“Agriculture, possibly for the want of labor, is in a very backward state. The negroes are not disposed to work any more than enough to procure the bare necessities of life. You will see little patches of ground spaded up, for they don’t often use the plough, as the irregular surface of the land hardly admits it in many places. But it is remarkably fertile and productive It yields three crops a year of vegetables, which find a ready market in the neighboring ports of the United States, only six to seven hundred miles distant. The exports of the Bermudas amount to about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year. There is a regular steamer to and from New York, but the government has to subsidize the company that runs it. “This is a very important naval and military station of Great Britain, with extensive magazines and store-houses. On the island of Ireland is a dock-yard, provided with a floating dry dock, built of iron in England, and towed out to the islands. As a naval and military station, the islands are said to be second only to Malta. On account of this interest, the governor, whose authority is little less than supreme, is appointed by the crown of England; and the incumbent is invariably a man of great ability. The two branches of the Legislature are the House of Assembly, which is the popular body, elected by the people of the parishes, and the Council, nominated to the crown by the governor. Though white and black are allowed to vote, there are three times as many voters of the former as of the latter. The voter must own real estate to the amount of sixty pounds; and he must have four times this amount before he can be a member of the House of Assembly. No negro has ever been elected to this office. “The climate may be said to be delightful; and as a rule the islands are very healthy. When the yellow fever and other diseases have prevailed here as epidemics, it has been entirely owing to the lack of proper drainage, and the neglect of other sanitary measures The mercury rarely goes above eighty-five or below forty; and the average is about seventy. It hardly compares with Orotava, and it is too damp for most pulmonary affections. “I will conclude this brief talk with a word about the history of the islands. They get their name from a Spaniard by the name of Juan Bermudez, who discovered them about four hundred years ago. But it was not settled by the Spaniards. Very likely the roving buccaneers of the Spanish main had temporary homes here; and there are stories of vast wealth hidden by these worthies. When the more modern settlers took possession of it, they found hogs in vast numbers, though the islands were uninhabited; and there were many evidences of the visits of human beings.