“These islands are different in many respects from any you have yet visited,” the professor began. “They are coralline,—the most northerly of this type in the world. The rock formed is a gray limestone, which is very soft. They are in latitude thirty-two, twenty; and in longitude sixty-four, fifty. The group consists of five principal islands, and about five hundred small ones, varying in size from a few square feet up to a square mile in extent. The largest island is Bermuda, which is fifteen miles long, and occupies the most southern position in the group. On it is Hamilton, the capital. The land on our starboard side, where you see the town, is St. George, three miles and a half in length; on the other side of us is St. David’s, about two and a half miles long. The other two are in the south-west, Somerset and Ireland, each two or three miles in length. None of the islands are more than two miles wide, and in some places you can hardly choose on which side you would fall overboard. The group is twenty miles long; and they contain only twenty-four square miles of land, with a population of about twelve thousand. More than half of the people are negroes.
“There are few wells, or at least few that produce good water. You observe that the houses in the town of St. George are all white or nearly so, including the roofs. They have not been whitewashed, as you may suppose; but they are plastered. This is done to keep them clean; for all the water used is gathered on them, and kept in cisterns or tanks. Where large quantities are required, and the roofs do not afford a sufficient supply, portions of the hillside are plastered in the same manner, and the water that is collected on them is saved. The water from the clouds is the purest that can be had, if it can be kept free from impurities after it falls.
“Agriculture, possibly for the want of labor, is in a very backward state. The negroes are not disposed to work any more than enough to procure the bare necessities of life. You will see little patches of ground spaded up, for they don’t often use the plough, as the irregular surface of the land hardly admits it in many places. But it is remarkably fertile and productive It yields three crops a year of vegetables, which find a ready market in the neighboring ports of the United States, only six to seven hundred miles distant. The exports of the Bermudas amount to about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year. There is a regular steamer to and from New York, but the government has to subsidize the company that runs it.
“This is a very important naval and military station of Great Britain, with extensive magazines and store-houses. On the island of Ireland is a dock-yard, provided with a floating dry dock, built of iron in England, and towed out to the islands. As a naval and military station, the islands are said to be second only to Malta. On account of this interest, the governor, whose authority is little less than supreme, is appointed by the crown of England; and the incumbent is invariably a man of great ability. The two branches of the Legislature are the House of Assembly, which is the popular body, elected by the people of the parishes, and the Council, nominated to the crown by the governor. Though white and black are allowed to vote, there are three times as many voters of the former as of the latter. The voter must own real estate to the amount of sixty pounds; and he must have four times this amount before he can be a member of the House of Assembly. No negro has ever been elected to this office.
“The climate may be said to be delightful; and as a rule the islands are very healthy. When the yellow fever and other diseases have prevailed here as epidemics, it has been entirely owing to the lack of proper drainage, and the neglect of other sanitary measures The mercury rarely goes above eighty-five or below forty; and the average is about seventy. It hardly compares with Orotava, and it is too damp for most pulmonary affections.
“I will conclude this brief talk with a word about the history of the islands. They get their name from a Spaniard by the name of Juan Bermudez, who discovered them about four hundred years ago. But it was not settled by the Spaniards. Very likely the roving buccaneers of the Spanish main had temporary homes here; and there are stories of vast wealth hidden by these worthies. When the more modern settlers took possession of it, they found hogs in vast numbers, though the islands were uninhabited; and there were many evidences of the visits of human beings.
“In 1609, not long after the first settlement of Virginia, a vessel called the Sea Adventure was fitted out in England to convey Sir Thomas Gates, just appointed governor of the Virginia Colony, Admiral Sir George Somers, and other officials, to the scene of their future labors. This vessel went with a fleet, loaded with colonists and supplies for the new home in Virginia. In a terrible storm, the Sea Adventure was separated from the rest of the fleet, and was wrecked on the Bermudas. After suffering great hardships, the shipwrecked party reached the shores of these islands without the loss of a single life. The voyagers found plenty of turtle, fish, and fruit in the island, as well as a most delicious climate; and they were so well pleased with the paradise they had found, that they did not attempt to get away for a year. At the end of this time they had built a vessel, in which they embarked for Virginia, and reached their destination in safety. But the colony were in the utmost need of supplies, being almost in a state of starvation. In this emergency Sir George Somers, who is represented as a noble and unselfish man, willing to peril his life for the salvation of others, procuring a party of volunteers to accompany him, sailed for the Bermudas to obtain a supply of provisions from that land, ‘flowing with milk and honey.’ Unhappily he died when his vessel reached the locality where we now are; and after him this island was called St. George, though I cannot say when or how he happened to be canonized. After him also the scene of his death received the name of the ‘Somers Islands,’ as they are often called. The colonists reported so favorably, that settlements were commenced in 1612; and the islands have been under the British Government since that time.”
The professor finished his remarks, and the students hastened on shore for the first time.
CHAPTER XXVI.
YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND.
“THE professor did not say this used to be called ‘The Isle of Devils,’” said Dr. Winstock, when he seated himself in the stern-sheets of the captain’s gig, with Sheridan and Murray. “It was so called because it was such a terrible place for shipwrecks. But the science of navigation had not been carried to such perfection in those days as at present.”