Читать книгу The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism (Vol. 1-4). The History of Sea Voyages, Discovery, Piracy and Maritime Warfare онлайн

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“Still vexed Bermoothes.”

Trollope says that there is more of the breed of Caliban in the islands than of Ariel. Though Caliban did not relish working for his master more than the Bermudian of to-day, there was an amount of energy about him entirely wanting in the existing islanders.

There are two towns, St. George and Hamilton, on different islands. The former is the head-quarters of the military, and the second that of the governor. It is the summer head-quarters of the admiral of the station. The islands are, in general, wonderfully fertile, and will, with any ordinary cultivation, give two crops of many vegetables in the year. It has the advantages of the tropics, plus those of more temperate climes. For tomatoes, onions, beet-root, sweet potatoes, early potatoes, as well as all kinds of fruits, from oranges, lemons, and bananas to small berries, it is not surpassed by any place in the world; while arrowroot is one of its specialities. It is the early market-garden for New York. Ship-building is carried on, as the islands abound in a stunted cedar, good for the purpose, when it can be found large enough. The working population are almost all negroes, and are lazy to a degree. But the whites are not much better; and the climate is found to produce great lassitude.