NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BERMUDAS. 377 



identity is at once apparent, due allowance being made 

 for the loss of the soluble portion of the animal deposit. 



It may be well to state that no mud banks exist on or 

 near the shores of the Bermudas, from which, at low tides, 

 the action of the sun and wind might have contributed to 

 the red earth formation, and, the sea being almost un- 

 fathomable outside the coral reefs, the deposit must have 

 arisen from other causes. 



Let it not be supposed, either, that these islands of com- 

 minuted shell have been raised by plutonic power from the 

 waters of the Atlantic, crowned with the red earth now in 

 question. The hills and valleys of Bermuda owe their 

 existence to the winds — a walk to the sand hills in Paget's 

 Parish, on a fair day, when the breeze is blowing on shore, 

 will satisfy the mind of any person that such is the case. 

 Here you will see the shell sand, from the water's edge, 

 drifting over the surface of accumulated sand banks, which 

 increase their elevation as they proceed inland, terminating 

 with a deep descent into some valley, and overwhelming 

 groves of cedar trees, cottages, and gardens, in its progress. 

 This accumulation of drift shell is rapidly on the increase, 

 and, viewed from the higher ground above Hamilton, is 

 seen towering above' the steeple of Paget's Church. When 

 the drifting particles of shell reach the limit of their ascent, 

 they roll a little over the edge of the descending slope, 

 where they become stationary for a brief period, or so long 

 as may be necessary for the accumulation of a ridge of 

 drift. This increasing ridge, becoming too heavy to retain 

 its position on the sloping sand bank, slides down, spread- 

 ing its material in a thin layer towards the bottom. This 

 is repeated again and again, in the presence of the beholder, 

 demonstrating in the clearest possible manner the forma- 

 tion of every hill in the Bermudas, for in all road cuttings 

 the dip and cleavage of the shell rock correspond exactly 



