NASSAU’S GENERAL GOOD REPUTATION. 201 
‘It is an ill-wind that blows no one any good,” and the peo- 
ple of Nassau live largely upon the misfortunes of others. Disa- 
bled hulks from the stormy ocean, and from the troubled sea of 
human life, fly to it as a harbor of refuge, and the amount paid 
for salvage in each class of cases, aggregates every year a large 
sum. By a liberal expenditure of money in mapping and light- 
ing the channels of commerce, the British government has cur- 
tailed one source of income, which will be in a measure made up 
by the adoption and rigid enforcement of wise sanitary laws. 
For the benefit of our readers, we give the views of a number 
of intelligent gentlemen in regard to the merits of Nassau as a 
health resort. They were written from different stand points, 
and cover periods of time widely separated. 
Peter Henry Bruce, an English engineer, was commissioned 
in 1741, to build and make good the defenses of Nassau. After 
speaking in his Memoirs of its climate, and characterizing it 
‘as the most serene and most temperate in all America,” he 
says, ‘‘it is, therefore, no wonder that the sick and afflicted in- 
habitants of this [English] climate fly here for relief, being sure 
to find cure here.” Thus it appears that its fame as a health 
resort in winter was well established nearly a century and a-half 
ago. 
“Dr. W. T. Hutchinson, of Providence, R. I., highly recom- 
mends Nassau for those who suffer from diseases of the nervous 
system, and who require rest for body and mind, for brain and 
muscle. 
Dr. W. Kirkwood, of Florence, Italy, affirms his belief <‘ that 
‘the climate of Nassau, during the winter months, is superior to 
any winter resorts for pulmonary invalids” which he has visited, 
and he had spent four years in Italy and the South of France. 
But we conclude it was a hasty opinion based upon a short ex- 
perience of Nassau’s mild and uniform climate. 
