1894
Feb. 24
(No 3)
St. Croix
sounds I heard positively nothing save a single
distant, bell-like bird voice on the mountain slope.
Do not birds sing here and where were the insect
voices?
  Butterflies were common but nowhere numerous. We
saw four species, three new to me and very tropical
looking, the fourth one common Cabbage Butterfly.
  I saw two Hawks flying high, one soaring over
the crest of the mountain ridge, the other crossing
a valley among the hills. Both looked like Falcons
and one was probably Falco sparverius.
  One of the passengers, who has just returned from
a drive across the island, tells me that he saw a
Mongoose and a Deer. The latter animal is said
to be numerous.
  I nearly caught a small Mouse which started up
under foot among some vines by the roadside and
eluded me by merely taking one or two short hops
whenever I put out my hand. The creature was of
about the size and nearly the color of our White-footed
Mouse. I am very sure that it was not a House Mouse.
  Perhaps the most impressive experience that I
have had thus far was that of my first sight of
tropical fishes in the market place this noon. There
were perhaps 100 fishes laid out in the sun on the
sidewalk. There were scarce two alike and they
were more beautiful than birds, flowers, insects