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322 THE ATLANTIC. [c h a p . IV.
of India’ [Mella ((zedarach),\Y\nc\i, daring our former
visit, showed its delicate trusses of lilac dowers only.
I have already referred to the use of the common
oleander [Nerkini oleander) for arresting the progress
ot moving sand. The plant was introduced into
Bermudas in modern times, and appears to har'e heen
encouraged partly on account of its value for that pur-
])Ose, and partly doubtless for its shoAvy flowers. The
climate and soil seem to suit it wonderfully, and it
has regularly taken possession of the islands. Large
bushes, tAventy feet high, are everywhere—round the
cottages, along the road-sides and in the AA'Oods; and
thick hedges of great height, planted partly as bounding
fences and partly for shelter, intersect the cultivated
ground in every direction. Nothing can be
imagined more ornamental. There are all varieties
of colour, from Avhite through pale rose and
lilac to nearly crimson ; the floAvers tend to come
double or semi-double, and they bloom most profusely.
Ihe country round Hamilton, and Somerset
Island, Avere a perfect blaze of colour in June, and as
the flowers come in succession and stand a long time,
they Avould remain so during the greater part of the
season. The oleander is not noAV so popular as it was,
and although it is still planted in large numhers in
shifting sand, it is suspected that high thickets and
hedges of it near dwellings are not healthy, and
latterly they have been cleared away in many places.
June 9lJi.—A party started early in the morning
in the galley and the steam pinnace for the Walsingham
Caves. We called at Mount Langton for the
Governor, avIio had arranged to join us, and then
Avent ou to ‘ Tlie Llats,’ the entrance to Harrington
Ch a p . iv .] ST. THOMAS TO BERMUDAS. 323
Sound. The strait, which is the only communication
betAveen this heautiful land-locked sheet of Avater and
the sea, is very narroAV, and spanned by a low bridge.
The rising tide rushes in through it Avith great force,
and Avhen Ave arrived the ebbing tide Avas rushing out
Avith the velocity of a mill-race. We sent on the
steam pinnace with the photographer and some of
our party by Avay of Castle Harbour to Walsingham,
to try to photograph the interior of one of the caves
Avith the magnesium light ; and we warped the galley
against the rapids, and she was soon in the still, clear
Avater of the Sound. Harrington Sound is a most
peculiar basin, and certainly it is extremely heautiful.
It is nearly rectangular, a mile Avide by about tAVO
miles long in the direction of the axis of the island.
To the south a I o a v narroAV band separates it from the
sea, and on the other three sides the land rises in
irregular, richly Avooded ridges, forming nearly the
highest ground in Bermudas. The sheet of Avater is
thus completely land-locked, and as it is of considerable
depth, if there Avere any good access to it, it
Avould make one of the finest harbours conceivable.
It was at one time proposed to cut a canal, opening
a communication to the southward, and to make it
the Government harbour ; but the project Avas abandoned
in favour of the present arrangement at
Ireland Island.
lAe had taken along Avith us one of the native
fishermen Avho Avas in the habit of collecting corals
and kncAV the localities of the diiferent species, and
under his guidance we explored some Ioav caves under
the cliffs along the northern shore. The roofs of the
caves Avere covered with green algm, and heloAv the
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