SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I929 67 



spread rapidly to the village and countryside, the consequence being 

 that we thereafter had about three times as many visitors as before 

 we produced the bag of snakes. 



On January 20 we broke camp and started overland for Grande 

 Riviere, and from there by train to Cape Haitien, where we remained 

 for several days purchasing supplies and making necessary arrange- 

 ments for the following month's work. On January 26 we left Cape 

 Haitien for Fort Liberte, the old French capital of Haiti, situated 

 on the northern coast about midway between Cape Haitien and the 

 Dominican border. The present town of Fort Liberte is but a 

 skeleton of what it once was; at every turn and on every street 

 may be seen tumbled-down ruins of once beautiful buildings and fine 

 homes. Between the town and the narrow entrance to the bay, a few 

 miles distant, are a number of old French forts, at one time the 

 powerful protection of the French capital of Haiti. Even today these 

 forts are almost intact, strong high walls bordering the edge of the 

 bay, with small openings every few feet for the projecting muzzles 

 of the cannon. In the interior are the old powder magazines, wells 

 for the supply of drinking water, and passageways to the various 

 sections of the fort. 



At 7.45 one evening we finally set sail for the Seven Brothers 

 Islands in a native-made sail boat about 20 feet in length and with 

 a single sail. As we planned to spend several weeks working on the 

 various islands, our small boat was well laden, with its crew of two, 

 our native cook, and Perrygo and myself, together with our food 

 supplies, fresh water, and camp equipment. At about 3 a. m. we 

 arrived at Tororu Island, and after remaining on the boat until day- 

 break, we landed to make investigations. This island, was, like most 

 of the group, very small, and contained only a few trees and bushes, 

 a rather heavy growth of coarse grass, and a small variety of cactus. 

 Lizards were very numerous, some of which we collected as speci- 

 mens, together with a few sand crabs and small birds. As we were 

 walking along the sandy beach on the east side, one of the crew 

 pointed to a spot that had been considerably torn up. Upon closer 

 examination it proved to be the tracks of a huge sea turtle that had 

 come upon the beach to deposit its eggs. The two men began digging 

 carefully with their hands, their faces beaming with smiles. After 

 pulling the sand away to a depth of about 15 inches, they found the 

 eggs, and to our astonishment and the natives' joy, the nest contained 

 193, half filling a bushel basket. Monte Chico Island, some four or 

 five miles to the northeast, we found to be almost a duplicate of the 

 one we had just left. We spent a couple of hours here, during 



