238 THE SPOXGE FISHERY OF THE BAHAMAS. 



new branch of business for Key "West, and was formerly confined to the 

 Mediterranean. The finer quality of sponge is not found on the American 

 coasts, although the coarse description is abundant all about the coast of 

 Florida and the Bahama banks. 



The principal supply of West India sponge comes from the Bahama 

 Islands. The rapid strides made in sponging within this group since 1847 

 appears almost incredible. Although the trade has been carried on for 

 years, a Mr. Hayman was, I am informed, the first who gave it an impetus. 

 About the streets and outskirts of Nassau, New Providence, vast quantities 

 of sponge may be seen covering fences, yards, and house-tops, where it is 

 left to dry, after having been previously buried (in order to kill the 

 zoophyte which inhabits it) and washed. It is afterwards divested of the 

 fragments of rock which adhere to it, pressed, and packed in bales, averag- 

 ing 300 lbs. weight each, for the London market, where it is manufactured 

 into cloth, hats, &c, and converted to many useful purposes. The value 

 of sponge in surgery and for domestic uses is well known. Spongiopiline 

 has recently become the medium for applying poultices to wounds, instead 

 of cloth. 



To show the importance of the sponge trade in the Bahamas I may add 

 the following statistics, with which I have been favoured by a gentleman 

 engaged in shipping large quantities. " From Jan. 1 to June 30, 1850, 

 there were exported from Nassau nearly 1,000 bales of sponge, of the value 

 of at least £5 per bale = £5,000. On Jan. 1 a very small stock of sponge 

 was on hand, while on June 30 every dealer in this article had a large 

 stock ; therefore, as it is a cash article, there must have been paid to the 

 crews employed in this trade at least £8,000." The value of the sponge 

 exported from the Bahamas in 1852 was about £12,000. 



The sponge trade of the Bahamas is in a very flourishing condition. The 

 total value exported in 1849 was but £2,217 ; in 1850, £5,700 ; in 1851, 

 £14,000 ; in 1852, £11,257. In later years the quantity of sponge exported 

 from the Bahamas has been : — 



Cwts. Value. 



1855 2,399 9,615 



1856 1,800 6,723 



1857 2,657 11,025 



1858 3,357 17,254 



A great deal of this goes to the United States. 



The Andros Islands and the Cays are the great sponging districts. The 

 sponge is usually found in grassy and rocky patches near the shores of this 

 group. Crawls for cleaning these may be seen from Joulters to Jonas Cays, 

 constructed with stakes about two inches thick, driven into the mud, and 

 forming a square of twelve feet, sufficiently high to prevent the sponge 

 washing out. In these the sponge is soaked and washed frequently, after 

 having been buried in sand about a week or ten days, when it loses the 

 black animal matter, which has an offensive smell. When first gathered 



