62 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
familiar songs. Some played cards on the diningroom table, 
and others read whatever light literature was at hand. 
Henderson rejoined us on Sunday, May 12th, and reported 
himself quite well. He is an excellent raconteur, and added 
much to the interest of these evening gatherings. On Sundays 
we rested from our labors, and some of us attended church. 
Others indulged in long walks on the island. 
A few of the hopelessly energetic ones worked in the even- 
ings. Wehman could not refrain from completing some fine 
eolor sketch of a particularly interesting fish or living mollusk. 
Thomas was unable to tear himself away from his geological 
specimens. Ricker often worked late in his improvised photo- 
graphic studio; and Stoner sometimes took evenings to care for 
‘the entomological specimens secured during the day. 
The moonlight evenings were simply superb. It seems to me 
that I never saw such bright hght from our satellite as we en- 
joyed at Pelican Island. It may have been partly on account 
of the white sand which covered the ground; or perhaps the 
moonlight is really brighter in the tropics than at home. At 
any rate these nights will long be remembered by many of us. , 
Of course, as was to be expected, a limited moiety of our party 
became obviously moon-struck and were wont to wonder off 
by themselves where the addition of another person would have 
‘‘made a crowd.’’ The ravages of this disease were, however, 
restricted within the narrowest possible limits and did not in- 
terfere seriously with the sociability enjoyed by the others. 
There was but one real drawback to our happiness here, and 
that was fleas. They evidently enjoyed us, however, and 
seemed greatly to prefer white to black foraging ground. 
The weather was usually fine, the only exception being the 
short, but often violent, rain-squalls which came with little 
warning and stopped as suddenly as they had begun. 
The natives from the main island often appeared with things 
of all sorts to sell. Their poverty was so evident and need so 
great that we were often tempted, and some of us, notably Hen- 
derson, became very popular. Some good specimens were se- 
cured in this way, however, among which were a number of 
fine land-crabs, devilfish, and land mollusks. 
The boys had great sport with the small lizards that were 
