﻿SALVADOR 
  — 
  STANDLEY. 
  327 
  

  

  which 
  constitute 
  the 
  unofficial 
  street-cleaning 
  departments 
  of 
  tropical 
  

   American 
  towns. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  many 
  alligators 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  lakes 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  rivers, 
  

   and 
  they 
  are 
  hunted 
  for 
  their 
  skins 
  and 
  flesh. 
  The 
  giant 
  lizards, 
  

   known 
  as 
  iguanas 
  and 
  garrobos, 
  are 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  low 
  country,, 
  

   especially 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  San 
  Miguel. 
  In 
  some 
  settlements 
  their 
  

   flesh 
  is 
  used 
  for 
  food, 
  while 
  in 
  others 
  its 
  use 
  is 
  scorned. 
  The 
  eggs 
  of 
  

   these 
  lizards 
  are 
  often 
  eaten. 
  That 
  snakes 
  exist 
  in 
  Salvador 
  can 
  not 
  

   be 
  denied, 
  and 
  authentic 
  accounts 
  of 
  deaths 
  from 
  their 
  bites 
  are 
  not 
  

   rare. 
  In 
  five 
  months 
  in 
  the 
  country, 
  most 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  spent 
  in 
  

   tramping 
  about 
  in 
  thickets 
  and 
  woods, 
  I 
  saw 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  small 
  ones, 
  

   all 
  harmless. 
  Rattlesnakes 
  occur 
  in 
  places, 
  likewise 
  the 
  coral 
  snake 
  

   and 
  the 
  deadly 
  tamagaz, 
  known 
  elsewhere 
  as 
  the 
  bushmaster 
  or 
  fer 
  

   de 
  lance. 
  In 
  general, 
  I 
  should 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  Salvadoreans 
  take 
  about 
  

   as 
  great 
  precautions 
  against 
  serpents 
  and 
  think 
  as 
  much 
  about 
  them 
  

   as 
  do 
  the 
  people 
  in 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  

  

  To 
  one 
  who 
  has 
  to 
  go 
  out 
  into 
  the 
  rural 
  districts 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  

   enakes 
  that 
  give 
  concern 
  but 
  the 
  insects 
  and 
  their 
  relatives. 
  Of 
  

   these 
  Salvador 
  has 
  its 
  full 
  share, 
  but 
  none 
  of 
  them 
  to 
  so 
  troublesome 
  

   a 
  degree 
  as 
  some 
  other 
  countries. 
  The 
  worst 
  of 
  the 
  insects, 
  for 
  they 
  

   are 
  most 
  universal 
  and 
  persistent, 
  are 
  the 
  ants. 
  Salvador 
  must 
  pos- 
  

   sess 
  a 
  remarkable 
  variety 
  of 
  them, 
  from 
  the 
  big 
  zompopos 
  or 
  leaf- 
  

   cutting 
  ones, 
  which 
  delight 
  in 
  stripping 
  of 
  their 
  leaves 
  and 
  blossoms 
  

   one's 
  most 
  cherished 
  trees 
  and 
  shrubbery, 
  to 
  the 
  little 
  locos, 
  harmless 
  

   insects 
  that 
  seem 
  to 
  pass 
  their 
  whole 
  existence 
  in 
  aimlessly 
  darting 
  

   from 
  spot 
  to 
  spot 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  manner 
  that 
  they 
  well 
  deserve 
  the 
  term 
  

   " 
  crazy 
  " 
  applied 
  to 
  them. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  ants 
  can 
  bite, 
  and 
  do 
  so 
  with 
  

   little 
  or 
  even 
  no 
  provocation, 
  and 
  in 
  some 
  cases 
  their 
  bites 
  are 
  poison- 
  

   ous, 
  at 
  least 
  to 
  certain 
  persons. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  vicious 
  kinds 
  fre- 
  

   quents 
  the 
  wet 
  sand 
  at 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  streams, 
  and 
  security 
  from 
  them 
  

   can 
  be 
  obtained 
  only 
  by 
  walking 
  in 
  the 
  stream 
  itself. 
  Another 
  fero- 
  

   cious 
  sort 
  inhabits 
  the 
  hollow 
  spines 
  of 
  certain 
  species 
  of 
  Acacia. 
  

   Wasps 
  are 
  plentiful 
  but 
  not 
  nearly 
  so 
  abundant 
  as 
  on 
  the 
  northern 
  

   coast 
  of 
  Guatemala. 
  Even 
  worse 
  than 
  the 
  ants 
  at 
  times 
  are 
  the 
  

   garrapatas 
  or 
  seed 
  ticks, 
  much 
  smaller 
  than 
  our 
  wood 
  ticks 
  (which 
  

   also 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  Salvador), 
  and 
  occurring 
  in 
  myriads 
  in 
  favorable 
  

   regions, 
  especially 
  those 
  where 
  cattle 
  are 
  pastured. 
  The 
  ticks 
  are 
  so 
  

   tiny 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  hard 
  to 
  find 
  them 
  upon 
  the 
  body, 
  but 
  their 
  effects 
  leave 
  

   no 
  doubt 
  as 
  to 
  their 
  presence. 
  Ticks, 
  however, 
  are 
  not 
  found 
  at 
  

   higher 
  altitudes, 
  and 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  low 
  country 
  one 
  may 
  go 
  for 
  days 
  

   without 
  accumulating 
  any. 
  Nowhere 
  in 
  Salvador 
  did 
  I 
  find 
  them 
  in 
  

   such 
  profusion 
  as 
  on 
  the 
  western 
  coast 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  where 
  they 
  some- 
  

   times 
  make 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  collecting 
  plants 
  almost 
  unbearable. 
  The 
  

   ticks, 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  said, 
  do 
  not 
  ascend 
  far 
  into 
  the 
  mountains, 
  but 
  their 
  

  

  