Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Coral Gables Times
Thursday, August 10, 1961, page 41 (of 52)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
Underwater Paradise Continued from page 11
he pattern of life changes upward from the sea. On the sandy beach at Trunk Bay, I watched ghost crabs dashing from sand burrows for a quick dip in the surf. The beach was shaded by the attractive sea-grape tree, with large leaves tinged with red and small purple fruit. But in traveling about the island to the rainy mountain-tops I observed a swift transition in vegetation; few areas anywhere of such small geographic dimensions span so wide a range, from underwater coral to lush, broad-leaf evergreens. ST. JOHN does not really have a "virgin forest." When the Danes arrived they cleared practically all of it for sugar plantations and farming, but in the past century it has regrown dense and lush into a marvel of botany and biology. From a distance the wooded hills resemble the peaceful New England landscape, but here there are fruit trees such as the avocado, mango, and mamee; little plants and vines bearing local botanical names such as clashie melashie, eye bright, and better man better; and such exotic trees as the gnarled, strangely shaped silk cotton, which produces kapok in its seed pod. Once I saw a platoon of soldier or hermit crabs crossing the road, carrying their shell houses on their backs. These fellows, great travelers, climb all over the island, even to its higher reaches, to feed on leaves; once a year they return to the sea to lay eggs in the water and exchange their outgrown shells for larger ones. At Bordeaux Mountain, the highest point in the Park, I left my jeep and climbed a rocky trail to Picture Point. I had come through a fragrant forest of bay leaves, with cinnamon-color bark and shiny dark green leaves. Around me were huge split-leaf philodendrons, ferns as tall as young trees, and delicate orchids adorning the woodland. Below, islands spread over the brilliant, calm blue sea. I was remarkably close to civilized life and times, but I felt far closer still, in spirit as well as fact, to the life and times of the coral reef, which began on the rocky, underwater shelf millions of years ago and may yet be allowed to fulfill its natural course. Roy Pinney—Monkmeyer No meter on this cab—just hold on till you get there; you may find him hard to flag down the next time around.
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