THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 383 



hut did not succeed, nor could I then perceive any inammte. Shortly after- 

 ward I left the island but, as I learned from Governor Blake, Ijoth mother and 

 offspring died in a few days and the bodies were sent to me in alcohol. A 

 careful post mortem examination failed to disclose any mammary glands or 

 any trace of any, yet the bat was pregnant with another embryo which was 

 well advanced. This bat is a fruit-eating species, and the specimen described 

 ate sapodillos greedily." 



Mr. Benedict has kindly furnished me with the following account of his 

 experience with the species : " During the visit of the Albatross to the 

 Bahamas, in the winter of 1884-1885, the Harl)or-^laster of Nassau, Capt. 

 Lightbourn, informed Capt. Tanner, of tlie Albatross, that there was a cave 

 practically unexplored and not very long known, several miles back from 

 Nassau. An expedition was formed and several naturalists from the ship went 

 with Captains Lightbourn and Tanner to the cavern, where, before entering, 

 a change of clothing was made. The cave was well filled Avith a bat guano, 

 which would quickly render clothing unfit for use until washed. The cave was 

 entered, each man carrying two lighted candles. The party remained in the cave 

 about three-quarters of an hour. At first the entrance was narrow and some- 

 times low. In one place we crossed a pit which may have led to caverns 

 opening below, l)ut we did not have time to investigate. After we had gone 

 back some little distance, a very large number of liats flew about. They were 

 shot with small guns at first, and then they were caught in the hands, without 

 shooting. The hands were first covered with rubljer gloves and the sharp teeth 

 would penetrate the skin sufficiently to l)e felt, though they could do no harm. 

 I penetrated a chamber where the bat guano was so thick it sounded holloAv 

 underneath. The cavern had been so filled at this point that there was barely 

 room for a man to push himself on his knees and elbows into this chamber, 

 but here the bats were especially numerous, and [ found that it was often 

 necessary to relight the candles. About one hundred bats were taken, and 

 many hundreds must have remained, as no perceptible diminution in number 

 could be observed. The exact location of this cave I cannot describe, and Capt. 

 Lightbourn said that it was known to comparatively few people, though there 

 was a much better known cave somewhere back of Nassau." 



Mr. Riley's notes : " In an old out-building that had formerly been a 

 part of the outer fortifications of the old Spanish fort at Nassau, now used as 

 a sheep barn, we found the males of this species hanging by one foot to the 

 roof in great numbers, June 21. The room was light enough to see the bats 



