COLLFX'TIXa L\ CUBA 



103 



groves much as at Cabanas. This 

 furnished a second collection to compare 

 with that from the Floridian coast. 



Returning to Pinar we revisited the 

 pine-palmetto region and then Mr. Leng 

 went to Havana to study the Gundlach 

 collection. This is without doubt the 

 most complete collection of Cuban 

 insects to be found in any one place in 

 the world. They are in small glass- 

 covered boxes tightly sealed with 

 gummed paper. Gundlach was a most 

 ardent collector and most of the entomo- 

 logical literature concerning Cuba is 

 based on the material secured by him 

 and his friend Poey. Part of Poey's 

 collection is in Philadelphia but before 

 it was sent Gundlach picked out for 

 himself everything he did not already 

 have. As the collection is thus of great 

 historical value it is well that it is so 

 carefully preserved, l)ut since the speci- 

 mens cannot be removed from their 

 boxes, minute examination is impossible 

 and much of it is useless for further 

 study. 



I went to Guane, the western terminus 

 of the railroad. On account of the rains 

 the road from the station to the town 

 was out of commission and vre had to 

 drive four miles through 

 fields, circling the town 

 and coming in from the 

 opposite side. The stage 

 was small and crowded 

 to its limit, the mules 

 balked several times, the 

 harness broke twice, and 

 we were an hour and a 

 half making the trip. 

 The mountains at Guane 

 are across the river from 

 the town and as the river 

 was swollen by recent 

 rains I did not examine 

 them. They appear to 

 be of the same type as 



at Mnales except that the peaks are 

 isolated. Between showers I collected 

 near the town in the grass fields con- 

 taining scattered palmettos and other 

 trees or bushes but no pines. When 

 the time came to leave I still retained 

 vivid memories of the stage ride from 

 the station and also I wished to go early 

 in order to collect from some flowers I 

 had noticed near the railroad, so I ar- 

 ranged for a coche particular. I thought 

 I was going to get a four-wheeled con- 

 traption of some sort but it turned out 

 to be a cart, interesting in appearance 

 and rather effective when it came to 

 going across lots. If shaking is a 

 remedy for a torpid liver, this cart, 

 hitched to a pony of uncertain gait, is 

 to be recommended. 



Havana, clean clothes, and a good 

 dinner with Dr. de la Torre and Mr. 

 Leng were reached shortly after sunset. 

 Mr. Leng left for New York the next 

 flay, but I remained in Havana and 

 "helped" Dr. de la Torre pick out from 

 his collection more than six hundred 

 specimens of the rarest Cuban land 

 shells as his gift to the Museum. These 

 represented one hundred and thirty-nine 

 species, most of which were not hitherto 



The coche particular, a two-wheeled cart, liitched to a pony of 

 uncertain gait 



