vot. u.] Cape Region of Baja California. 195 
well sheltered from the rain, but not so with the horses, however, 
for they were out in all the downpour, and our saddles too were © 
completely soaked; then, as we returned, the wet trees and bushes 
showered large drops on those who rode at the head of the line. 
‘At such times a botanist, who is always the rear one of the party, 
has the driest traveling; at other times he has to contend with the 
hornets aroused by those ahead of him. 
The principal industries of San José del Cabo are the cultivation 
of cotton, the making of brown sugar, “‘panoche,’’ from sugar-cane, 
and raising rather poor oranges for the San Francisco market. The 
orange crop of the cape region ripens from September to Novem- 
ber, when oranges are scarce in California, and if careful attention 
was given to planting better kinds, it might be made profitable to 
the people, if they could resist the temptation of shipping small 
green fruit with the rest. Bananas do well at San José, but apples 
and potatoes they cannot raise, although the latter are grown suc- 
cessfully at Agua Caliente, more in the interior, where they produce 
tubers and do not run all to tops. 
. Most of the insects of the expedition were collected in the vicinity 
of San José, where all kinds were swarming, from little gnats to 
heavy. bodied beetles two inches or more in length. 
At evening for a week or two I witnessed a remarkable flight of 
swallows, as they followed the course of the river, pursuing small in- 
sects. The birds were principally bank swallows ( C/vicola riparia), 
with some rough-winged swallows( Stelgidopleryx serripennis ) among 
them, and occasionally the large western purple martins ( Progne 
subts hesperia) were associated with the thousands of swallows; 
- about sundown the air seemed filled with swallows where during 
the day they were not abundant. 
Towards the middle of October the rainy season began to close, 
and we accordingly made preparations for an overland trip to La 
Paz, intending to arrive there in time for the steamer, due about 
_ November 7. Four riding animals and two pack mules were en- 
gaged, and after some inquiry and discussion, we decided to travel 
_with the pack animals as far as the mining district of El Triumfo, 
: _ from where we could ride by wagon to La Paz. This route would 
take us through Miraflores, Agua Caliente, Santiago and the won- 
_ derful San Bartolomé cafion, and probably afford an opportunity to 
make a side trip into the higher mountains. The programme was 
