while no other in all the islands has a depth of more
than nine feet, that make it the site of the colonial
capital and give it all its consequence. Near the
north shore of New Providence, for nearly its whole
length, runs a wooded ridge from eighty to one hundred
and twenty feet high, upon the seaward slope of
which, five and a half miles from its eastern end, is
the picturesque and solidly built town of Nassau.
A b ou t six and a half miles from the western end of
the island, at a place called Cave Point, a spur from
this northern ridge, known as “ the Blue H ills ,”
strikes inland, and on either side of it is a considerable
lake of brackish water that sways with the tide.
T he town of Nassau has at times a lively commerce,
and affords facilities for docking and repairing vessels.
Its buildings are of the limestone that is sawed
into blocks when fresh and hardens afterwards.
There is a modest Government House, a plain cathedral,
several churches and chapels, the bishop’s
abode, a public library, an asylum and hospital, a
military station, an institute, a charitable society,
and several schools.
T h e Berry Isles, just north of New Providence,
are only occupied by a few pilots, and the Bernini
Keys, to the west, are distinguished merely as the
site of Ponce de L e on ’s delusive fountain of youth.
T o the east, however, is the long, crescent-shaped
Eleuthera,— so named from the Eleuthera Croton,
once valued for its medicinal properties,L-a fertile,
fairly peopled, and cultivated island, and the special
garden of the pineapple. Harbour Island, close
by, practically covered by Dunmore Town, with its
2000 inhabitants in a space of two square miles, is a
favourite health resort, and the place of residence of
the wealthier planters of Eleuthera. T o the southeast
and separated by a few miles from Eleuthera is
another long, curved island, though not so long or
so curved, called b y the name of Cat, because that
animal runs wild upon it in a manner that may be
harmless but is not necessary. Cat Island contains
one hundred and sixty-five square miles of fairly
fertile land, but it was wholly deserted in 1785 when
one hundred loyalist emigrants from the United
States with their slaves took possession. I t now
has a population of about 4000. Over on the west
of the group, to the south-west of New Providence,
stretching along that deep gulf called the Tongue
of the Ocean,” but with a shallow expanse of water
upon its margin, is Andros, the largest in area of
the Bahama Islands, containing, it is said, about as
much surface above water as all the rest. It is
rather a group of islands, separated by narrow and
shallow channels, and covered with swamps and
forests. The shallow water about its shores and the
utter lack of harbours make it of little use, and it
has only about 1000 inhabitants, mostly negroes engaged
in gathering sponges. I t is the only island in
all the Bahamas that has running streams. Dividing
the space between Eleuthera and Cat on one side
and Andros on the other, and acting as the crest to
the barrier between the “ Tongue of the Ocean ” and
Exuma Sound, is a string of reefs terminating in
Great Exuma Island, which with its imposing name
is of small account. T o the south of this is L ong