95 
misery. This, however, was obviated by one of the searching 
parties with lanterns, etc., sent out from camp to find us, but 
it was well toward midnight before we reached camp. 
I left Camp La Gloria January 1, 1911, in a drenching rain, 
and, as it had been raining during most of my stay, the trail 
became all but impassable, so that of the seven mules starting 
for the coast that morning but four reached it; the others becom- 
ing exhausted were abandoned at various grassy plots along the 
trail. It was nearly dark when the storage camp on the coast 
was reached, and I was informed that the small sailboat which 
was to take me back to Baracoa had arrived a short time before 
and was anchored in the bay. Next morning the weather con- 
ditions were such that the captain would not venture out to sea 
that day or the following day, thus giving me an opportunity 
to examine the vegetation along the shore of Moa Bay. The 
coastal formation is of conglomerate limonite or iron stone and, 
to my great surprise, carried with it the vegetation known to 
me heretofore only from the mountains; thus tree-ferns grew 
within fifty feet of salt water and many mountain shrubs almost 
touched an occasional mangrove, Rhizophora, which occurred 
very sparingly at this point 
Early next morning our little craft ventured out and beat its 
way eastward with difficulty, reaching Taco Bay, the protection 
of which we sought for the night; Baracoa was reached late in 
the afternoon of January 5. My anxiety as to the condition of 
the moisture-laden specimens was greatly relieved when I found 
that they were in good condition. It required about a week of 
constant attention to get the material properly dried under the 
adverse weather conditions. The driers were kept dry and 
warm by a process new to me, Lizzie, the cook, having suggested 
the bake-oven as the proper medium to secure the desired results. 
In the meantime, I succumbed to an attack of a low, enervating 
fever, which wholly incapacitated me for about ten days and 
left me in no condition to attempt the contemplated trip overland 
to Guantanamo, which I was informed was very tedious and 
difficult and would take over a week’s time. But as I desired 
very much to collect across the island, J arranged with a boatman, 
