56 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 



that venomous species when introduced gradually lose their 

 poison. There are no venomous reptiles in the island. 

 There is one enormous variety of boa, called the maja, of 

 immense strength. It is perfectly black, as thick as one's 

 arm, and capable of swelling itself out to nearly five times 

 its natural size, and has a blood-red mouth all of which 

 sounds very alarming. But he is a lazy fellow and does 

 not trouble himself about human beings, being satisfied 

 with pigs and goats and even small game. The cayman, or 

 crocodile, is found on the Isle of Pines, the same species 

 which also occurs in the southern part of Florida, Jamaica, 

 and Central America. A few fresh-water fishes are found 

 in the streams, mostly of the family Cyclidce, represented 

 by species having a superficial resemblance to our sun- 

 fishes. A large lepidosteus, similar to the alligator-gar of 

 our own Southern States, is found. The Cyprinodontidce are 

 also represented by two or three genera ; these are related 

 to the killies. In the caves of Cuba two blind fishes are 

 found, one of which belongs to a family occurring elsewhere 

 only in the great depths of the sea. 



The insect life is abundant and beautiful. There are 

 also many arachnids. While the sting of the scorpion and 

 bite of the spider are temporarily painful, neither of them 

 results in serious consequences. 



The most interesting features of the fauna of Cuba are 

 the wonderful land- and fresh- water mollusks, whose size 

 and gorgeous coloring, like those of the Helix picta, place 

 them among the most beautiful objects of the molluscan 

 kind. The birds of Cuba are numerous, including both 

 indigenous and migratory forms from other lands. The 

 parrot is the most conspicuous of these, the others being 

 of smaller size. There is only one humming-bird indige- 

 nous to the island. The shallower waters of the borders are 

 inhabited also by that peculiar marine mammal, the manatee. 



Collectively the fauna of Cuba, like that of all the islands, 

 shows long isolation from other lands. 



