and Mr. Russell Dismont came to terms on a purchase price for his 2.8-acre property at Blue Hole Hill.

The $800,000 deal will see the Dismont property become part of a 40-acre national park and nature preserve system in Hamilton Parish that has been described as "the last great bastion'' of plant life unique to Bermuda.

Works Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira will reveal details of the deal tomorrow in the House of Assembly along with a motion to buy the 11.5-acre Outerbridge Trust land next door.

The two purchases represent the critical final steps in securing what amounts to the largest tract of original and undeveloped wilderness in Bermuda.

The settlement of the Dismont land issue ends a five-year battle that saw Government impose a compulsory purchase order on the land. Mr. Dismont battled the takeover and pushed to get the best possible price for the site.

He demanded one million dollars against a Government offer of $650,000. An arbitration panel allowed Mr. Dismont to go before the Development Applications Board to determine the land's development value. By virtue of established zonings, it granted him permission to build a 5,700-square foot home with swimming pool and pool house. He later applied to build a tennis court and a jetty in the shallow waters of Castle Harbour.

At that point, Mr. Dismont and his lawyer Mr. Richard Hector offered the property to Government for $800,000.

"We realised the value of the land had become much higher than that, so we accepted their reasonable offer,'' Dr. Terceira said yesterday.

"This purchase is important because the Dismont property is a critical piece in the whole jigsaw of the Blue Hole-Walsingham area. We're delighted with it along with the H.H. Outerbridge Trust deal.'' After years of negotiating, the Outerbridge Trust last month agreed to sell its 11.5 acres beside the Dismont property to Government for $2.8 million.

The Dismont purchase, which will be effected through a Ministerial order, will include another $30,000 for Mr. Dismont's legal fees and surveying. Mr.

Dismont could not be reached for comment last night.

The two land purchases put Government in a position to develop a national park in an area considered unique by conservation officials and environmentalists.

Its outstanding features include geology made up of the oldest limestone rock in Bermuda, a vast and concentrated cave system considered world class in its features and beauty, the largest intact tract of forest on the Island, ponds, hidden grottoes and a concentration of rare flora including some trees up to 1,000 years old.

"This is the last bastion of native ferns and flora that don't exist anywhere else on the Island,'' Parks director Mr. John Barnes said yesterday during a tour of the site.

"It is also as near to primaeval Bermuda that exists today with the exceptions of a few other areas. It's the oldest part of Bermuda.'' The Blue Hole-Walsingham area was spared development in the past because its hard limestone was not easily quarried for housing and the red clay soil was too poor for farming. Its pinnacle and rugged rock outcrops also made the land unsafe to graze cattle.

The total area runs from the Causeway south along the shoreline beyond Tom Moore's Tavern and as far west as Harrington Sound Road. It's made up of the Dismont and Outerbridge lands, 22 acres of the Walsingham Trust and ten acres of Wilkinson Trust land. The area also includes the recently formed Walsingham Marine Park of 68 acres of shoreline waters.