LOS ARROYOS 139 



for dry clothes, rest, supper, and bed, and some- 

 times they are ready for bed without the pre- 

 liminaries. 



About noon, the Havana steamer, the Antolin 

 Collado, an ancient side-wheeler, napped into 

 port, but alas, brought us no mail. 



Vicious-looking chubascos gathered about shortly 

 after midday, and a hot moisture-laden wind 

 sapped our energies already depleted by the long 

 morning's work. Later, the wind shifted to a land 

 breeze blowing cool and fragrant with the scent 

 of trees and bearing to us strains of the curious 

 Cuban music that was probably a part of the day's 

 merrymaking in Arroyos. The effect of a drop 

 in temperature was like wine. Everyone pulled 

 himself together and found something to do. The 

 chickens in the coops forward ceased drooping; 

 Simpson began to pace the deck impatient to 

 get busy, and making uncomplimentary remarks 

 about the Spanish- American weakness for fiestas. 

 Lesmes awoke and began repairing his traps. 

 Unable to stand further inaction under the stimu- 

 lus of the cooler air, a dredging party went out in 

 the launch, now restored, and made a series of 

 very successful hauls in two to three fathoms, off 



