VOL. 11. ] Cape Region of Baja California. 197 
tropical plants and vines. We stopped at the house of Sr. Flaminio 
Montafia, where everything was done for our comfort; the host 
spoke good English and directed us to the most favorable collecting 
places about his estate, even going with us on short walks, although 
he must have weighed more than two hundred pounds. The settle- 
ment of a few houses is not far from the more important town of 
Santiago; the name is given from the hot springs found there. The 
place seemed to be a perfect paradise, just far enough from the 
coast, nearly surrounded by hills and high mountains, abundance of 
good water and fertile soil, fairly good trails leading in every direc- 
tion, and weekly mail communications from San José and La Paz. 
Nearly everything will grow there, and tobacco of a superior quality 
is raised in limited quantity. 
After an inspection of the vicinity, we learned that a trail lead 
from there into the mountains and was in passable condition, 
although but little used for two years; formerly it was travel-worn 
by cattle driven into the mountains for feed during a season of 
drought in the lower country. Don Flaminio undertook to guide 
our party, which numbered six; all unnecessary baggage was left 
behind, and being told that deer were abundant, we took but little 
else besides beans, rice, cheese and coffee in the line of provisions. 
The usual delays occurred, so that it was past noon before we left 
the ranch, and at night-time we were only on the lower slopes, where 
we camped at a deserted cattle ranch. At this place the two large 
dogs which had been brought to protect us against rabid skunks, 
engaged in a fierce fight and during the night the vanquished one 
took the back track and was seen no more until our return. Through- 
out the night we six fought mosquitoes and told stories. The next 
day was a rough one, over narrow, rocky trails, through heavy un- 
dergrowth, which had to be cleared with a large knife, and up steep 
hillsides that tried the footing of man and beast; one horse belong- 
ing to our friends fell and rolled down the hill until stopped by the 
_bushes—he lived through it all and was again placed on the trail. 
Our packer had had his leg jammed against a rock and was unable 
to walk; the next morning he felt pretty bad and concluded he was 
going to die and wanted to return home, but this could not be al- 
lowed when we were within half a day’s travel of our objective place, 
s and his injury was nothing serious, but served him for a pretext. 
_. After considerable talking matters were arranged to the satisfaction 
