ig8 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



which resembles too closely in appearance a huge 

 rat to be wholly acceptable as a playmate. 



The large rodents, as a New World product, at- 

 tained their maximum development a very long 

 time ago, during the middle Tertiary. Since that 

 remote time the group has been a steadily diminish- 

 ing one, and the extensive land areas over which 

 they ranged have undergone many changes. Cap- 

 romys is likely a stranded remnant upon the Antilles, 

 and its ancestral connections are difficult to trace. 

 It is a living twig upon a large spreading tree that 

 is slowly dying. 



Reptilian life in such a forest is no doubt very 

 abundant, but we saw less of it. Two snakes, 

 hubos (Alsophis angulijer) were captured by 

 Rodriguez, who was well bitten by one of them 

 before it could be placed in the bag. The name 

 "hubo" is applied by the Cubans to almost any 

 medium-sized snake which is not a young boa. 

 This particular one is a very common species 

 throughout the island and is a lively rather than 

 a vicious reptile. A curious habit noticed about 

 it is the tactics employed to avoid capture. In- 

 stead of gliding away it is more liable to make 

 directly for you and in the resulting confusion 



