1880 f February 11th 



Portof Spain, Trinidad, W. I. TRANSLATION 



Port of Spain, Island of Trinidad, West 

 Indies, February 11, 1880. 



Dear Doctor, 



Since I suffered from a painful swelling under my chin resulting from a bad 

 cold, I was not able to write you sooner, but now wish to answer your kind letter 

 of December l*fth. I am glad to know thaf you got rid of your rheumatism. Now, also 

 Lindheimer passed away. He reached an old age, lived longer than I believed. I saw 

 him in Houston in I859, but not again since then. 



The Cassytha of which I sent you a small sample looked in its habitat just 

 like a cuscuta, when not looked at too closely, so that I thought it was one without 

 examining it any further and sent it to you. I found it only in one locality, in 

 the Savannah of Aripo, 28 miles from here, not far from the area where, according 

 to the newspapers, namely on December 9th, a boa snake killed a man by squeezing 

 him to death. Workers in Agostini's cocoa plant, which I visit quite often, heard 

 his calls for help, but arrived too late to save the life of the man. Only after 

 the snake had been cut through in various places, could they free the body. It was 

 taken to the police station of Arima and as soon as I have time, I shall try to find 

 out more about this peculiar incident. 



We had a very dry October which good for collecting, but shortly before, I had 

 accepted a position as clerk at Prestoc's until he found somebody else. So I lost 

 the good collecting time. End of October, an exceptionally wet period set in which 

 lasted until January 2^-th. During forty-five days, from December 11th on, we did not 

 have one day without rain. The rain did not only last a short time and occurred at 

 certain times only, as it does in the usual rainy months of the summer, but fell 

 during all hours of the day and night. On several days, the sun did not come out at 

 all. So that the time which was supposed to be the dryest was the wettest which I 

 had lived through here and I could not make any botanical excursions until the end 

 of January. When the dry weather began, I started to make some excursions again, but 

 had to give up soon because of illness, that is a cold from which I am still suffering, 

 but I hope to be able to start again soon. I have not yet been able to find Peirescia 

 here. 



Cereus Peruvianus does not have blossoms or fruit at the present time, but I 

 shall try to collect those at the right time, if you wish. 



Some days ago, another ship arrived from Calcutta which brought 609 Indian 

 coolies to Trinidad. Three of such ships have arrived here every year. 



