14 



BAHAMAN TRIP 



splashes in the creek, presumably made by the barracudas. Conch 

 Sound is a shallow inlet or bay, filled with small cays and mangroves 

 and with a narrow winding channel. In places on the shore were 

 great piles of the shells of the conch [Stromhiis). It is quite an impor- 

 tant article of food on Andros, and it is in these shells that the pink 

 pearls are found for which the Bahamas are noted. While Conch 

 Sound was our headquarters, in company with Mr. Keith, we made a 

 trip to London and Stafford creeks, eight or ten miles down the coast, 

 stopping at Mastic Point on the way. An account of the trip follows. 



Friday, May 2. Left Conch Sound about 9 a.m., wind nearly dead 

 ahead. A hard rain fell just before we reached Mastic Point. When 

 it ceased, we had our luggage carried to the house of Mrs. Bain, where 

 we were to stay. It is a small settlement of not more than ten or fifteen 

 houses built close together. It might well be called ''Bainville" as 

 everybody was related to old ]\Irs. Bain, our hostess, who was the 

 patriarch of the settlement and whose mother and father were full- 

 blooded Congos. The houses were better and neater than at Nicol's 

 Town, some even had a little porch at one end, while others had 

 brightly painted woodwork. Several had flowers planted about the 

 dooryard. Mrs. Bain's house boasted a plastered floor, which was 

 kept neatly sanded, and some fine pieces of mahogany furniture. 

 There was, as usual, a table covered with an array of glassware and 

 crockery, such as goblets, decanters, wine-glasses, lamps, and lamp 

 chimneys. It is curious that these articles are never seen in use, 

 but are evidently regarded purely as ornaments. 



In the afternoon walked a short distance along a path through the 

 mangroves. In some places where the rocks were overflowed by the 

 tide, there were many sharp and jagged points. Later walked through 

 a field where I noted corals in the rock and picked up a fragment. 

 Beyond and farther inland was a slight elevation, on the south side of 

 which the rocks were abruptly worn off, their appearance showing that 

 the sea had once washed against the top of the hill. 



Saturday, May 3. Started about seven o'clock in the morning, but 

 were no sooner under way than there was another hard shower, lasting 

 nearly an hour. The men poled a good part of the way, and we finally 

 reached a large mangrove which was about one hundred yards long 

 and fifteen to twenty wide. A pair of cormorants were perched on one 

 of the top branches, and in the mangrove were many Louisiana herons 



