324 A YEAR OF COSTA RICAN NATURAL HISTORY 



cies {HetcBrina capitalis and Archilestes grmidis) in the act 

 of transforming which we had not known before in the larval 

 stage, and it is much easier if one can find the dragon- 

 fly sitting on its shed skin than to raise the insect from the 

 larva. We spent several hours around this little stream, 

 gathering exuviae and a few living larvae. The larvae of 

 Archilestes grandis were in a quiet pool where we could see 

 them moving about. They were very minnow-like in be- 

 havior, floating in mid-water, making a short dart in one 

 direction or another as a stick was brought near and, when 

 raised from the water in the net, leaping sidewise into the 

 air as a minnow does in a similar situation. Their semi- 

 transparent bodies increased the minnow-like appearance. 



The railroad from Limon had its terminus at Alajuela, 

 twelve miles west of San Jose. Our friends Mr. and Mrs. 

 J. B. Clark lived at a large beneficio, "El Brazil," of which 

 Mr. Clark was manager, a mile east of Alajuela, and to their 

 kindness and hospitality we owe many opportunities of ex- 

 ploring the neighborhood. We visited the beneficio in Sep- 

 tember, December, January, February and March, that is, 

 both in winter and in summer. 



Alajuela is a neat and attractive town of 6000 inhabitants, 

 prettily situated among the hills, of which fine views are 

 obtained from the plazas. There is the usual Parque Cen- 

 tral and bandstand and facing the Parque is the chief 

 church, in this case a very large white structure with thick 

 adobe walls and a conspicuous red dome of corrugated iron. 

 In addition there were several large open grassy plazas on 

 the outskirts of the town, on which Mrs. Clark and A. used 

 to exercise their horses at a gallop when the roads were so 

 deep in mud that rapid riding on them was out of the ques- 

 tion. The town contained quite a large hospital, several 

 public schools, and a very interesting school of weaving, 

 "Escuela de Tejidos." The art of weaving, if it ever existed 



