﻿THE 
  ISLANDS 
  OF 
  BERMUDA 
  

  

  Reverend 
  came 
  into 
  

   my 
  room 
  carrying 
  

   something 
  and 
  asked, 
  

   "Is 
  this 
  your 
  boot?' 
  

  

  "I 
  said 
  it 
  was, 
  and 
  

   he 
  said 
  he 
  had 
  just 
  

   met 
  a 
  spider 
  going 
  off 
  

   with 
  it. 
  Next 
  morn- 
  

   ing 
  he 
  stated 
  that 
  just 
  

   at 
  dawn 
  the 
  same 
  spi- 
  

   der 
  raised 
  his 
  window 
  

   and 
  was 
  coming 
  in 
  to 
  

   get 
  a 
  shirt, 
  but 
  saw 
  

   him 
  and 
  fled. 
  

  

  "I 
  inquired. 
  'Did 
  

   he 
  get 
  the 
  shirt?" 
  

   'No.' 
  'How 
  did 
  you 
  

   know 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  shirt 
  

   he 
  was 
  after?* 
  'I 
  

   could 
  see 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  eye.' 
  

  

  "We 
  inquired 
  

   around, 
  but 
  could 
  

   hear 
  of 
  no 
  Bermu- 
  

   dian 
  spider 
  capable 
  of 
  

   doing 
  these 
  things. 
  

   Citizens 
  said 
  their 
  

   largest 
  spiders 
  could 
  

   not 
  more 
  than 
  spread 
  

   their 
  legs 
  over 
  an 
  or- 
  

   dinary 
  saucer, 
  and 
  

   that 
  they 
  had 
  always 
  

   been 
  considered 
  hon- 
  

   est. 
  

  

  "Here 
  was 
  testi- 
  

   mony 
  of 
  a 
  clergyman 
  

   against 
  the 
  testimony 
  

  

  of 
  mere 
  worldlings 
  — 
  

   interested 
  ones, 
  too. 
  

   On 
  the 
  whole, 
  I 
  judge 
  

   it 
  best 
  to 
  lock 
  up 
  my 
  

   things." 
  

  

  The 
  flora 
  of 
  the 
  

   Bermudas 
  is 
  full 
  of 
  

   beauty 
  for 
  the 
  observer 
  and 
  full 
  of 
  in- 
  

   terest 
  for 
  the 
  man 
  of 
  science. 
  Of 
  the 
  

   trees 
  and 
  plants 
  and 
  shrubs 
  in 
  the 
  islands, 
  

   80 
  per 
  cent 
  inhabit 
  also 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  

   and 
  southern 
  Florida. 
  

  

  SIXTY-OXE 
  SPECIES 
  OE 
  PLANTS 
  PECULIAR 
  

   TO 
  BERMUDA 
  

  

  Nearly 
  9 
  per 
  cent, 
  or 
  61 
  species 
  grow- 
  

   ing 
  in 
  Bermuda 
  or 
  its 
  waters, 
  are 
  endemic 
  

   and 
  are 
  not 
  known 
  to 
  grow 
  anywhere 
  else 
  

   in 
  the 
  world. 
  These 
  latter 
  are 
  of 
  great 
  

   interest 
  to 
  naturalists, 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  pre- 
  

   sumably 
  developed 
  in 
  Bermuda 
  from 
  re- 
  

   lated 
  plants 
  formerly 
  existing 
  elsewhere. 
  

  

  Photograph 
  by 
  Emil 
  P. 
  Albrecht 
  

  

  "khyber 
  pass," 
  a 
  picturesque 
  roadway 
  cut 
  through 
  

   one 
  oe 
  Bermuda's 
  limestone 
  hills 
  

  

  Bermuda 
  has 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  world's 
  finest 
  highways, 
  for 
  they 
  are 
  

   hewn 
  out 
  of 
  solid 
  limestone. 
  The 
  only 
  unfortunate 
  feature 
  is 
  that 
  

   they 
  are 
  extremely 
  slippery 
  in 
  wet 
  weather. 
  

  

  but 
  now 
  mostly 
  extinct, 
  though 
  some 
  may 
  

   be 
  found 
  elsewhere 
  later. 
  

  

  As 
  Bermuda 
  is 
  of 
  a 
  late 
  geologic 
  

   formation, 
  and 
  it 
  had 
  to 
  grow 
  all 
  by 
  itself 
  

   600 
  miles 
  or 
  more 
  from 
  any 
  other 
  place 
  

   (for 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  evidence 
  at 
  all 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  

   ever 
  attached 
  to 
  other 
  land), 
  scientists 
  

   have 
  to 
  explain 
  — 
  indeed, 
  they 
  are 
  keen 
  

   and 
  delighted 
  to 
  explain 
  — 
  how 
  things 
  did 
  

   get 
  there 
  to 
  grow. 
  As 
  I 
  have 
  said, 
  they 
  

   find 
  the 
  explanation 
  in 
  the 
  wind, 
  the 
  cur- 
  

   rents 
  of 
  the 
  ocean, 
  and 
  the 
  birds. 
  

  

  When 
  scientists 
  find 
  sixty 
  or 
  more 
  

   species 
  of 
  plants 
  that 
  are 
  not 
  found 
  else- 
  

   where, 
  their 
  appetite 
  for 
  further 
  knowl- 
  

  

  