Barbour: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Isle of Pines. 299 



speaking, the island is always healthy. In the past the hot springs 

 at Santa Fe attracted many Cuban visitors, as the island, of course, 

 since its discovery has been a dependency of the government of 

 Havana. After the Spanish-American war, a few Americans found 

 their way there, and persuaded themselves that the island was to be 

 retained by the United States. This rumor spread, and speculators 

 in land soon arrived. " Land-booms " followed, and farms and citrus- 

 fruit plantations were sold in many localities. The result is that at 

 present there is a large body of American residents, most of whom 

 came to the island entirely untrained in tropical agriculture, and who 

 purchased farms unsuited for the purpose for which they were sold. 

 This has naturally resulted in disappointment and hardship. The 

 local Cuban authorities proved to be most courteous, and helped us on 

 the occasion of my visit in every possible way. The natives reside 

 principally in Nueva Gerona and its environs, although there are 

 scattered peasants living throughout the island, who will always be 

 found to offer the wayfaring naturalist a charming and courteous, if 

 humble, hospitality. 



List of the Species. 



1. Crocodilus americanus (Laurenti). 



The Caiman, as it is called by the Spanish-speaking inhabitants of 

 both Cuba and the Isle of Pines, is common in all the salt water 

 estuaries and chief river-mouths of the island. This species does not 

 often push its way up into fresh water, but prefers the lagoons and ponds 

 among the mangroves, where the water is salt or strongly brackish. 

 A specimen about four feet long obtained by Mr. Zappey, shows, as 

 one would expect, that this species is identical with the typical form 

 of this widely ranging creature, which occurs from Florida, through 

 the Greater Antilles, along the coasts of Mexico and Central America, 

 and, reappearing on the Pacific Coast, extends from Southern Mexico 

 to Ecuador. Its habits are astonishingly similar throughout its 

 whole range, and the species is like the old world Crocodilus porosus 

 in its liking for salt water. 



2. Crocodilus rhombifer Cuvier. 



I have not seen a specimen of this species from the Isle of Pines. 

 The Cubans, however, are well aware of its existence and call it in- 

 variably Cocodrilo, in contradistinction to the Caiman. I have long 



