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To go into the scrub, as it is called, consisting of shrubs and 

 small trees, one must have a stout knife, to cut one's way 

 through the myriad creepers, which are all thorny and hold one 

 back in the most aggravating way, and not mind torn clothes, 

 nor fear Absalom's fate. Here one may search for Taenitis 

 lanceolata, which is usually found on some small tree, out of 

 reach. But our colored boy is expert at climbing trees, or 

 going down the holes, and he soon brings down a specimen 

 growing with a fine Tillandsia, completely encircling the tree. 

 The roots of the two were in a large mass, with a good deal of 

 soil. Where does this soil come from? Can the wind be the 

 only agent ? It continually astonished us. The Tillandsia is 

 supposed to live on air. Does the fern get its support from the 

 Ttllandsiaf 



Phlebodium aureum, which grows so abundantly on palmettos 

 in Florida, seems to prefer stone walls in New Providence. One 

 fine specimen which we found growing with Polypodium 

 Phyllitidis on a wall, was as flourishing as were its mates be- 

 tween the stones, on the roots of the trees, and on the ground 

 near by. It looked as though it might have been taken from the 

 ground with the earth and put in its present place, but no one in 

 the island would be capable of that exertion. Polypodium was 

 also running on the wall, but with Hepaticae. 



The total lack of running fresh water accounts for the ab- 

 sence of fern allies. Two small lakes back in the country are 

 filled with brackish water, but are of no interest except to the 

 duck hunter. On the sea coast, a few miles from the city, are 

 the "Caves," so called, where on a dripping rock are fine speci- 

 mens of Asplettium dentatum, which grow nowhere else on the 

 island. Besides some of the roads leading through the island, 

 there are long stretches of Dryopteris patens, and where rocks 

 are thrown down, from the walls. Pteris longifolia loves to grow, 

 covering the unsightly heap with its long slender fronds. These 

 two ferns are the most common species, growing almost every- 

 where. 



Phegopteris reptans is occasionally found in rock holes. The 

 larger Adidntum capillus-veneris is in the deeper holes, and 

 grows very large — almost a bush. All of these ferns, with the 

 exception of Davallia clavata, are also found in Florida. There 



