SMITIISOXIAN' KXri.OUATIONS, I929 1 33 



long run through the arid coastal region, furnished baths to goats, 

 donkeys, and pigs, and to us drinking water. After a fortnight of 

 successful work we returned to Port de Paix. 



Our next collecting was done at Jean Rabel, which we reached by 

 a night launch ride in a calm sea with Captain Hartmann. Here again 

 we set up tents, this time (jn the bank of the Jean Rabel river, a swift- 

 flowing stream of clear water. Jean Rabel is a sizeable village, boast- 

 ing a drug store, gendarmerie, and a large market, but is surprisingly 

 situated several miles from the coast. Under these favorable circum- 

 stances we were able to devote all our time to collecting. The level 

 plateaus bordering the barren sea cliffs, covered with shrubs barely a 

 foot high, were especially interesting and easy to collect. To the 

 south lay low mountains, which though found to be equally pro- 

 ductive were difficult in the extreme to penetrate, owing to lack of 

 roads other than winding goat trails lined with " juni])ing " cactus 

 and thorny bushes. 



Several weeks were spent at Jean Rabel. After shifting so long for 

 ourselves we had, one day, the pleasure of welcoming Lieutenant 

 Whitehouse, sent to take charge of the local gendarmerie. From him 

 we gained an insight into the mysterious and complicated system of 

 local politics prevailing in all Haitian towns, and with his help we 

 procured much-needed pack animals with which to make the trip to 

 the Mole, Bombardopolis, and back. 



The trail to the Mole follows along an old sea shelf, winding mile 

 after mile through arid thickets and huge cactus groves, with not 

 even a Haitian hut and only one stream. La Riviere Cote de Fer, to 

 break the monotony. Most of the trip was made afoot and with more 

 or less difficulty. Toward night camp was set up under a huge mango 

 tree, in the deep gorge of the Mole River. From this point Saiil and 

 I scouted the rocky arid wastes of the surrounding regions for seven 

 or eight days, collecting new or interesting plants which Mrs. Leonard, 

 in addition to her numerous other duties, dried as usual. 



One evening found us again on the trail, this time bound for 

 Bombardopolis, situated to the south in the midst of a great plateau. 

 Arriving there the following midnight, we hastily made camp and 

 crawled in under double blankets to escape the cold. Next morning 

 we were awakened by a large body of excited citizens headed by their 

 police, all astonished that a family of " blancs " with tents and com- 

 plete living equipment should appear so suddenly out of the blackness 

 of night. A detailed report of ourselves satisfied the police, but noth- 

 ing seemed to satiate the curiosity of the natives who. day after day, 

 would stare, five and six deep, in front of our tent, as long as light 



