lo E. B. Williamson 



At three-thirty p. m. we arrived at Fundacion, the end of the railroad. 

 Smaller areas were under cultivation here than at most towns along the rail- 

 road. Along the grade of the railroad Y at the west edge of the town were 

 a few dirty shallow pools about which numbers of Gynacanthas flew in the 

 evenings. West of this Y and visible from it was a large marsh situated in 

 a great pasture field. This marsh was shallow and the open area did not 

 exceed an acre. The principal vegetation was grass. Other plants which 

 attracted attention were a conspicuous Juncus ; a water-lily with crinkled 

 margined leaves and white elevated flowers ; a low growing, beautiful purple 

 flower; and clumps of a large plant resembling a Heliconia, but with 

 branched flower stalk and small purplish flowers. Over the low hills west 

 of this marsh was a similar but smaller one. Here were growing another 

 species of water-lily with entire leaves, and two large clumps of a giant 

 Cyperus. Still farther west we encountered a series of long pools or lagoons, 

 running in a northerly direction. One may reach these lagoons also by going 

 west of town along the grade made for the extension of the railroad, this 

 grade having been extended beyond the point where the lagoons are crossed. 

 These lagoons represent an old river bed, probably that of the Rio Fundacion. 

 Near where the railroad grade crosses them they were deep and treacherous 

 and filled with floating grass and debris. Several times in collecting about 

 them I found myself floundering in the water over my head. The adjacent 

 country was semi-arid and brushy and was generally over-pastured by half- 

 starved cattle. Trees on the immediate banks of the lagoons were literally 

 filled with iguanas, which hunted about on the ground, and, when disturbed, 

 ran for the trees, reminding us, strange as it may seem, of fox squirrels at 

 home. The lagoons themselves were teeming Avith crocodiles, whose grunt- 

 ing sounded much like that of dogs. 



From the southwest part of Fundacion a well worn trail led off through 

 the woods in a southerly direction. A mile or less from town smaller trails 

 led off from the main trail. These, as far as explored, led to small farms 

 of sugar cane, yuca and bananas, or pastures cleared in the forest. The 

 main trail one and a half or two miles out from town crossed a large, nearly 

 dry creek or arroyo in Avhich remained pools of vaiying lengths, eight to 

 ten feet wide. This very muddy creek bed, followed down stream for about 

 half a mile, brought us to the* Rio Fundacion. Just before the main trail 

 crossed the arroyo, a trail led off to the left. This itself immediately crossed 

 the arroyo, and, after passing through a small growth wood and a pasture, 

 came out on the bank of the Rio Fundacion above the mouth of the arroyo 

 and then followed up the river. Where the path followed the river closely, 

 we took a number of specimens of a most peculiar small gomphine. This 

 gomphine was most common in a growth of Heliconias and mixed palm 

 and bamboo forest, where the path passed between the river and a large 

 lagoon into which the river flows during high waters. This lagoon was 

 not discovered until our second visit. Doubtless many such lagoons are 

 scattered through the forest, unknown and inaccessible because of the spiny 

 and thorny jungle. The path ended in a small farm where a number of 

 products were cultivated, and in the fields, resting on grass and low plants. 



