Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1896-04-23

sided with the Evangelical party in the
struggle which resulted In the disruption
In 1913, and so became one of the Free
churches of Scotland. 1t Is interesting TO
know that President Patton of Princeton
was born and brought up in this parish OF
Warwick and Is still a pew-holdcr and
warm friend of this old church. mural
tablet in memory of a series of services
held in it in 174s by the celebrated preacher
George whitfield, IL of interest. within
these walls, for eight consecutive SAP
baths, he held forth the bread OF ire.
Many got a blessing and there was great
JOY" runs the inscription.
April CIT is In my mind to attempt n
description of our trip to tho reefs, but
my courage fails. ! hope every one mas
read Mrs. Julia r. DORIS book on Ber-
muda, for better than any one ! know
she has succeeded in putting down IN
words an idea OF these beautiful waters.
The object In going out to the reefs Is 10
see the marine gardens (as they are call
ed and to gather specimens OF corals,
shells, seaweed or other curios, If pos
sble. OF course one must have day of
perfect calm, for after arrival at the
reefs In the small steamers, II Is necessary
to get into small boats to he rowed about
among the hidden rocks. Then with wa
ter glasses through which to peer down
into the depths Is revealed to tho locker a
tastic shapes wave their branches in the
shining water; colors of every hue greet
the eye, and wonders unthought of are
revealed by every glance. The boatman
armed with strong nippers attached to n
long pole, tries to secure the discoveries
for each, that they have made. but one
Is never satisfied where all is so strange
and Is obliged to leave the first discov-
cries behind, though returning to the
steamer with a boatload of dripping cur
iosities. We have found by experience
| that the collection of sea trophies is at
tended by supplementary duties of an eX-
acting character. Everything must be
| thoroughly cleaned and usually II Is nec-
essary to uso sal soda or even muriatc
| acid to remove the limy deposits and
| ishy odors. Then too, we have found how
differently things seem out Of their ma
| tural place and element. Frequently OBJ
jects which have attracted us on the white
sands of the bottom seen through the
| crystalline waters, as marvels of beauty
in color or shape have proven when land
| ed in the boat most undesirable. Many
| things are too frail to be preserved ant
most of them suffer such changes in thu
| process as to lose much of their origina
beauty.
We rarely go out without picking III
something TO wonder at and admire. TIL
other day while clamboring over the rock
of the cliffs on the south shore. which ar
very preciptous and ragged, rising straigh
up from the beach two or throe hundred
feet, We found that the weather worl
rocks at the top which were crumblini
away, were made up Of sand and littl
shells. We could easily pick out tho she'll
from the disintegrating moss In perfcc
condition after their long entombment
Who could say how many ages since the,
laid under the waters beating at the foo
of the cliff. This south shore we fin
very interesting from the peculiar shap
of the reefs. An outlying line at som
distance from the beach catches the frs
force of the waves and breaks them. In
side In the calmer waters Is a line of cir
cular reefs over which the waters brea
as they rise to form tho waves of tn
shore surf These rings of rocks seem [
mo to be perfect specimens of the atol Il
miniature. The natives call them boil
crs." i suppose because the water is al
ways foaming and splashing over thei
rings, which are somewhat higher tina
their centres. A manual on the geoogi
formation of these islands, recently pub
lished by Harvard University, the wor
of Prof. Agassiz, has been n temptatio
for me since | saw 1t for sale at 9TH
Tower" but the price. nearly SO for
paper phamplet, has deferred me fror
buying and therefore ] cannot give 70
the latest scientific theories on this sui
ject No doubt you can inform yourSclve
. by a visit to either the Billings or tn
Fletcher libraries. In tho meantime l wi
, look at the reefs.