87 
Montego Bay, reached on the afternoon of March 21, was 
made the base of operations until the afternoon of March 25. 
Here Dr. A. T. McCatty obligingly permitted us to use his sana- 
torium, on the shore, as a very convenient and hospitable work- 
ing place; we are also indebted to Messrs. J. E. Kerr & Co. for 
courtesies and information. The collecting grounds were low 
hills near the bay, and the range of mountains some six miles to 
the southeast on which the Kempshot Observatory, established 
by Judge Maxwell Hall, is situated. On the coastal hills we 
n 
many trees and shrubs not previously seen b 
including an undescribed species of prickly ash (Zanthoxylum) 
wholly devoid of prickles, another thatch palm (7Z/riuax), and 
the broad-stemmed R/zpsalis, an interesting climbing cactus 
Near Montego Bay we had a good opportunity to observe the 
disease of the cocoanut palm which has caused much damage to 
the crop in places, evidenced by the yellow color of the foliage, 
the small size and reduced number of the nuts produced, and the 
eventual death of the trees. The trouble seems to be caused by 
planting the trees on level stretches of land too little elevated to 
give them the drainage they require. We observed several groves 
in such situations between Montego Bay and Port Antonio and 
they were almost invariably affected, while those on slopes or on 
sand dunes were healthy. The simple remedy is to avoid plant- 
ing cocoanuts in poorly drained soils. The same conditions obtain 
near Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas, where the trees are un- 
healthy over a large low level area where they have been planted. 
Sailing from Montego Bay in the afternoon of March 25, the 
schooner reached St. Ann’s Bay the next afternoon,.and four 
days were then devoted to the study of the coastal vegetation 
from Roaring River Falls to Runaway Bay and to the hills a.few 
miles to the south. The flora of the Parish of St. Ann’s has 
been little known recently, and it proved to be quite different i in 
many features from that of regions hitherto explored by us. The 
Roaring River, which reaches the sea about four miles east of St, 
Ann’s Bay, is a picturesque stream and in its valley we found 
