The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1925-01-14

| Prepared by the National Geographic So
| ciety. Washington d. Co.
The Bermudas, which get scant con
sideration throughout the rest of tn
yehr, may be thought Of as becoming
more prominent on the map of the At
lantic as the winter season ap
proaches; for these islands have grown
to be one of the favorite winter resorts
Of residents Of the northeastern United
States. The popularity Of these Allan
tic islands rests, probably, on the fact
that they have neither the rgors OF
the north temperate zone nor the en-
ervating climate of the tropich
It is stretching things a bit TO class
ify the Bermudas as part Of North
America, but at least they are closer
to this continent than to any other.
They are about as far from our Allan
tic coast to the east as the Mississippi
river is to the west, with 600 miles Of
water between them and the nearest
land. Cape Hatteras. They are stu
ated southeast of Hatteras, however,
In the latitude of Charleston. S. G.
The closest affiliations of the Ber-
mudas In spite of the 800 miles of in
tervening ocean are with the Bahamas
to the southwest. They may be said
to be tied to these and other Islands
of the Antilles by currents of water
and air. Because the fringing cur
rents of the Gulf stream flow from the
Bahamas to the Bermudas most Of the
plants found on the latter islands seem
to have been brought from the former
or their bigger neighbors. Air cur
rents, too, flowing In the same general
direction assist bird migrations to the
tiny bits of land far out in the Atlantic.
Their bird life, therefore, is almost q
duplicate of that Of the Bahamas.
The land area of the Bermudas is
only about 20 square miles, less than
the area Of Manhattan island. Only
i've of the islands are Of considerable
size and these, lying very close to-
yether, have been Joined by causeways
and bridges until they now constitute
a single body Of land In
addition there are numerous small Is
cts and rocks exposed at low tide. |
The exact number depends on how |
many of the reefs are counted; but |
3ermudans are fond of saying there
ire 365-one for each day In the year.
The group Is roughly In the form of a
ishhook with the curved end toward
he southwest and at no point Is the
and much more than mile wide.
Coral on Volcanic Base.
Since the Bermudas lie so far from
Their land and since they are of coral
ormation in a region far north of the
sual occurrence Of the coral polyps,
hey we're something of a mystery to
arly scientists. 1t was found, how
yer, by a study Of the neighboring
cean. that the Bermudas rise from
arrow arm Of the Atlantic plateau
nd have a volcanic base. The coral
,rmation extends less than a thou
md feet below the sea level; and
nee the COAL animals are known to
= unable to live far below the sur
ice, 1t is surmised that the foundation
Ink as the creatures built the super
ructure. The Bermudas just escape
ling a stable land body. From the ,
Ids Of the island group coral reef ,
veeps ten miles to the west forming :
ith the land an oval enclosing an
ea of some 200 square miles. The =
efs are Just awash and constitute q
niger to navigation that long made :
e Bermudas notorious. Inside the
eff is sort of ocean lake from to +
fathoms deep.
Unlike many of the corallne islands u
the Pacific, the Bermudas proper
e not low and fiat. The coral frag- n
snts washed up by the waves were +
own into hills. the materials then r
into stone. o
The Bermudas were discovered with c
less than generation after the e.
st voyage of Columbus. Juan Ber- il
ldez, Spanish navigator was il
ecked on the islands about 1915, il
the group thus came into notice as r,
place of wrecks. reputation which IL
s to be added to In after years. r,
,rmudez found 20 inhabitants or IL
dences of former inhabitants and fl
tut all of interest that happened In
connection with his visit was tie
ape of some hogs which later b,
cked the islands. For eighty years W
isles dropped out of sight. to bob re-
a second time In connection with a CT
tragedy when May, an Englishman. Ia
s cast on shore there In 1894. May al
! his companions escaped In a small IN
II after FIVE months stay. pI
Then In 1909 came the wreck which ia
lily began Bermuda history The In