l6o A YEAR OF COSTA RICAN NATURAL HISTORY 



into a potrero from which a path climbed up into the forest 

 closely paralleling one of the many small branches t)f this 

 river. Scattered in this forest were tree-ferns of at least 

 two distinct kinds, one with a trunk three to four feet high 

 {Athyrium sp.), the other with a trunk fifteen to sixteen feet 

 high {Cyathea basilcsvis), together with many Philoden- 

 drons, Monsteras and other Aroids, but few Bromeliads. 

 Insects were scarce, partly because of the general cloudiness 

 of the afternoon, perhaps. 



Mr. Lankester's house was beautifully situated half a 

 mile from the Reventazon River and about a hundred and 

 fifty feet above it. It was not a typical Costa Rican resi- 

 dence for although built of adobe it was two-storied and 

 had no patio. A wide veranda or "corridor" ran across the 

 entire front both on the first and second floors, charming 

 places, for they were set with plants and hung with baskets 

 of orchids, some of which were in full fiower when we were 

 there. The veranda was draped with a magnificent "Ve- 

 gissima," a vine bearing masses of pink flowers; at the time 

 of our visit it was in fruit. From the upper corridor espe- 

 cially the house commanded an extensive view of Irazia and 

 Turrialba, although the latter was frequently cloud-cov- 

 ered as early as eight o'clock in the morning at this time of 

 the year. The river was not visible from the house because 

 of the many trees. It could be reached either by following 

 the tributary Rio Zapote through the potreros or by a road 

 through the cafetales which led to a place where an iron 

 bridge had spanned the Reventazon. This bridge had been 

 carried away in one of the periodical floods the preceding 

 winter and as a consequence the carts carrying coffee were 

 obliged to go some distance upstream to the next bridge, 

 greatly increasing the hauling. Fording with carts was im- 

 possible, for the river is full of boulders here and the current 

 swift and strong. A temporary suspension bridge for one 



