1898] ZOOLOGICAL JAMAICA 167 



pools, they were hard to catch. Spiders of small size were common, 

 and one large Phrynus was captured, carrying about a dozen large 

 eggs on the under side of the abdomen. 



Our second excursion made late in July was up Blue Mountain 

 peak, and it was a pleasure and success far beyond our expectations. 

 The changes in the flora as one goes upward must impress even an 

 unbotanical zoologist, and the magnificent tree-ferns cannot be 

 passed by in silence. As one gets well up into the mountains the 

 clear whistle of the solitaire, not unlike that of our wood-thrush, is 

 sure to attract attention. Some handsomely coloured finches were 

 seen in the deepest woods, but birds did not seem to be abundant. 

 On the summit of the peak we made a careful search for the eggs 

 of a small tree-frog; that is common there, and we were rewarded 

 by finding many. They are laid in clusters of a dozen or more in 

 the wet moss which covers everything. Each egg is two or three 

 millimetres in diameter, and seems very large for the size of the 

 animal. The scientific worker, no matter what his specialty, who 

 visits Jamaica and fails to make the journey up Blue Mountain 

 peak, misses one of the most charming features of the island. 



In 1897 the University established its laboratory at Port 

 Antonio, the most beautiful harbour on the north side of the 

 island. From here trips were made east and west along the coast, 

 and inland to Cuna-cuna Pass, Castleton Gardens and Bog- Walk. 

 Members of the party also visited Porus and Mandeville in the 

 centre of the island, and one party made a week's trip around the 

 west end of the island, visiting the harbours of St Ann's Bay, Bio 

 Bueno, Falmouth, Montego Bay, Lucea, Saranna-la-mar and Black 

 River. The marine fauna along the whole of the north shore seems 

 to be essentially the same as on the south side of the island, but the 

 land fauna differs very much from that near Port Henderson. There 

 are no mangrove swamps on the north side in any way comparable 

 to those at Port Eoyal, but the collecting on the reefs is very good, 

 and strikingly like that on Drunkenman Cay. The same star-fish, 

 sea-urchins, ophiurids, and holothurians occur, but are more abundant 

 and easier of access at Port Antonio. The same may be said of 

 most of the annelids, molluscs and sea-anemones, and is especially 

 true of the corals. Deep water is so very near to the shore that 

 the 100 fathom line is within easy rowing distance. The richest 

 collecting is on the sandy bars or flats in one to three feet of water, 

 where are plenty of slabs of broken coral rock, under which an 

 abundance of animals is sure to be found. One of the most 

 interesting of these is a small flesh-coloured holothurian, Chirodota, 

 several specimens of which were collected with the body-cavity full 

 of young. While collecting on these flats, the small but numerous 

 fishes, many of them gorgeously coloured, proved a great annoyance, 



