THE BOTANY OF BERMUDA. 
From the limited area of the Bermudas, which does not exceed 20 
square miles; from their evenness of surface, which nowhere rises 
more than 250 feet above the sea; and from the uniformity of the soil, 
which is almost entirely derived from the disintegration of calcareous 
or coralline sand, the botanist would naturally expect a native vegeta- 
tion of very little range or variety, and if he remembers their position on 
the eastern margin of the Florida Gulf Stream he will further expect a 
predominance of West Indian species among those that may exist. Both 
these inferences would be correct, but there are some other factors which 
have materially modified the result. This green oasis in the desert of 
Atlantic waters, so late discovered by man,* was for countless ages before 
that epoch, as it still is a resting place for birds in their migrations from 
the American continent. Man himself when he came found a soil of 
virgin fertility and a singularly genial climate, giving welcome alike to 
strangers from the north and from the south. Thus for nearly three 
centuries seeds and plants from the most distant parts of the world have 
been introduced by him, or have followed in his foot-steps and made 
themselves at home, until it is in many cases difficult to decide whether 
design or natural causes independent of human agency or mere accident 
have produced the assemblage we find. 
For about eighty years Indian corn (Zea mays) and tobacco, both of 
them exhausting crops, were the staple products of Bermuda, varied 
chiefly by sweet potatoes (Ipomea Batatas), and it is not improbable 
that the opinion which prevailed in the last century of a deterioration of 
the soil may have had some foundation, although the cause assigned, 
“the cutting down of pine and spreading cedar trees,” can have had 
little to do with it. The cedar tree itself is the enemy of cultivation, and 
nothing valuable grows under its shade. Its roots run to astonishing 
*About 1511. — 35 
