SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I928 II9 



Three weeks were spent also in the interior of Honduras, and I 

 traveled as far as the capital, Tegucigalpa. Travel in the interior of 

 Honduras is now easy because of the completion by the government 

 of an excellent automobile road which runs from Lake Yojoa, at 

 the end of one of the railroads of the Atlantic coast, across several 

 ranges of high mountains to Tegucigalpa, and on to the Pacific coast. 

 Tegucigalpa is almost the only capital in the world not reached bv a 

 railroad. 



It is a satisfaction to know that this fine road was planned and 

 constructed by Honduran engineers. Over the diflficult mountains it 

 is a succession of steep grades and hairjiin curves, which would thrill 

 the traveler more if it were not for the careful native chaufifeurs, 

 who are probabl\- the most expert drivers in Central America. The 

 road unfolds to view one beautiful vista after another, for nowhere 

 else in Central America will one find more majestic and varied scenery. 



Extensive collections were made about Siguatepeque. in central 

 Honduras. This is a comparatively dry, mountainous region of pine 

 forests, lying at an elevation of 3.500 to 6.000 feet. The general aspect 

 of the country recalls the Rocky Mountains of southern Colorado 

 and northern New Mexico. Not only are the Honduran pines strongly 

 suggestive of the common yellow pine of the Rockies, but the appear- 

 ance of the rather sparse undergrowth likewise is very similar. Curi- 

 ously enough, there occur here in the higher mountains a hop hornbeam 

 (Osfrya), the sweetgum (Liqitidamhar styraciflita) , the royal and 

 cinnamon ferns, and bracken, all of which are common plants of the 

 eastern United States. The vegetation of central Honduras seems to 

 be closely related to that of some parts of non-tropical southern 

 Mexico. This fact is emphasized by the abundance of Parosela 

 species, and Ijy the large number of handsome red- and blue-flowered 

 Salvias. 



It was a disappointment that lack of time made it impossible to 

 collect in the Comayagua A alley, which is crossed by the road from 

 Siguatepeque to Tegucigalpa. This huge valley, encircled by high 

 mountains, is almost a desert, resembling the Zacapa Desert of 

 Guatemala, and one of the few such areas existing in Central America. 

 One is reminded strongly of the deserts of Mexico by the scrubby 

 thickets and bare dusty stretches about Comayagua. One of the com- 

 mon plants is a stately Agave, and there is a profusion of cactuses, 

 among them small prostrate prickly-pears, and other Opuntias which 

 grow as trees 30 feet high, climbing Cereus species with slender 



