198 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



which resembles too closely in appearance a huge 

 rat to be wholly acceptable as a playmate. 



The large rodents, as a New World product, at- 

 tained their maximum development a very long 

 time ago, during the middle Tertiary. Since that 

 remote time the group has been a steadily diminish- 

 ing one, and the extensive land areas over which 

 they ranged have undergone many changes. Cap- 

 romys is likely a stranded remnant upon the Antilles, 

 and its ancestral connections are difficult to trace. 

 It is a living twig upon a large spreading tree that 

 is slowly dying. 



Reptilian life in such a forest is no doubt very 

 abundant, but we saw less of it. Two snakes, 

 hubos {Alsophis angulijer) were captured by 

 Rodriguez, who was well bitten by one of them 

 before it could be placed in the bag. The name 

 *'hubo" is applied by the Cubans to almost any 

 medium-sized snake which is not a young boa. 

 This particular one is a very common species 

 throughout the island and is a lively rather than 

 a vicious reptile. A curious habit noticed about 

 it is the tactics employed to avoid capture. In- 

 stead of gliding away it is more liable to make 

 directly for you and in the resulting confusion 



