384 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BERMUDAS. 



With this preamble, I will now endeavour to describe 

 the means by which the inhabitants of Bermuda are 

 enabled to supply themselves with water for domestic 

 purposes. 



In the absence of mountains, lakes, rivers, springs, and all 

 the usual sources from which to obtain water, they look 

 towards the heavens, and trust to the clouds and rain of 

 passing storms to furnish them with a supply. 



All dwelling-houses are required by law to be provided 

 with a sufficient tank, into which the rainfall of the white- 

 washed roof is led for storage. This arrangement is amply 

 sufficient, and a scarcity of water is but rarely known. 



As all the tanks are lined with cement, water keeps pure 

 in them for any length of time ; and, from having drank no 

 other water during my long residence in these sea-girt 

 isles, I can vouch for its excellent quality. 



In addition to the tanks here mentioned, others are 

 occasionally constructed upon the slope of some hillside, 

 with the catch for water above, which is slightly walled in, 

 levelled, cemented, and whitewashed. 



To elucidate this water system more clearly, I will allude 

 to Ireland Island, the most westerly of the group. This 

 island is about one mile in length, and its greatest breadth 

 about one-third of a mile, representing an area of some two 

 hundred acres. It is a Crown reservation ; upon which Her 

 Majesty's Dockyard is established, and a number of artisans 

 and their families, representing a thousand individuals, 

 reside. Three or four old line-of-battle ships are moored 

 in the Camber, which in my time were occupied as hulks 

 by some sixteen hundred convicts from England. A mili- 

 tary force was also stationed in the Barracks ; while various 

 officers connected with the hospitals and the civil service 

 of the establishment, with their families, were also resident 

 on the said island. 



