316 G. JiJ. Verrill — Fauna of the Island of Dominica. 



bright sunshine. In fact it not unfrequently rains from a cloudless 

 sky, so that one is no sooner dry from one shower than he is j^retty 

 sure to be drenched by another. 



This island appears to have been but vei-y little visited by col- 

 lectors. So far as I am aware but one collection of any size, that of 

 Mr. Fred. A. Ober, made in isyv for the Smithsonian Institution, 

 has previously been sent to this country (cf. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 vol. i, p. 48.). To this Dr. H. A. A. Nicholls subsequently made some 

 additions (ib. vol. iii, p. 254). Another collection was, however, 

 made there in 188*7 and 1888 by Mi-. Geo. A. Ramage, the naturalist 

 employed by the joint committee of the Royal Society and British 

 Association for investigation of the fauna and flora of the Lesser 

 Antilles ; and in 1 863 Rev. E. C. Taylor spent two weeks in Dominica 

 making a small collection (cf. Ibis, vol. vi, p. 157). 



The island itself presents many difticulties to a collector; for, aside 

 from its being very mountainous and heavily wooded, as mentioned 

 above, there are no means of transportation for baggage, etc., except 

 on the heads of natives; while the collector himself must depend upon 

 his own legs or one of the small, and not too lively, native ponies, there 

 being but tw^o carriages on the island and their use being restricted 

 to the immediate vicinity of the towns and along the coast for a few 

 miles, as there are no carriage roads whatever in the interior, or 

 crossing the island, and in many places even the trails are very poor. 



Our collections were, for the most part, made from four camps, 

 as follows : at Laudat, a little hamlet at an elevation of about 1600 

 feet, at the head of the Roseau Valley, and about ten miles from 

 Roseau, the principal town on the island ; at Spring Hill, situated 

 on the side of the same valley at about the same elevation as Laudat, 

 or a little less, and distant about three miles from the latter place ; 

 at Bass-en-ville, situated on a high plateau in the interior of the island, 

 about half way across, and at an elevation of about 2000 feet ; and 

 at Lasswa, situated on the eastern or windward side of the island. 



We found the inhabitants uniformly kind, courteous, and anxious 

 to help us in every way. Our thanks are especially due to the Gov- 

 ernor of the Leeward Islands, and to the President and Members of 

 the Council of Dominica for their kindness in giving us permission 

 to collect there, placing at our disposal the house for the Government 

 engineers at Bass-en-ville, and for courtesy in many ways. We are 

 no less indebted to the following named gentlemen residing on the 

 island : — to Mr. James, the Inspector of Police, for valuable aid in 

 many ways ; to Dr. H. A. A. Nicholls, well known by his contribu- 



