sandy level plain, stretching from about 

 six miles south of the town into the 

 distance as far as the eye could reach 

 except toward the north. The insects 

 also are far more P^loridian than in the 

 other places we had visited, even more 

 so than near the coast within sight, 

 figuratively speaking, of Key West from 

 which the mountains now separated us 

 however. Just how Floridian they are 

 remains to be seen. We beat the insects 

 and spiders off the trees into umbrellas; 

 swept the vegetation with nets; chased 

 the creatures flying in the blazing sun; 

 chopped into logs and dug into the white, 

 hot sand. At the same time Messrs. 

 Sleight and Davis were doing the same 

 thing in Florida. When the specimens 

 have been labeled and classified we shall 

 compare notes, but it can be said even 

 now that were Cuba all like this a large 

 percentage of the species would be com- 

 mon to both places. It is not to be 

 understood that the fauna is identical 

 with that of Florida. There were many 

 Floridian species absent as well as non- 

 Floridian species present — that is, al- 

 though this locality is the most Floridian 

 we found it is not an absolute copy and 



a better comparison may be dis- 

 covered in the future. 



The problem for Mr. Leng and 

 myself had now shifted slightly. 

 Here was a sort of Cuban Florida 

 and we had returned to the spot 

 until new finds became relatively 

 rare. If environment plays a large 

 role in distribution, the fauna of 

 the mountains, even though they 

 be but a few miles distant, ought 

 to differ more from the fauna of 

 this spot than that of Florida 

 does; whereas, if isolation or other 

 factors are the important ones, the 

 t . opposite would be found to be true. 

 F'ortunately there is an automobile 

 stage running from Pinar across 

 the mountains to the north coast. Our 

 first stop was at Bafios San Vicente 

 near Viiiales. The mountains are largely 

 limestone and full of caves, many of the 

 caves containing streams. Cliffs rather 

 than slopes are the characteristic thing 

 and frequently the valleys are enormous 

 sinks apparently caused by the falling 

 in of the roofs of caves. The vegetation 

 in this region is rich and distinctly more 

 tropical than in those previously visited. 

 Epiphytes of various species are common 

 on the trees; orchids, delicate ferns and 

 beautiful vines crowd every crevice in 

 the rocks; but I do not recall seeing a 

 single pine in this region — where we 

 spent a pleasant profitable week and 

 after each day's work refreshed ourselves 

 in the warm sulphur baths from which 

 the place gets its name. 



Going still farther north, on the other 

 side of the mountains, we found the 

 remains of a large pine forest which had 

 been destroyed by a hurricane three 

 years ago. Because of the copper which 

 is found here, this region is likely to 

 become better known, but now it is 

 practically uninhabited. Finally we 

 reached the north shore and the man- 



101 



