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BERMUDAS

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 794 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BERMUDAS , a See also:

group of islands in the See also:Atlantic Ocean, forming a See also:British See also:colony, in 32° 15' N. and 64° 5o' W., about 580 M. E. by S. from Cape Hatteras on the See also:American See also:coast. The group, consisting of small islands and reefs (which See also:mark the extreme See also:northern range of the See also:coral-See also:building polyps), is of See also:oval See also:form, measuring 22 M. from N.E. to S.W., the See also:area being 20 sq. m. The largest of the islands is See also:Great Bermuda, or the See also:Main See also:Island, 14 M. See also:long and about a mile in See also:average width, enclosing on the See also:east See also:Harrington or Little See also:Sound, and on the See also:west the Great Sound, which is thickly studded with islets, and protected on the See also:north by the islands of See also:Watford, Boaz, See also:Ireland and See also:Somerset. The remaining members of the group, St See also:George, See also:Paget, See also:Smith, St See also:David, See also:Cooper, Nonsuch, &c., See also:lie N.E. of the Main Island, and form a semicircle See also:round See also:Castle See also:Harbour. The fringing islands which encircle the islands, especially on the north and west, leave a few deep passages wide enough to admit the largest vessels. See also:Geology.—The Bermudas consist of aeolian limestones (cf. See also:BAHAMAS) which in some of the larger islands form irregular hills attaining a height of some 200-250 ft. These limestones are composed chiefly of comminuted shells drifted and deposited by the See also:wind, and they are very irregularly stratified, as is usually the See also:case with wind-blown deposits. Where fresh the See also:rock is soft, but where it has been exposed to the See also:action of the See also:sea it is covered by a hard crust and often loses all trace of stratification. The See also:surface is frequently irregularly honeycombed. Even the reefs are not wholly formed of coral.

They are ridges of aeolian See also:

lime-See also:stone plastered over by a thin layer of See also:corals and other calcareous organisms. The very remarkable " serpuline atolls " are covered by a solid crust made of the convoluted tubes of serpulae and Vermetus, together with barnacles, mussels, nullipores, corallines and some true incrusting corals. They probably See also:rest upon a See also:foundation of aeolian rock. The Bermudas were formerly much more extensive than at See also:present, and they may possibly stand upon the See also:summit of a hidden See also:volcano. There are evidences of small oscillations of levels, but no proofs of great See also:elevation or depression. See also:Soil, See also:Climate, &c.--The surface soil is a curious See also:kind of red See also:earth, which is also found in ochre-like strata throughout the See also:limestone. It is generally mixed with See also:vegetable See also:matter and coral See also:sand. There is a See also:total want of streams and See also:wells of fresh See also:water, and the inhabitants are dependent on the See also:rain, which they collect and preserve in tanks. The climate is mild and healthy, although serious epidemics of yellow See also:fever and typhus have occurred. The maximum See also:reading of the thermometer is about 87° F. and its minimum 490, the mean See also:annual temperature being 7a°. The islands attract a large number of visitors annually from See also:America. Vegetation is very rapid, and the soil is clad in a See also:mantle of almost perpetual See also:green.

The See also:

principal kind of See also:tree is the so-called " Bermudas See also:cedar," really a See also:species of See also:juniper, which furnishes See also:timber for small vessels. The shores are fringed with the See also:mangrove; the prickly See also:pear grows luxuriantly in the most barren districts; and wherever the ground is See also:left to itself the See also:sage See also:bush springs up profusely. The citron, sour See also:orange, See also:lemon and lime grow See also:wild; but the See also:apple and See also:peach do not come to perfection. The See also:loquat, an introduction from See also:China, thrives admirably. The mild climate assists the growth of esculent See also:plants and roots; and a considerable See also:trade is carried on with New See also:York, principally in onions, See also:early potatoes, tomatoes, and beetroot, together with See also:lily bulbs, cut See also:flowers and some See also:arrowroot. Medicinal plants, as the See also:castor-oil plant and See also:aloe, come to perfection without culture; and See also:coffee, See also:indigo, See also:cotton and See also:tobacco are also of spontaneous growth. Few oxen or See also:sheep are reared in the colony, See also:meat, as well as See also:bread and most vegetables, being imported from America. The indigenous mammals are very few, and the only See also:reptiles are a small See also:lizard and the green turtle. Birds, however, especially aquatic species, are very numerous. See also:Insects are comparatively few, but ants swarm destructively in the See also:heat of the See also:year. See also:Fish are plentiful round the coasts, and the See also:whale-See also:fishery was once an important See also:industry, but the See also:fisheries as a whole have not been See also:developed. Towns, and See also:Administration.—There are two towns in the Bermudas: St George, on the island of that name, founded in 1794 and incorporated in 1797; and See also:Hamilton, on the Main Island, founded in 1790 and incorporated in 1793.

St George was the See also:

capital till the See also:senate and courts of See also:justice were removed by See also:Sir See also:James See also:Cockburn to Hamilton, which being centrally situated, is more convenient. Hamilton, which is situated on the inner See also:part of the Great Sound, had a See also:population in 1901 of 2246, that of St George being 985. In Ireland Island is situated the royal dockyard and See also:naval See also:establishment. The harbour of St George's has space enough to accommodate a vast See also:fleet; yet, till deepened by See also:blasting, the entrance was so narrow as to render it almost useless. The Bermudas became an important naval and coaling station in 1869, when a large See also:iron dry See also:dock was towed across the Atlantic and placed in a secure position in St George, while, owing to their important strategic position in See also:mid-Atlantic, the British See also:government maintains a strong See also:garrison. The Bermudas are a British See also:crown colony, with a See also:governor See also:resident at Hamilton, who is assisted by an executive See also:council of 6 members appointed by the crown, a legislative council of 9 similarly appointed, and a representative See also:assembly of 36 members, of whom four are returned by each of nine parishes. The currency of the colony, which had formerly twelve shillings to the See also:pound See also:sterling, was assimilated to that of See also:England in 1842. The See also:English See also:language is universal. The colony is ecclesiastically attached to. the bishopric of See also:Newfoundland. In 1847 an educational See also:board was established, and there are numerous See also:schools; attendance is compulsory, but none of the schools is See also:free. Government scholarships enable youths to be educated for competition in the See also:Rhodes scholarships to See also:Oxford University. The See also:revenue of the islands shows a fairly See also:regular increase during the last years of the 19th See also:century and the first of the loth, as from £37,830 in 1895 to £63,457 in 1904; See also:expenditure is normally rather less than revenue.

In the year last named imports were valued at £589,979 and exports at £130,305, the annual averages since 1895 being about £426,300 and £112,500 respectively. The population shows a steady increase, as from 13,948 in 1881 to 17,535 in 1901; 6383 were whites and 11,152 coloured in the latter year. See also:

History.— The See also:discovery of the Bermudas resulted from the shipwreck of Juan See also:Bermudez, a Spaniard (whose name they now See also:bear), when on a voyage from See also:Spain to See also:Cuba with a See also:cargo of hogs, early in the 16th century. See also:Henry May, an Englishman, suffered the same See also:fate in 1593; and lastly, Sir George See also:Somers shared the destiny of the two preceding navigators in 1609. Sir George, from whom the islands took the alternative name of Somers, was the first who established a See also:settlement upon them, but he died before he had fully accomplished his See also:design. In 1612 the Bermudas were granted to an offshoot of the See also:Virginia See also:Company, which consisted of 120 persons, 6o of whom, under the command of Henry More, proceeded to the islands. The first source of colonial See also:wealth was the growing of tobacco, but the curing industry ceased early in the 18th century. In 1726 See also:Bishop George See also:Berkeley See also:chose the Bermudas as the seat of his projected missionary establishment. The first newspaper, the Bermuda See also:Gazette, was published in 1784. See See also:Godet, Bermuda, its history, Geology, Climate, &c. (See also:London, 1860); Lefroy, Discovery and Settlement of the Bermudas (London, 1877–1879) ; A. Heilprin, Bermuda Islands (See also:Philadelphia, 1889) ; See also:Stark, Bermuda See also:Guide (London, 1898) ; See also:Cole, Bermuda .

Bibliography (See also:

Boston, 1907) ; and for geology see also A. See also:Agassiz, " Visit to the Bermudas in See also:March 1894," See also:Bull. Mils. Comp. Zool. Harvard, vol. See also:xxvi. No. 2, 1895; A. E. Verrill, " Notes on the Geology of the Bermudas," Amer. Journ. Sei. See also:ser.

4, vol. ix. (1900), pp. 313-340; " The Bermuda Islands; Their Scenery, &c.," Trans. See also:

Conn. Acad. Arts and Sei. vol. xi. pt. 2 (1901–1902).

End of Article: BERMUDAS

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