98 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



leaves him somewhat unnerved, had befallen him. 

 He had just missed toppling over a height with a 

 sheer fall of fifty feet, having saved himself by 

 grasping a none too securely rooted tree which for 

 a moment threatened to go over with him. Before 

 fully recovering his equanimity and still hanging on 

 "by all fours" he suddenly found himself gazing 

 into the face of a maja or Cuban boa, — a not 

 altogether sweet-tempered serpent of 8 to 10 feet 

 in length. Simpson, who is not a herpetologist, 

 simply and tersely described the snake as a "big 

 one" which gave such unmistakable evidences of 

 displeasure at the interruption that his already 

 excited nerves received a supplemental jolt. 



Apparently all of the residents of El Punto were 

 awaiting our return to the inn to present us with all 

 manner of "curiosities" which they had gathered 

 during the day. There were many fresh-water 

 fishes and crustaceans and some interesting in- 

 sects, among which were fine specimens of the 

 large luminous beetle (Pyrophorus noctilucus L.). 



These wonderful beetles are altogether different 

 from the common North American firefly, and 

 while no doubt the light-producing processes in 

 both are the same, the two belong to quite distinct 



