37° NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BERMUDAS. 



Barley ripens in small patches, and is harvested by- 

 women, who cut off the ears with scissors, and carry them 

 in their aprons. 



Hemp, sown in my own garden, came to perfection, and 

 seeded well. 



Flax grows wild by the road sides. 



Rice has been grown by way of experiment in wet and 

 swampy ground with success. 



Capsicums and peppers of various kinds do well, from 

 the large Capsicum to the '' Bird Pepper " [Capreium 

 voccaium. 



The edible Cassava {Innipha manihot), common in 

 gardens. 



There are several grasses to be met with in the islands, 

 the Pond Grass, which grows luxuriantly in the low and 

 moist grounds, and the Crab Grass (Agrostis virginicd) 

 being the most common. The latter grows throughout 

 the year, and is a trailing grass, running along the ground 

 to a great length, rooting at the joints, and bearing seed 

 on one side of a succulent flat spike. May we not presume 

 that this Crab Grass of Bermuda arises from seed washed 

 from the shores of South Carolina? In 1841 two forest 

 trees sprang up from a heap of seaweed, which had been 

 collected during the previous autumn for manure ; one of 

 these trees, the common Soap-berry of the West Indies 

 (Sapindus saponarid), I saw growing in the Governor's 

 garden at Mount Langton. 



Hedysarum onobrychis, a species of Sanfoin, which has 

 been introduced from Malta, is sometimes grown. 



The Royal Bermuda Gazette of February 16th, 1875, 

 contains, in " Rough Notes of a Naturalist," an interesting 

 account of the introduction of the Gorse-furze, or Whin, 



