite and roughly pitted. 
Elies Harbor, or Bay, on the west side of Somerset Island, is a 
beautiful body of clear, brightly tinted water, with a white sand 
bottom. Formerly it was a port of some importance. 
On the point of land separating Elies Bay from “The Scaur,” 
which is a smaller and shallower bay to the south, are situated the 
