40 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



soon again in the field on Samana Bay, where with headquarters at 

 Sanchez I had easy access to great swamps in the delta of Rio Yuna, 

 which drains the broad stretch of the Vega Real, to the waters and 

 islands of the bay itself, and to the steep, forested hills inland. The 

 caves in the limestone hills near San Lorenzo where native fisher- 

 men now five in as primitive fashion as the Indians preceding them 

 who had left great shell middens as indication of their tenancy, and I 



the colonies of pelicans, frigate birds, herons, and terns on the Cayos ' 



de los Pajaros were of especial interest. 



Continuing after two weeks to La Vega I bargained for pack 

 mules and was soon bound for the mountains of the interior. Leav- 

 ing the palms and banana plantations of the lowlands, we traveled 

 for miles through open forests of beautiful pines, climbed by nar- 

 row trails up the steep slopes of El Barrero, impassable during rains, 

 and came finally to the interior valley of Constanza, where the air 

 was cool and where, in winter, frosts come to kill tender vegetation. I|j 



At Constanza, the collections obtained included archeological as 

 well as zoological material, for this had been one of the favored 

 sites of the Indians, so that the country people found many pottery 

 fragments and stone implements in cultivating their fields. Birds 

 al)0unded, among them especially a song sparrow of the genus 

 Brachyspica with its relatives in South and Central America, and 

 found elsewhere only in the interior mountains of this island. Dense 

 deciduous forests covered many slopes, alternating with pines in pleas- 

 ing contrast. A rare quail-dove inhabited the jungles, and trogons 

 nested in hollow trees. In climate and topograi)hy, the region, except 

 for its vegetation, was reminiscent of the mountains of Arizona and 

 New Mexico. The return to the heat of the lowlands was made with 

 regret, and work in the field was finally terminated on Jime 3 with 

 departure for New York from Puerto Plata. 



