CAPE SAN ANTONIO 183 



ever before seen this rare arboreal land-shell. 

 From the trees a few Ccpolis supertexta were 

 gathered but neither Lignus nor Cerion. Alto- 

 gether we took some fourteen or fifteen species 

 but only at the cost of hard labor, for land-shells 

 were scarce and still occupying dry-weather sta- 

 tions. This fact seemed to us remarkable for the 

 time of year and after so many daily rains. At 

 Pan de Azucar we had found all life to have taken 

 on its rainy season activities. Probably this lit- 

 tle strip of land is exceptionally dry during many 

 months of the year and it required more than 

 ordinary wetting to awaken the asstivating mollusk. 

 We wandered back about a mile finding no new 

 conditions. The heavy forest was not far beyond, 

 but this, we believed, could be more easily reached 

 from the lighthouse. Had it not been for the 

 generous use of an ointment which had been re- 

 commended to us by a well-known sporting goods 

 firm in New York, we could not have withstood 

 the mosquitoes of this region. It is not likely that 

 these pests are so bad during the dry winter 

 months, but at this time the hot moist air filled 

 them with energy and sapped it from us. They 

 would have devoured us had it not been for this 



