54 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



north shore of the peninsula. The hills here become rougher and more 

 picturesque. Gabb. who was there in 1869, says that the valley is 

 " as wild a spot as can well l)e imagined ; a long sand beach, ending 

 abruptly against a high bluff of black rocks, with the broad Atlantic 

 thundering against it with a ceaseless roar." In the sixties when Gabb 

 visited this region the only settlement consisted of two huts. The 

 Smithsonian expedition found several squatters and tenants occupying 

 the area, but no systematic attempt at settlement and agriculture any- 

 where in the valley. The peninsula as a whole is undeveloped and is 

 almost entirely covered with native forest. If we are to judge from 

 the size of the midden at the Indian village site at the mouth of the 

 San Juan River, agriculture on the peninsula in pre-Columbian days 

 was more extensive than it is now. 



While we worked this site we established living quarters at the 

 Finca de la Esperanza, an abandoned cacao plantation picturesquely 

 located among the mountain ridges which traverse the entire length 

 of the peninsula. The finca was well adapted to our purposes, being 

 healthfully located in a region high above the mosquito and sand-fly 

 infested coast. Each morning the long journey down the mountain 

 trail to the coast was made on the l)acks of the rather ill-tempered 

 diminutive stallions belonging to our patron and guide, John King. 

 The more powerful but no less sure-footed bulls carried our collections 

 of pottery, natural history specimens, and occasionally even a member 

 of the expedition back to the finca in the cool of the evening. The 

 success of the expedition depended in no small measure on the skillful 

 conduct of our menage by Mrs. Miller, who not only planned our 

 meals and managed the native cooks and other servants, but also acted 

 as official translator for our party. 



