46 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



not at least one party in the field, and the steady- 

 acquisition of specimens necessitated constant 

 work aboard, sorting, preserving, packing, and 

 otherwise caring for the catch. Many of the 

 specimens required unusual care and attention, 

 such as those needing expanding by narcotizing. 

 All material brought in called for immediate 

 attention, and often the entire force worked far 

 into the night in order to be able to "start at the 

 beginning" the next day. When collecting was 

 good we scarcely took time to inspect our speci- 

 mens, so great was the hurry to save them. It 

 was in this continuous scramble for results, this 

 never-ending work, that we found keenest delight 

 and abounding health. 



In the afternoon great storm-clouds enveloped 

 the mountains and a chilly wind from the north- 

 east, the regular trade, whipped the open "bay" of 

 Esperanza into a white-capped flutter causing the 

 launches to dance a veritable rumba astern of the 

 more steady lying schooner. Dr. Torre was 

 engaged forward in a conspiracy involving ice and 

 the grinding of a freezer, so that evening, when 

 Captain Eduardo Tapia, captain of a Cuban 

 revenue cutter, came aboard, resplendent in his 



