12 



which offerred good collecting* Dick found some 

 fleshy fungi that were infested with Staphs and 

 I took a good series of Aphodiinae from and under 

 dung* The old foundation was very nice. It is just 

 one of many to be found on the island and dates back 

 to about 1835. After the freeing of the slaves the 

 economic life of the island was disrupted and many of 

 the planters returned to England* Termites probably 



Old cut stone foundation near Hope Bay* 



took care of the superstructure in a few years but the 

 stone work has stood. Plant life, mostly ferns, has 

 completely covered it so that its color blends perfectly 

 with the background* The larger fern seen in the pic- 

 ture is a maidenhair, not very different from our north- 

 ern species. 



As it was now late in the morning we started along 

 the road looking for a good spot for lunch. We finally 

 selected a place on the beach a few miles west of Port 

 Antonio. The north shore of Jamaica is certainly much 

 better for scenery than the south; the beaches are 

 clean and mostly white, there are many coves and, at 

 least in the east, few mangrove swamps. Shortly after 

 lunch we came into Port Antonio, once the main commer- 

 cial port of the east end of the island but now of quite 

 minor importance. For many years the United Fruit Co. 

 used Port Antonio and maintained a large tourist hotel 

 on the high ground just back of the town and harbor. The 

 hotel was closed for a few years and when opened it was 

 fpund that termites had riddled all of the furniture and 

 other woodwork. Later the building was destroyed by fire 

 which was probably a very good thing as the infested tim- 

 bers might have been transported to other parts of the 

 island, thus spreading the colony. We looked around the 

 town a bit, enjoying especially the various views of the 



