conception, and can be
attributed only to, what I believe is its real cause, the
facility with which they acquire fortunes, from men who are
necessitated to give whatever they demand for the most trifling
article. The poorest and meanest freeman upon the island never
dreams of applying his own hand, or even his own head, to the
cultivation of the ground; and being abundantly supplied with
negro slaves, they leave everything, even the care of providing
necessaries for themselves, to the industry of that ill-used
race. I may perhaps be considered as expressing myself with
too much severity towards the Bermudians, but, in truth, I repeat
only what I was told by some of themselves; nor did I, from my
own personal observation, discover any cause to question the
veracity of my informers.

In the praise bestowed by Mr. Moore upon the beauty of these
regions, I do, however, most cordially join. There is something
bewitchingly pretty, for pretty is perhaps the most appropriate
epithet to be used, in every one of the many views which you may
obtain from different points. The low and elegant cedar, the
green short turf, the frequent recurrence of the white and
dazzling rock, the continual rise and fall of the numerous small
islands, but above all, the constant intermingling of land and
water, seem more like a drawing of fairy land than a reality.
There is nothing grand, nothing imposing, or calculated to excite
any feeling bordering upon the awful, throughout the whole; but
it is soft, gentle, and exquisitely pleasing.

Having spent the day at St. George's, I returned on board to
sleep; and on the morrow removed, with my baggage, to a transport
then lying at anchor within the ferry, which was thenceforth to
be my head-quarters. Thither my friend Grey also removed, and as
our ship was well stored, and its commander civil and
accommodating, we had no reason to complain of any suffering
consequent upon our change of residence.

It will be readily believed that a very small portion of our time
was now wasted on board ship; for economy's sake we usually slept
there, because at the inn the charge for beds, as well as for
everything else, was enormous; but all the hours of daylight were
devoted to rowing round the different islands, and climbing the
different eminences, from whence the most extensive prospects
were to be obtained. Among other curiosities, we were informed
of two caves in one of the little isles, distant abou