SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS. I929 I35 



Just as scarce as was fresh water in our western camps, so was it 

 plentiful in our eastern ones ; in fact, the difficulty now was to keep 

 dry. The slopes ahove St. Louis du Nord. wherever the soil was 

 sufficiently rich, were crowded with cofifee plantations, and the trails 

 hordered with cacao trees. The uppermost ridges, many of them 

 covered with a stiff red clay, supported only sweet potatoes or heans. 

 On the rocky peaks, where even a Haitian was unahle to tack a gar- 

 den, flourished dense groves of thick-limhed jamhos trees, literally 

 upholstered in deep layers of moss and ornamental delicate ferns, 

 continually drenched in sweeping billows of fog. I took Saiil up. 

 much to his terror, into this smoke, as he called it. where the mvs- 



^'A 



Fig. 117. — A newly opened automobile idad ncnr I'.assin Bleu. 



terious moaning of the dimly seen jam])os limbs. rul)bing upon each 

 other, brought him to the point of flight. He knew the sound of 

 zombies. 



A productive visit was next made by motor truck to Bassin Bleu 

 over a newly opened road leading to Ciros INIorne. We tore along at 

 breakneck speed, down steep mountain slopes, round dangerous 

 curves, over open stream l)eds. until stopped by a partial dissolution 

 of the accelerator. After the driver had tied the parts together with 

 a string, on we dashed. 



From our camp at Bassin Bleu, I managed to explore the distant 

 Moustique Range, and, after three attempts, to scale the summit of 

 Morne Haut Piton. Our camp life here was peaceful, though more 

 strenuous than any. The natives had seen a '' Madame Blanche " be- 



