358 ^ YEAR OF COSTA RICAN NATURAL HISTORY 



which had fallen upon it had given the water a decidedly 

 acid taste. This lake we did not see, as it lies at some dis- 

 tance from the active crater and our stay was necessarily 

 limited. 



By eleven o'clock the crater was filled with mist and we 

 reluctantly began the downward climb, which was of course 

 much harder than going up. We passed the lecheria at 

 three and stopped at the bottom of the big steep potrero to 

 rest the horses. On this part of the downward ride we had 

 magnificent views of the great central valley, with its patches 

 of bright, beautifully green cane, darker coffee and velvety 

 potreros, all rolling and hilly even in the central "meseta," 

 while the depressions between the little hills were occupied 

 by tree-bordered streams. At five-thirty we halted for a 

 lunch, then on steadily downward. It was dark before we 

 reached San Pedro de Poas and as the moon did not rise 

 until nine we had over two hours of hard going in darkness, 

 with only the brilliant stars to light the road. And brilliant 

 as they were they did not do much. Mr. Clark knew the 

 road well and of course rode first, and as his horse and his 

 clothes were dark he tied a white cloth around his neck. Mrs. 

 Clark followed the faint glimmering of this white patch, 

 I followed the white tail and haunches of her big gray and 

 white horse, Cirilo followed my white horse, and so we 

 traveled in single file down long steep hills, through two 

 eerie covered bridges, around the edge of the "cerro" range 

 mentioned above and were well toward home before the 

 rising moon gave us any assistance. The horses were mar- 

 velously steady and surefooted and plodded right along 

 through the dark as if they could see — no doubt they could 

 see much more than we did. Once a monster rose up under 

 our feet making the riders jump although the horses paid 

 little attention to it. It was a calf which had chosen the 

 middle of a dusty road to sleep in. Perhaps the horses 



