46 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
row. Dr. Job, Mr. Stoner, and Professor Thomas were assigned 
the duty of seeing our equipment, baggage and selves trans- 
ferred to Pelican Island directly from the steamer. Their lists 
were ready for inspection and for checking off our property 
when it was trans-shipped. Letters were written home, to be 
dispatched in the first south-bound mail. 
The trip had been delightful, and we all agreed that a pleas- 
anter cruise could hardly be imagined, resolving to recommend 
it most enthusiastically to our friends when the blight of the 
horrible world’s war should be removed and eivilization re- 
turned to its norm. We felt also that the many favors and cour- 
tesies that we had received from the Quebec Company and its 
officers required recognition wherever opportunity offered. To 
Captain Spinney of the ‘‘Guiana’’ we were particularly grate- 
ful. He had gone out of his way to make this trip not only 
comfortable but enjoyable, so far as the press of his duties per- 
mitted. 
Our days of laziness and rest, of pleasure-seeking and ordi- 
nary sightseeing, were over, and our thoughts turned to the 
serious duties that should occupy our attentions for the next 
ten weeks at least. Our only real anxiety was concerning the 
condition of Henderson, who had developed some serious symp- 
toms, according to the ship’s surgeon, and had been ordered 
to the hospital when we disembarked. 
We were all up early in the morning of May 9th, and found 
the low hills of Barbados, the Ultima Thule of our cruise, in 
sight. Soon we could make out the trees and buildings of Peli- 
can Island, which was to be our home for the next five weeks 
and looked very attractive in the morning light. 
The first man to greet us after dropping anchor in Carlisle 
Bay in front of Bridgetown, was Mr. Arthur Gill, the admiralty 
official who had first called my attention to Pelican Island as a 
suitable place for our quarters, and who was detailed to inspect 
passports on our vessel. He greeted us most cordially, and 
announced his readiness to discharge his official duties with as 
little delay as possible. And so, from the very first, we found 
ourselves among friends, and met with nothing but extreme 
ecurtesy and helpfulness on the part of every colonial official 
with whom we dealt during our stay in Barbados. They were 
