|(t:; 



of the coast arc soon left behind and an entirely new flora takes 

 tlieir [)lace. Ferns become more numerous the higher one 

 ascends, and at about 2,000 feet tree ferns make their appearance, 

 and in deep shaded places a few filmy ferns may be found. It is 

 not until about 3,500 feet are attained that these become plenti- 

 ful, and then they clothe everything, tree trunks, rocks, soil, all 

 surfaces in fact, are covered with them ; and to the beauty of 

 these is added also the delicate tracery of the moss and hepatic. 

 At this elevation everything is dripping moisture, for the sum- 

 mits of all these mountains are bathed in clouds every afternoon 

 and toward evening daily showers prevail, and such showers as 

 they are ! We were caught in one of them and for two hours 

 we ploughed through mud and rain, soaked to the skin. 



VVe traveled many miles through rank tropical verdure, and at 

 last, away up in the mountains at a place called Marmelade, we 

 came upon the pine forest, about which we had heard so many 

 reports, and which was in fact our objective point on this long 

 trip into the interior. To come suddenly, as we did, upon these 

 trim stately pines, clothing the steep mountain side, was so great 

 a change, that one could hardly realize that it was the same land, 

 and that by turning ones back miles of tropical vegetation could 

 be seen in the rear. The change in the character of the accom- 

 panying plants was equally as marked. Shrubby composites, 

 melastomads in great number, and even an agave, with flowering 

 stems 6-8 feet tall, became the common order of things. The 

 undergrowth in the portion of the pine land visited by us was 

 very dense, and traversing it, other than by the trails, was an 

 extremely difficult task and very tiresome. 



As in the other villages in which we stopped, here at Marme- 

 lade we were entertained by the Catholic priest. The lives of 

 these men, frequently the only white men in the villages over 

 which they preside, must be lonely in the extreme, and they 

 seemed delighted to see us and urged us to come again. We 

 were their guests everywhere, and their open hospitality was grat- 

 ifying. At this little place many European vegetables are grown, 

 including excellent potatoes, which we sampled ; peaches are 

 also raised. The much cooler atmosphere, actually cold at times 



