or SUMMER-ISLANDS, a cluster of small islands in the Atlantic ocean, lying almost in the form of a shepherd's crook, in W. Long. 65. N. Lat. 32. 30. between 200 and 300 leagues distant from the nearest place of the continent of America, or any of the other West-India islands. The whole number of the Bermudas islands is said to be about 400, but very few of them are habitable. The principal is St George's, which is not above 16 miles long, and three at most in breadth. It is universally agreed, that the nature of this and the other Bermudas islands has undergone a surprising alteration for the worse since they were first discovered; Bermudas covered; the air being much more inclement, and the soil much more barren than formerly. This is ascribed to the cutting down those fine spreading cedar trees for which the islands were famous, and which sheltered them from the blasts of the north wind, at the same time that it protected the undergrowth of the delicate plants and herbs. In short, the Summer islands are now far from being desirable spots; and their natural productions are but just sufficient for the support of the inhabitants, who, chiefly for that reason, perhaps, are temperate and lively even to a proverb: at first tobacco was raised upon these islands; but being of worse quality than that growing on the continent, the trade is now almost at an end. Large quantities of ambergris were also originally found upon the coasts, and afforded a valuable commerce; but that trade is also reduced, as likewise their whale trade, though the perquisites upon the latter form part of the governor's revenue, he having 10l. for every whale that is caught. The Bermudas islands, however, might still produce some valuable commodities, were they properly cultivated. There is here found, about three or four feet below the surface, a white chalk stone which is easily chiseled, and is exported for building gentlemen's houses in the West Indies. Their palmetto leaves, if properly manufactured, might turn to excellent account in making women's hats; and their oranges are still valuable. Their soil is also said to be excellent for the cultivation of vines, and it has been thought that silk and cochineal might be produced; but none of these things have yet been attempted. The chief resource of the inhabitants for subsistence is in the remains of their cedar wood, of which they fabricate small floops, with the assistance of the New England pine, and fell many of them to the American colonies, where they are much admired. Their turtle-catching trade is also of service; and they are still able to rear great variety of tame-fowl, and have wild ones abounding in vast plenty. All the attempts to establish a regular whale fishery on these islands have hitherto proved unsuccessful; they have no cattle, and even the black hog breed, which was probably left by the Spaniards, is greatly decreased. The water on the islands, except that which falls from the clouds, is brackish; and at present the same diseases reign there as in the Caribbee islands. They have seldom any snow, or even much rain: but when it does fall, it is generally with great violence, and the north or north-east wind renders the air very cold. The storms generally come with the new moon; and if there is a halo or circle about it, it is a sure sign of a tempest, which is generally attended with dreadful thunder and lightning. The inhabited parts of the Bermudas islands are divided into nine districts called tribes. 1. St George. 2. Hamilton. 3. Ireland. 4. Devonshire. 5. Pembroke. 6. Pagets. 7. Warwick. 8. Southampton. 9. Sandys. There are but two places on the large island where a ship can safely come near the shore, and these are so well covered with high rocks that few will choose to enter in without a pilot; and they are so well defended by forts, that they have no occasion to dread an enemy. St George's town is at the bottom of the principal haven; and is defended by nine forts, on which are mounted 70 pieces of cannon that command the entrance. The town has a handsome church, a fine library, and a noble town-house, where the governor, council, &c. assemble. Besides these there are about 1000 houses well built. The tribes of Southampton and Devonshire have each a parish-church and library, and the former has a harbour of the same name; there are also scattered housetops and hamlets over many of the islands, where particular plantations require them. The inhabitants are clothed chiefly with British manufactures, and all their implements for tilling the ground and building are made in Britain.

It is uncertain who were the first discoverers of the Bermudas islands. John Bermudas a Spaniard is commonly said to have discovered them in 1527; but this is disputed, and the discovery attributed to Henry May an Englishman. As the islands were without the reach of the Indian navigation, the Bermudas were absolutely uninhabited when first discovered by the Europeans. May above mentioned was shipwrecked upon St George's; and with the cedar which they felled there, assisted by the wreck of their own ship, he and his companions built another which carried them to Europe, where they published their accounts of the islands. When Lord Delaware was governor of Virginia, Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Summers, and Captain Newport, were appointed to be his deputy governors; but their ship being separated by a storm from the rest of the squadron, was in the year 1609 wrecked on the Bermudas, and the governors disagreeing among themselves, built each of them a new ship of the cedar they found there, in which they severally sailed to Virginia. On their arrival there, the colony was in such distress, that Lord Delaware, upon the report which his deputy governors made him of the plenty they found at the Bermudas, despatched Sir George Summers to bring provisions from thence to Virginia in the same ship which brought him from Bermuda, and which had not one ounce of iron about it, except one bolt in the keel. Sir George, after a tedious voyage, at last reached the place of his destination, where, soon after his arrival, he died, leaving his name to the islands, and his orders to the crew to return with black hogs to the colony of Virginia. This part of his will, however, the sailors did not choose to execute; but setting sail in their cedar ship for England, landed safely at Whitechurch in Dorsetshire.

Notwithstanding this dereliction of the island, however, it was not without English inhabitants. Two sailors, Carter and Waters, being apprehensive of punishment for their crimes, had secreted themselves from their fellows when Sir George was wrecked upon the island, and had ever since lived upon the natural productions of the soil. Upon the second arrival of Sir George they enticed one Chard to remain with them; but differing about the sovereignty of the island, Chard and Waters were on the point of cutting one another's throats, when they were prevented by the prudence of Carter. Soon after, they had the good fortune to find a great piece of ambergris weighing about 80 pounds, besides other pieces, which in those days were sufficient, if properly disposed of, to have made each of them master of a large estate. Where they were, this ambergris was useless; and therefore they came to the desperate resolution of carrying themselves and it in an open boat to Virginia or to Newfoundland, where they hoped to dispose of their treasure to advantage. In the mean time, however, the Bermudas. Virginia Company claimed the property of the Bermudas islands; and accordingly sold it to 120 persons of their own society, who obtained a charter from King James for their possessing it. This New Bermudas Company, as it was called, fitted out a ship with 60 planters on board to settle on the Bermudas, under the command of one Mr Richard Moor, by profession a carpenter. The new colony arrived upon the island just at the time the three sailors were about to depart with their ambergris; which Moor having discovered, he immediately feized and disposed of it for the benefit of the company. So valuable a booty gave vast spirit to the new company; and the adventurers settled themselves upon St George's island, where they raised cabins. As to Mr Moor, he was indefatigable in his duty, and carried on the fortifying and planting the island with incredible diligence; for we are told, that he not only built eight or nine forts or rather blockhouses, but inured the settlers to martial discipline. Before the first year of his government was expired, Mr Moor received a supply of provisions and planters from England; and he planned out the town of St George as it now stands. The fame of this settlement soon awakened the jealousy of the Spaniards, who appeared off St George's with some vessels; but being fired upon from the forts, they threated off, though the English at that time were so ill provided for a defence, that they had scarcely a single barrel of gunpowder on the island. During Moor's government the Bermudas were plagued with rats, which had been imported into them by the English ships. This vermin multiplied so fast in St George's island, that they even covered the ground, and had nests in the trees. They destroyed all the fruits and corn within doors; nay, they increased to such a degree, that St George's island was at last unable to maintain them; and they swam over to the neighbouring islands, where they made as great havock. This calamity lasted five years, though probably not in the same degree, and at last it ceased all of a sudden.

On the expiration of Moor's government, he was succeeded by Captain Daniel Tucker, who improved all his predecessor's schemes for the benefit of the island, and particularly encouraged the culture of tobacco. Being a severe disciplinarian, he held all under him so rigidly to duty, that five of his subjects planned as bold an enterprise for liberty as was perhaps ever put in execution. Their names were Barker, who is said to have been a gentleman; another Barker, a joiner; Goodwin, a ship-carpenter; Paet, a sailor; and Saunders, who planned the enterprise. Their management was as artful as their design was bold. Understanding that the governor was deterred from taking the pleasure of fishing in an open boat, on account of the dangers attending it, they proposed to build him one of a particular construction, which accordingly they did in a secret part of the island; but when the governor came to view his boat, he understood that the builders had put to sea in it. The intelligence was true: for the adventurers, having provided themselves with a few necessaries they wanted, failed for England; and notwithstanding the storms they encountered, their being plundered by a French privateer, and the incredible miseries they underwent, they landed in 42 days time at Corke in Ireland, where they were generously relieved Bermudas, and entertained by the earl of Thomond.

In 1619 Captain Tucker resigned his government to Captain Butler. By this time the high character which the Summer islands bore in England rendered it fashionable for men of the highest rank to encourage their settlement; and several of the first nobility of England had purchased plantations among them. Captain Butler brought over with him 500 passengers, who became planters on the islands, and raised a monument to the memory of Sir George Summers. The island was now so populous (for it contained about a thousand whites), that Captain Butler applied himself to give it a new constitution of government by introducing an assembly, the government till this time being administered only in the name of the governor and council. A body of laws was likewise drawn up, as agreeable to the laws of England as the situation of the island would admit of. One Mr Barnard succeeded Captain Butler as governor, but died fix weeks after his arrival on the island; upon which the council made choice of Mr Harrifon to be governor till a new one should be appointed. No fewer than 3000 English were now settled in the Bermudas, and several persons of distinction had curiosity enough to visit it from England. Among these was Mr Waller the poet, a man of fortune, who being embroiled with the parliament and commonwealth of England, spent some months in the Summer islands, which he has celebrated in one of his poems as the most delightful place in the world. The dangers attending the navigation, and the untoward situation of these islands, through their distance from the American continent, seem to be the reasons why the Bermudas did not now become the best peopled islands belonging to England; as we are told that some time ago they were inhabited by no fewer than 10,000 whites. The inhabitants, however, never showed any great spirit for commerce, and thus they never could become rich. This, together with the gradual alteration of the soil and climate already taken notice of, soon caused them to dwindle in their population; and it is computed that they do not now contain above half the number of inhabitants they once did, and even these seem much more inclined to remove to some other place than to stay where they are; so that unless some beneficial branch of commerce be found out, or some useful manufacture established, the state of the Bermudas must daily grow worse and worse.