A WHITE TOWN—A CEDAR AVENUE—THE “DUCKING-STOOL”—SEA
ENCROACHMENTS—FERN PITS—SPANISH POINT—FAIRY-LAND—THE ISLAND
ROAD—AMUSEMENTS—A PAPER HUNT—REEFS—SEA CUCUMBERS—THE SOUTH
WIND—SAND-HILLS—BOILERS—ARCHITECTURE—MUSEUM—A RARE SPIDER.
“Pleasant it was when the woods were green,
And the winds were soft and low,
To lie amid some sylvan scene,
Where the long drooping boughs between,
Shadows dark and sunlight sheen
Alternate come and go.”
LONGFELLOW.
When you first look out of your window over the town, you imagine that
there has been a slight snow-storm, so gleaming white are the roofs of
all the houses. But you soon learn that, owing to the absence of springs
and streams, the roofs are white-washed, and kept scrupulously clean, as
the rain-water is thence conducted into cisterns, from which it is drawn
for use.
The roads are white, the houses are whiter, and the roofs are whitest;
but what would otherwise be an unpleasant glare is modified by the
foliage, which half conceals the houses, and by the green Venetian
blinds, which shade all the windows.
Nearly every house has a garden, and passion-flowers, morning glory, and
other vines creep up the pillars and over the piazzas in great profusion
and brilliancy. “Pride of India” trees border the sides of the streets,
but these fail to give the delicious shade which is obtained under the
cedar avenue which lies on one side of the small public gardens. Here
you can stroll in the heat of the day, protected from the sun by a green
roof, and surrounded by roses,[1] heliotropes, lilies, great beds of
geraniums, pomegranates, gorgeous blossoms of hybiscus, gladioli, and
all sorts of lovely creepers. Then when the sun’s rays have lost some of
their power, you can prolong your walk along the winding road, past the
pretty country church of Pembroke, and leaving Mount Langton (Government
House) on your right, behold at the bottom of a shady lane spreadeth
a golden network, like a veil of gauze, stretching far and wide. That
is the sea, and in a short half-hour you have crossed this part of the
island.
Better still is it to come here in the morning, and after a plunge in the
deep blue water, sit on the “ducking stool,” and meditate on the feelings
of the poor wretches who, in days gone by, suffered the water punishment
for witchcraft, sorcery, and other imaginary offences. A notice prohibits
bathing on Government grounds, but down below the steep rocks there
are plenty of nooks and hollows, sand-carpeted and as private as your
own chamber. For myself, I never could make out where the Government
property began or where it ended.
On this north shore a delicious breeze tempers the heat of the sun, and
it is enjoyment enough to look at and listen to the sea, to watch the
men collecting the seaweed for their land, or to read, and consequently
fall asleep. No one will disturb you; there are no tramps in Bermuda,
and your watch will still be going, even should you sleep for hours. To
return to town two different ways are open to you; both are along the
same sea-shore road, but lie in opposite directions; the one leads to
the north-east, until you branch off to the right past the barracks; the
other—and the one we will take—runs south-west towards Admiralty House
and Spanish Point. All along this road you cannot help noticing the
encroachment of the sea, and you wonder how long it will be before the
road on which you are walking becomes the edge of a craggy wall for the
waves to beat against and undermine. Here truly does—
“The hungry ocean gain
Advantage on the kingdom of the shore.”
The hollowness of Bermuda is very remarkable, and in many places the
cavernous ground gives forth very musical sounds when struck.
As we proceed on our walk, we see but few signs of cultivation; here and
there are strips of garden running up into the ubiquitous cedar bush, but
most of the land is used for grazing, and very indifferent grazing, too.
One peculiarity amongst the four-footed animals is that they are nearly
all black and white; another is that they are all tethered; everything
seems at anchor in Bermuda, cattle, goats, pigs, donkeys, even the hens
are not at liberty. Occasionally one passes a deep well, originally dug
out for the purpose of obtaining fresh water, but entirely lined with
the lovely maiden-hair fern. This delicate species gives a special charm
to the island, as it grows luxuriously on the walls and rocks, in caves
and hollows, and drapes the numerous land-pits with its graceful fronds.
Where the fern declines to grow, there the “life-plant” flourishes, and
quickly covers up the bare places with its deep green, fleshy leaves.
Of such vitality is this weed that a single leaf, if plucked and pinned
to the wall, will live and send out shoots from its edges with perfect
indifference as to its changed abode.
At Spanish Point the view across to Ireland Island is very picturesque,
and one perfect horse-shoe bay, with white sandy shore, lingers a long
time in the memory, not only on account of the peaceful scene of which it
forms a part, but also for its own exquisite form. Near by is Fairy-land,
well named, for it really is one of the most charming spots in Bermuda.
The sea here runs far up into the island, forming a lake, with bays,
islets, caves, isthmuses, and peninsulas. Just above one of the green
bights stands a little nest called “Honeymoon Cottage,” a gem of a place,
where many a happy pair have passed the first week or two of their new
life. The hall-door steps lead down to the bathing house, which, when I
visited it, contained only one little shoe, but that worthy of Amphitrite
herself.
Leaving beautiful Undercliff, our road now turns more inland, sometimes
crossing a little hill, and sometimes running through a swamp with high
reeds and flags, and with its edges planted with potatoes and tomatoes.
Now it curves through a grove, anon it winds past home-like cottages,
whose black occupants grin with delight at seeing a stranger, curtsey,
and wish him a pleasant walk; then once more the sea is in view, pretty
gardens line the road, life and activity betoken the neighbourhood of the
wharf, and you are again in Hamilton. Have you enjoyed your walk? I must
not ask whether you have a good appetite for dinner!
There is no doubt that the scenery of Bermuda improves on acquaintance.
At first sight the visitor will probably be disappointed with the flat
appearance of the island and the apparently few possibilities for the
picturesque. But in a very short time he will discover that it is all
hill and dale, on a minute scale, it is true, as the highest elevation
hardly exceeds two hundred and fifty feet—but varied and even romantic.
Take, for instance, the view from the Barrack Hill. Everywhere the
coastland seems broken up in the most capricious manner. Deep bays,
narrow promontories, and an infinite number of islands give to the sea
the appearance of a series of silver lakes, which shine in the sun like
the fragments of a broken mirror. The undulating country is clothed with
cedar-bush, whose grey green is relieved here and there by the brilliant
flush of the pink oleander and the white perpendicular walls of a stone
quarry. Afar off a lighthouse is pictured against the sky, near at hand
is a white fort, and a church spire shows itself above the trees. But
it is the beauty of the sea rather than of the land that here takes the
first place in one’s affections; and in after-time it is the memory of
the molten silver sea and its green islands that clings to one longest;
“Wherever you wander the sea is in sight,
With its changeable turquoise green and blue,
And its strange transparence of limpid light.
You can watch the work that the Nereids do
Down, down, where their purple fans unfurl,
Planting their coral and sowing their pearl.”
Those who are familiar with the scenery of Puget Sound, or of Vancouver’s
Island, will recognise, I think, many points of similarity with that
of Bermuda. The dense forests are wanting in the latter, but from a
bird’s-eye view the resemblance is striking. Above all there is the same
air of absolute quiet and a subdued wildness characteristic of the two
places. Certainly Bermuda is a quiet land; so still a place, it seemed
to me, I had never been in before. You are perpetually wondering why the
church bells are not ringing for service, and I have heard people ask,
“Did you hear the dog barking yesterday?” But life here is by no means
dull, a more friendly, hospitable, and fun-loving people you would not
find, and what with military theatricals, croquet, cricket, lawn tennis,
boating parties, and other amusements, time glides away very quickly.
There is little or no game on the island—one bevy of quails being the
extent of my observations—but, as an Englishman must hunt or shoot
something, a “paper-hunt” has been established. It may not be as exciting
as fox-hunting, but, in a climate where you must take things easily, it
affords capital exercise. The Bermudian foxes—or rather the Judases, as
they carry the bag—are generally men from the garrison, and, with the
thermometer 75 deg. in the shade, and 110 deg. or more in the sun, they
have no easy task in giving a good run. Spectators are always invited
to view “the finish” at some previously selected spot, and there
refreshments of all kinds are served, making a very agreeable finale to
an amusing day. A severe critic might remark that the hurdles and other
obstacles placed near “the finish,” were hardly worthy of the excessive
ardour displayed in overcoming them, but he must remember that it perhaps
makes up for a slight falling off where the jumps were more formidable.
It is not only in Bermuda that the presence of a certain pair of bright
eyes has driven many a Nimrod to deeds of heroism in the matter of hedges
and ditches that otherwise would have been neglected.
For boating the Bermuda waters offer great facilities, and, if you want
to see how near to the wind’s eye it is possible to go, you cannot
do better than hire one of the native sailing-boats—one masted and
flush-decked—when there is a stiff breeze. You may get rather wet, but
you will spin along at a glorious rate, and you certainly will admire
the workmanlike way in which your crew—a man and a boy—manage the rakish
craft.
Then, in calm weather it is delightful to pay a visit to the reefs
and gather for yourself the brain corals and “sea-whips,” specimens
of which fishermen have brought to the hotel for sale. In these
water-gardens may be seen all sorts of many-hued plants; crinoids like
palm trees, gorgonias, mosses, sea-feathers, coral like creeping vines,
sea-cucumbers,[2] and coloured weeds waving to and fro over the brilliant
fish. On bright, sunny days, when the blue water sparkles, you may,
perhaps, in fancy, hear snatches of low music and gay tones of laughter
gurgling up from below, but, when it is dull and gloomy, the sounds will
be of sorrow, telling secrets dire and tales of woe, wrung from restless
spirits buried amid wreck and ruin beneath the flood that sweeps over
those cruel, beautiful coral rocks.
We had heard so much of the disagreeable effects of the south wind, which
generates so much moisture that everything is quickly covered with green
mould, and a general clammy feeling prevails, that we were continually
running round the corner of the hotel to note the direction of the wind
by the flag at the signal station. As we were constantly expecting it—the
south wind—the natural consequence was that it never came, and we were
very grateful. I think it was a Frenchman who remarked that nothing
happens except the unexpected, and I have found this true in many cases.
For instance, when travelling in the tropics, if you are continually on
the look-out for snakes, you will rarely meet them, and we all know that
the best way to keep off the rain is to carry an umbrella. The climate
of Bermuda is said to be capricious, but during our stay—a short one
certainly—we found the temperature very pleasant, the thermometer seldom
rising over 73 deg., and frequently a fire towards evening was very
comfortable.
Small as Bermuda is—as the five principal islands connected by ferries
and bridges only form a chain about twenty-four miles in length, and with
a breadth varying from a few hundred yards to about two miles—it yet
contains many points of interest. The splendid lighthouse on Gibb’s Hill
is worth a visit for itself, and for the fine view to be obtained from
it; the fortifications, too, which, together with the natural barriers,
are gradually making a second Gibraltar, must be inspected. The Paget
Hills on the eastern shore show how the drifting sand is elevating the
land, and probably increasing it as fast as the western waves are washing
it away. Unfortunately, this overwhelming mass of sand is steadily
advancing over the cultivated land, and has already buried one cottage,
whose chimney alone is visible above the surrounding whiteness. It is
merely a matter of taste which is preferable—to be washed away or to be
buried alive.
Near the beach, at the foot of these hills, may be seen, at low water,
great circular masses of rock, hollowed out like huge cauldrons. Similar
ones occur at intervals round the islands, and are by no means the least
interesting of the Bermudian curiosities.[3]
However entertaining the country and seaside may be, there is very little
in the town of Hamilton worth noticing. With the exception of Trinity
Church, the buildings are insignificant. The “Public Building” stands in
an ill-tended garden and presents no inducement to the young Bermudian to
prepare himself for the Legislature. But, perhaps, there will soon be no
young white Bermudians, as the youths of these islands find the United
States better adapted for their speedy advancement in life.
I had hoped to find in the museum a specimen of a certain spider,
concerning which an ancient chronicler of Bermuda has said: “They are of
a very large size, but withal beautifully coloured, and look as if they
were adorned with pearl and gold. Their webs are in colour and substance
a perfect raw silk, and so strongly woven that, running from tree to
tree, like so many snares, small birds are sometimes caught in them.”
The Museum consisted of a few South-Sea Island shells, some coral, some
moth-eaten skins, three bottles of alcohol containing marine specimens,
two butterflies, and no spider. I had a better ungathered collection of
insects in my own room at the hotel. I must return there and see if I can
find a mother-of-pearl spider.