NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BERMUDAS. 373 



ascending surface of this drift, and gently rolling down the 

 elevated and even slopes of its extreme inland termination 

 at an angle of about forty-five degrees, filling up the un- 

 dulations of the surface of terra firma, and burying cedar 

 groves and cottages in its onward progress. The accumu- 

 lation is rapidly increasing, and, viewed from the higher 

 ground near Hamilton, is seen towering above the steeple 

 of Paget's Church. In high winds the driven shell is 

 carried to a considerable distance beyond the accumulated 

 drift, and then resembles a haze, or mist, overhanging that 

 portion of the neighbourhood. 



When we consider the peculiar formation of the Ber- 

 muda hills, the absence of all other material in their geo- 

 logical structure, from the vast beds of comminuted shell, 

 interspersed with the small sea-shells entire, to the lime- 

 stone rock (so termed), varying in its solidity from " soft " 

 to "hard" — and the dip or cleavage of the same — may 

 we not infer that the entire group of these islands has been 

 formed precisely as the sand hills here mentioned. The 

 circumstance of finding the skeleton of a duck, with two 

 fossil eggs under it, embedded several feet below the sur- 

 face, in solid " rock " — which was removed some years ago, 

 to level the surface of the Dockyard — may tend to dispel 

 any doubt which may exist upon the subject. This 

 natural curiosity was seen by the Rev. Robert Mantack 

 in the possession of an officer of the Royal Engineers, by 

 whom it was carried to England. 



The Bermuda Stone (so-called) is merely comminuted 

 sea shell, more or less indurated by the absorption of rain 

 water, impregnated in its course by carbonate of lime in 

 solution. 



The softer portion is generally preferred for building pur- 

 poses, cutting freely with a common carpenter's saw; the 

 more dense, for burning into lime and repairing roads. 



