GENERAL IMPRESSIONS. 7 



members of the North Amerioan avifauna as well, they ap- 

 pear here in a different light than with us, since they, with the 

 little ground-dove, form the most noticeable, if not the domi- 

 nating, elements in the bird-fauna of the islands. We are in 

 a little world of our own, distinct from either Europe or 

 America. 



The corn-fields of our temperate north are here largely re- 

 placed by fields of bananas and plantains, which are grown in 

 dense and almost impenetrable thickets. Although at first at- 

 tractive by their novel, and suggestively tropical appearance, the 

 eye soon wearies of the gross and wind-rifted leaves, and eagerly 

 falls upon the mucli more delicate vegetation of the bamboo, 

 which here and there shoots its willowy tufts 30 or 40 feet into 

 the air. The cane is also a graceful ornament about many of 

 the country cottages. 



The banana " trees" were laden with fruit at the time of our 

 visit, and naturally we had a good opportunity to judge of the 

 merits of this highly-prized article of food with the Bermu- 

 dians. At breakfast, dinner, and supper it was a constant 

 accompaniment of the table, and alwaj'^s welcome. The fruit 

 is considerably smaller than the imported article with us, and 

 decidedly tastier or sweeter, doubtless due to its being picked 

 fresh from the plant. The more commonly cultivated variety 

 is the form known as Musa Cavendishi, or dwarf banana, which 

 rarely exceeds, to the bend or apex of the leaf, more than 

 about eight feet in height; it always presents a stubby appear- 

 ance, more like a great coarse weed, which has grown up 

 spontaneously, than a cultivated plant. Indeed, it can scarcely 

 be said to be under cultivation, since practically no attention is 

 paid to its proper growth and development; nature does it all. 

 Bunches of^ fruit weighing fifty pounds or more are no rarity, 

 and occasionally they reach nearly double this weight. 



The plantain, which is more rarely seen, and whose fruit is 

 not held in popular favor as an article of food, is a much more 

 graceful and imposing plant, with leaves eight or ten feet, 

 or even more, in length. It grows to more than twice the 



