44 THE BOTANY OF BERMUDA. 
would be difficult to find anywhere such neglect of ornamental planting 
as is observable round the cottages of Bermuda. <A sort of aversion to 
manual labor, which survives among the whites wherever slavery has 
prevailed, and no doubt also something enervating in the climate, 
make amateur gardening less active and busy, especially among the 
ladies of the island, than the great advantages of the climate would — 
lead one to expect. There are but few florists, and an inexhaustible 
source of pleasure has still to be better appreciated. The record of 
horticultural successes and failures at Mount Langton, and the pre- 
sentation in one list of all the species, whether ornamental or useful, 
cultivated or capable of cultivation, must stimulate horticulture, and 
may possibly open a new industry. The director of the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History, Central Park, New York, had it in contem- 
plation, in 1876, to establish a tropical nursery in Bermuda, and there 
is no reason, in days when Covent Garden market is supplied with 
flowers from the south of France, why New York should not be supplied 
from the Insulas Aistivarum. 
The writer lost no opportunity of ascertaining the names, if any, by 
which plants are currently known. They are comparatively few in 
number, and itis not easy to determine whether, for example, “Snuff 
plant” for Buddleia neemda is, like *‘ Wire weed” for Sida carpinifolia, 
universal, or of limited circulation. For the particulars given of the 
dates of introduction of many now common species, the writer is chiefly 
indebted to the late Mr. W. B. Perot, of Par-la-ville, and to the Hon. 
John Harvey Darrell. 
Francis André Michaux, who touched at Bermuda in 1806, is the only 
botanist of eminence who has as yet done so. The following account of 
his visit occurs in ‘“* Annales du Museum d’Histoire Naturelle,” for 1807. 
Having set sail from Bordeaux on February 5, 1806, for Charleston, he 
intended to explore the Southern States of America. On March 23, the 
vessel was captured by H. M.S. Leander, and sent to Halifax, Michaux 
being the only passenger who was allowed the privilege of going on board 
the Leander, where he seems to have received every attention from Cap- 
tain Wetheby, her commander. Arriving atthe Bermudas on April 7, 
they remained there eight days, and Michaux was allowed to go ashore. 
He gives a fair account of the general appearance of the islands, but 
his flora is very meager, only comprising the following species: Junit- 
perus Bermudiana; Verbascum Thapsus; Anagallis arvensis; Leontodon 
Taraxacum; Plantago major; Urtica urens; Gentiana nana; Oxalis 
