188 Naturalist at Large 



catch, and even when caught a decent specimen was by 

 no means assured, for their skin tore like wet tissue paper 

 and their struggles usually left them sadly unfrocked. 



These, like other slim-toed Gekkos or Eublepharids, as 

 they once were called, are far more agile than their allies 

 with dilated digits — more alert and less deliberate in their 

 movements. The species proved to be the rare and Httle 

 known Lathrogecko sanctae-martae Ruthven. 



At the end of our stay in the Sapo Mountains a message 

 came that my daughter, Mary B., had been operated on 

 for a tracheotomy and was not expected to live. A tiny 

 launch, in bad condition and belonging to the schoolmaster, 

 was the only transportation to be found. Into this we piled 

 our precious gear, which filled it completely except for a 

 little space for the engineer and for the steersman for'ard, 

 while we stood on the tiny deck aft, with our elbows 

 resting on the canopy top, and here we dozed, taking turns 

 at watching one another so that neither of us fell over- 

 board, for about thirty hours. Once our engine went dead 

 and we drifted out of sight of land and were unutterably 

 pleased to hear it start sputtering again. 



At long last the flashes of sunhght reflected by the pearl 

 oyster shells embedded in the stucco of the cathedral tow- 

 ers of Panama told us we were nearing our destination. And 

 when we learned at the Legation that Mary B. was well 

 and had been for weeks, I leave it to your imagination to 

 guess how much champagne we consumed. Before this 

 process began, be it said, I walked up to the desk of the 

 Tivoli Hotel to sign for a room and the clerk never even 

 recognized me, although we had known one another for 



