Edward L. Mark

“ If one has pictured to himself low-lying coral islands fringed with palm trees, he will be disappointed, and will be surprised to find that the land rises in many places to a considerable height—even to two hundred and fifty feet or more—and on approaching nearer to see, instead of palms, the dark green of the cedars that cover many of the hills. ”

“ Though not an especially graceful shrub, the soft green of its fine-cut foliage makes a pleasant impression on the eye, and it enjoys the great practical advantage of being about the only kind of verdure that can really thrive in the presence of the abundant salt-spray which the prevailing winds drive in upon the land. ”

“ Agassiz, incidental to his studies of the great question of the origin and growth of coral reefs, and most recently by that veteran in systematic zoology, Professor Verrill, of Yale University—that it is hardly to be expected that anything fundamentally new will be soon added. It is my purpose, rather, to give something of a picture of the present conditions in Bermuda, based partly on my own experiences, and particularly to direct your attention to the accessibility of the islands and their availability as a place for carrying on intensive rather than extensive researches. ”

“ Through the greater part of the main island there are three parallel roads (Map 3) : one—known as the middle road—runs in a general way along the ridge; the others—known as north and south roads—run along the north and south shores. The north and middle roads meet at The Flatts, and nearly all the travel between the only two cities, Hamilton and St. George's, passes over the bridge which crosses the gorge between the inlet and Harrington Sound.
The houses of Bermuda are, almost without exception, made of the limestone rock which everywhere abounds. ”

“ Opposite the hotel an artificial channel cut through the narrow neck of land that separates the Inlet from Harrington Sound is of this nature and affords a rich collecting ground for many invertebrates. With a row boat and a good water-glass one may study with, delight the shores of Harrington Sound and its numerous coves and get beautiful views of the delicate shade-corals (Agaricia fragilis, Fig. 19) , the many kinds of sea anemones (Figs. 20, 21, 22) and the sponges, which abound there. Collecting is easy and the variety of life great. ”

“ There are innumerable pools and channels all showing the greatest variety of color in the plant and animal life that clothes their sides and bottoms. Here in the pools and passages, is a greater wealth and variety of life than can he found in an equal area elsewhere in all the Bermuda archipelago. ”

“ In the shallow parts of the Inlet, which are laid bare at low tide, are the burrows of many annelids and other worms. Where the channel is rocky and the water moves with greater velocity the bottom is often gorgeously painted with patches of bright-colored corallines and encrusting sponges. ”

“ To catch these creatures requires some skill, two persons usually succeeding better than one, for the crab, when too closely pursued, quickly drops to the ground, even from a height of ten or fifteen feet, and escapes into a burrow, unless a net is dexterously interposed during his descent. Along the edges of the tidal stream near the head of the bay are found in great numbers prawns that are so transparent as to escape observation until they move; they dart about with such swiftness that it is difficult to take them in the net. ”

“ In passing from the deep waters of the Atlantic to the shallower depths near land, the dark blue of the ocean is replaced by livelier tints, in which greens predominate, and when the conditions of sun and sky are favorable, the variety of colors exhibited is truly wonderful. ”

“ In the immediate vicinity of the laboratory—in the Inlet and in Harrington Sound—are found an abundant supply of many interesting animals. From the stone pier at the hotel are to be seen great numbers of brightly colored fishes: the yellow-banded sergeant majors (Abudefduf saxatilis) , sea squirrels (Holocentrus ascensionis) , so called on account of the bigness of their eyes, angel fishes (Angelichthys ciliaris) , four eyes (Chætodon bimaculatus) and many others. ”

“ At the day appointed of Nature to the procreation of these creatures there creepeth out a multitude of Tortoyses, as it were Pismyers out of an anthill, and this only by the heate of the Sunne, without any helpe of their Parents: their Egges are as big as Geese Egges, and themselues growne to perfection, bigger than great round Targets. It is, however, the richness of the life in the sea—in marked contrast to the paucity of that on land—which is the chief source of attraction to the zoologist. ”

“ An examination of the larger masses almost always yielded an abundance of various crabs, bryozoans and nudibranchs, some of the latter being most beautifully colored; frequently the less common fishes, such as the pipe fish (Syngnathus) and the grotesque Antennarius, were found in these floating islands, evidently their natural home. After protracted strong winds there are thrown upon the beach long windrows of gulf weed, which harbor a variety of the animals that live on the open sea. ”

“ Although trees and shrubs in great variety are to be found in Bermuda, most of them are not peculiar to the islands, but probably owe their origin to introduction by natural agencies from the West Indies and the United States before historic times, while many are known to have been introduced by man, and not a few of these within comparatively recent times. ”

“ The fiddle-wood tree (Citharexylum quadrangulare) is to-day the commonest of the deciduous trees in Bermuda, but the first tree of this species on the islands—the one from which all the others are reported to have come—was imported as recently as 1830, and is still standing. The Pride of India (Melia azedarach) is a rather scraggy, forlorn looking tree in mid-summer, and one wonders why it is so much cultivated ”

“ The peculiar odor, resembling that of iodine, which is a noticeable feature of the 'Amphioxus sand' in the Bay of Naples, was not recognized at any of the collecting places examined by us. Incidentally in our dredgings for Amphioxus, it was noticed that there are many sandy bottoms and beaches which are inhabited by large numbers of a rather small Balanoglossus. The western portion of Castle Harbor contains brain corals (Meandra) in great abundance, many of them attaining an enormous size and weight. ”

“ Unless great care is used, however, his spines, which are like needles, will penetrate the flesh, where they are sure to break off and become a source of great irritation if not promptly removed; but they are so brittle that removal is not an easy matter. Crabs both great and small are everywhere, and the little hermits with their molluscan shelters of various kinds and sizes make a grotesque appearance as they scuttle away to cover. ”

“ The large eye-spots of the four-eyes at the tail end of the body evidently afford protection by misleading their enemies into the belief that they will attempt to escape in a direction opposite that in which they actually swim. ”

“ Upon our return, and after the money necessary for the undertaking had been secured, we issued to biologists in the name of the Bermuda Natural History Society and the universities which we represented an invitation to share for six weeks in the privileges of a temporary biological station at the Flatts, Bermuda. The generosity of the Natural History Society and the liberality of our friends allowed us to provide ample means for collecting and all the requisites for laboratory work, except that we had no running water in the laboratory. ”

“ The rain that falls on the roofs is carefully collected in covered cisterns, for it is the only source of fresh water in the islands, since there are no streams, and most of the rain pools last but a few hours even after the heaviest shower. In some localities barren tracts of land are denuded, the rock cut to a sloping surface and whitewashed to serve as a watershed for collecting rain water in larger quantity than the roofs supply. ”

“ A card catalogue embracing the names of all the animals and plants arranged systematically will ultimately show, not only what organisms, both living and fossil, are to be met with in the islands and adjacent waters, but also the precise localities at which they have been found, and the conditions under which they live. ”

“ Whales, which were once of some commercial importance to the islands, are so rare that they are no longer hunted, and the 'whale houses,' of which there were recently half a dozen in existence, are but relics of an industry that has practically ceased.
The greater part of the 150 or more birds mentioned by Major Wedderburn (Jones: 'The Naturalist in Bermuda') as found in the Bermudas, are migrants. The most conspicuous and interesting ”

“ The land animals, with the exception of insects and mollusks, are remarkably few, and of these most are probably not natives of the islands any more than are the majority of the phænogamic plants.
Except for domesticated animals, mammals are numerous neither in species nor in individuals. ”

“ Sound and affords at many spots beautiful views of that land-locked sea and the wooded heights beyond. The hotel (Fig. 14) is located on a low projection of land that makes out into the Inlet from its south shore and commands on one side a view of the sea (Fig. 15) , on the other a view into Harrington Sound. It consists of half a dozen buildings; two of stone (one built as a residence many years ago) placed gable to gable and facing the water; a much newer wooden structure, which, with its broad piazza, projects out over the clear waters of the Inlet ”

“ Located on the very edge of the outer reef, where breakers are always running, save in perfectly calm weather, the conditions seem to be especially favorable for many of the marine organisms. Numerous small and brilliantly colored fishes dart about in the pools, and escape into the crevices of the rock as one attempts to scoop them up. ”

“ With the facilities for work which will soon be provided by the colonial government, it should be an attractive place not only for temporary exploration and summer study, but also for protracted investigations on important biological problems. ”

“ Connected with Ferry Reach at its northeasterly end is St. George's Harbor, which affords an excellent and well protected anchorage. Southwest from Castle Harbor, and separated from it by only a narrow ridge, is Harrington Sound, which looks like an inland lake (Fig. 5) ; it is a mile wide, two miles long, and in places sixty or seventy feet deep. This has but one communication with the sea above ground,
Map 3. ”

“ It contains the hotel, the post office, a half-dozen shops, and one or two scores of dwellings, which range in size and attractiveness from 'Palmetto Grove,' the home of Archdeacon Tucker, to the twenty-foot cottage of the unambitious colored family. On nearing the Flatts the north road runs along the hillside that rises to the south of the Inlet, gradually descending to sea level, at the corners, where it meets the middle road. The cottages are scattered over this hillside, which looks out on Harrington
Fig. ”

“ At such time as the heate of Nature moueth them to generation, they come forthe of the Sea, and making a deepe pit in the sand, they lay three or foure hundred Egges therein: when they haue thus emptied their bag of Conception, they put as much of the same againe into the Pit as may satisfie to couer their Egges, and so resorte againe vnto the Sea, nothing carefull of their succession. ”

“ To this end each person was provided with a note book, and to prevent duplication of locality numbers, certain locality numbers were assigned with each book. Whenever a party of individuals made collections together in a circumscribed area, as in dredging, or in shore collecting at particular spots, the same locality number was used by all. To enable future workers to find the precise localities mentioned, these places were designated by latitude and longitude. ”

“ These depressions contain the peculiar reddish brown earth that makes farming and gardening possible in the Bermudas. The richness of this soil and the favorable climate allow the farmer to keep the earth under constant cultivation and to procure several crops in the course of a year. ”