10 A. EF. Verrill—The Bermuda Islands. 429 
forests of dark cedar, with scattered palmettoes intermixed, and with 
tracts of cultivated land. Many white stone residences can be seen, 
often partially hidden by the dark cedars, but made conspicuous not 
only by the natural whiteness of the native limestone, of which they 
are nearly always built, but also by frequent coatings of whitewash. 
The roofs are also generally covered with large, thin, overlapping 
slabs of limestone, coated with cement, so as to shed the rain-water, 
which is the sole reliance for domestic purposes. All the houses have 
large water-cisterns. 
- Springs, and streams of fresh water, do not exist there, nor real 
wells, though in some low places shallow pools or pits are often exca- 
vated in which rain water collects, suitable for cattle, and sometimes 
for domestic uses, though it generally rests on an understratum of 
Figure 8.—Roadside at Fairy Lands near Hamilton, in March, 1901; young 
Cocoanut Palms and Hibiscus Hedge. 
sea-water, a foot or two below, and can be used only when the tide 
is but partly out, and even then it is slightly brackish in most cases. 
The water in such “wells” rises and falls with the tide, and if the 
wells be dug at all below the sea-level, salt water is always reached. 
Hamilton, the capital, is a small but interesting town, situated on 
a high slope facing the harbor. It contains some fine residences and 
public buildings, and many beautiful gardens filled with tropical 
trees, shrubs, and flowers, in great variety. The public garden is 
