BAHAMAN TRIP 



3 



The greater part of our sojourn on New Providence was spent at i 



''Ryswick, " a country place which we rented of one of the mer- ? 



chants in town. It was about three miles east of Nassau and near ^ 



the best grounds for marine collecting. The house was situated on 1 



the rocky coastal ridge and commanded a fine outlook. The gray 1 



walls of old Fort Montague were on one side and Dix Point on the i 



other, while we looked across the bay to the low, wooded cays known i 



as Hog Island and Quarantine. Beyond these could be seen the long ' 



narrow ridge of Salt Cay. A man and sail-boat were engaged, and ] 



day after day we sailed to the outlying cays and reefs and collected j 



along their shores. The marine life was so wonderfully varied and j 



abundant that for several weeks we daily brought back starfishes, | 



holothurians, crustaceans, corals, or sponges we had not found before. ] 



Dix Point and the sand fiats in front of the house also proved profit- | 



able collecting grounds at low tide. Occasionally we would try dredg- j 

 ing, but the coral heads and blocks made it difficult work, and we • | 



did not find it as productive as shore collecting. What is termed the | 

 "sea-garden" is near Ryswick. Here one looks down into a forest of 



alcyonoid corals, pink, brownish, and yellow, while scattered over the j 



bottom v^ere large sponges, some round and inky black, others clus- ] 



tered and purple-tinted, also huge brain corals interspersed with 1 



many of the delicate branching madrepores. Gaily colored fishes ; 



darted about, the most striking being bright blue, while others \ 



showed yellow bodies and blue tails or were silver spotted with crim- \ 



son. The water was so wonderfully clear that it was difficult to be ■ 



convinced that these marine treasures were not within easy reach. i 



We also visited the living coral reef off Rose Island, some miles to \ 



the northeast, but the reef we saw later along the east coast of Andros t 



was much larger and finer. j 



The principal work at New Providence was the collection of 1 



marine invertebrates, but between times, and when it was too rough to j 



collect, we explored the island in many directions, visiting the south ; 



side, the southwest beach, the extreme eastern end as well as Lake - 



Cunningham and the caves to the west of Nassau. Two or three . > 



hundred species of plants were collected on these trips as well as some : 



birds and insects. { 



January 1 1. Drove across to south side of island. The north side, I 



just back of the town, is a rocky ridge; then comes a comparatively I 



