The Red Cloud chief., 1885-05-22
BSRMUDA.s pEculIAR,T,Es.
Neither Soil Xer water. Aaanaas Nor
Birds. Oaly Coenl

sSRMuoA's PEcULiARiTiEs.
SsisAsr SOIL xsr W.sss. A.l..,s Me-
Birds. Oaiy Coral
In no other part Of thaworld, I think,
DID Nature show such supreme nigyard-
illness As here She gave the B-rmud.s
neither soil nor water. neither animal
nor bird. neither fruit. vegetable nor
Hover. She simply conferred the most
delightful weather under tie u
and then stood or and said: such
weather a that Is n bountiful outfit, IL
you dont get another thing" - i,
has proved. To the prize weather all
other things have been added ty vi,-
itOrs- The only wild animal Known
here are the rat and the mouse. brouyh,
by vessels; the casual and olcayinou,
whale. and the bat that ha. blown
across the Atlantic By accident. There
- no game whatever. and never has
been. Of birds. the splendid cardinal
Of the tropics is here The blue robin
OF New England is here. piping As
brayely rs ever. The cAt.bird has put
in an appearance. and so has that even
greater nuisance. the English sparrow.
the pirate Of the winged world. Two
Spanish birds. the '.chick of the vii.
LACE and the pretty ground dove.
move quietly about And that is all.
Not a native bird among them.
/ have said that nature gave Bermuda
no soil. Ignatius Donnellv think. that
snese islands and the Azores are the re-
mains OF Plato's fabled continent-.he
last 10, remaining above the sea after
the great cataclysm of one hundred
thousand years ago buried the res, OF
the continent with iA splendid civiliza-
tons forever. In that case. l should
suppose there would be some real soil,
some rocks. some drift. some sand. some
clay. some alluvium. some vegetable
mold. There is very little Of the last
and not q bit OF any of the Others on
these islands. There is not clay enough
for a pipe. or sand enough for n sand
glass. or a tone big or little nearer than
the oas Of Georgia. There is nothing
here but ground coral reefs. carbonate
Of lime. digested and deposited by tina,
mucilaginous and shap-less reature
called the coral ~'.insect" This island
is rs white as SO much chalk. and about
As barren. Water soaks into i, like a
sponge, and ive minutes after a sharp
shower one III 90 out walking and lind
neither mud nor moisture anywhere.
On some lOwlands this comminuted
coral. with the mixture II elements il
has taken up. is not as hard As else
where: and here it is occasionally cult
waited by the adm:xture with the sol Of
a large quantity of fertilizers from Amer
lea Il can absorb unlimited cargoes
of these stimulants without having its
life much stirred BY them. Tickle
this coral reef with a hoe ever 50 Wig
orOu>ly. it never laughs with II
harvest; and after YOU have poured
into it ocean Of poudrctie and dosed
it with loan and bound poulticcs
Of warm ground upon its stomach. il
only smiles u faint and CHASTITY smile.
But, under these circumstances, pOta-
toes. onions. tomatoes and lly bulbs
are planted. and. ii they can clasp roO:-
lets around anything softer than a east
iron stove lid. they grow. Some things
grow in \ warm climate without much
encouragement | SAW this week a
lamar nj tree as large Is n good sized
New England elm. that had been torn
up by a hurricane long ago. and stood
on its very top. its roots pointing
toward the sky. The branches that
stuck into the ground put forth roots
and gave the wreck 4 new anchorage.
while the up;hrOwn roots reverted and
set forth new limbs, and the dense
mass of foliage now shades the ground.
and invites the still fruitful giant TO
forget its disaster.
There is no fresh water on the island
except what comes direc, from the
clouds. The sky is the cist.rn Of Ber-
muda. The houses are all built Of the
coral that Is 9uarried in beautiful white
cubes ftOm the ground anywhere.
seeming fit for the sculptOr's chisel;
thea every house il rooted with slant
roof OF the same aud furnished with
abundant tanks. In these the rain is
gathered: and the tanks are 20 very
clean. and the roof is so very white and
the air 20 very free from dust that the
water is the purest in the wOrld-cold
and pclIucid as il drawn from the
choices, mountain spring. never saw
such delicious water anywhere. Nature
knew what she was abont when she
omitted the Burmudian springs.--Cor.
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.