OVERLAND TO LA ESPERANZA 25 



We were pleased at Kilometer 14 to take a Chon- 

 dropoma and a Urocoptis quite new to science. 



A little blind snake, the Typhlops lumbricalis, fell 

 to our collecting. This primitive degenerate little 

 creature lives entirely underground burrowing 

 about much like an angle worm and feeding upon 

 grubs and insects. Having no further use for 

 vision the skin of the head grows over the eyes 

 which may be detected by a careful inspection as 

 tiny little spots. The diminutive snake seemed 

 very ill at ease when exposed to the open air and 

 sought to bury his head between one's fingers and 

 to work downward and out of sight. They are 

 quite common in the soil of the fields and can 

 usually be found by following a plowman. 



Having traversed several miles of dreary pine- 

 clad elevations the macadam road surmounts the 

 last loma and begins a steepish descent into the 

 valley of Vinales. Photographs give but a poor 

 idea of the sublimity of the scene that confronts 

 the delighted traveler who views for the first time 

 this exquisite valley. Ranges of sierras on the 

 north rise abruptly from its level floor, while other 

 and still higher ones, forest-covered and brilliant 

 in green and white, tower beyond. Through gaps 



