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Cuba and Jamaica - 1937. 



Jan. 21-24. On board the United Fruit boat "Quirigua". 

 Left New York just after noon, in slight fog. Found 

 stateroom and roommate who is John McKeown, Winnetka, 

 111., a civil engineer (Univ. of Illinois, 1915). He 

 was an aviator in the last war and lost leg in crash 

 in France. Usual occupational facilities available, - 

 shuffleboard, deck quoits, putting, table tennis, 

 walking, sitting on deck, etc. 



The gulls which have followed us from New York 

 left our boat sometime during the night of the 22nd. 

 On the 23rd much Sargasso weed was visible, occurring 

 in large brown patches, some of which seemed to be as 

 much as a hundred feet across. Flying fishes were 

 also becoming common but were somewhat of a disappoint 

 ment because of their small size, the larger ones 

 being hardly more than a foot long. They volplane for 

 considerable distances and occasionally appear to run 

 up a wave for a new take-off after making a long 

 initial flight. 



Jan. 24. Docked at Habana at exactly 6 FM. Dr. Aguayo, 

 whom I had already met in Washington, came aboard with 

 the immigration authority. As soon as I received a 

 permit to land, we went ashore where we found S. C. 

 Bruner and L. C. Scaramuzza waiting. The four of us 

 went first to "Sloppy Joe's" for Daiquiri cocktails, 

 the a short sightseeing trip about Habana. Aguayo 

 chartered a ford , which is Cuban for taxi , to take 

 us along Prado and out El Malacon as far as Vedado 

 and then back to the restaurant r, El Patio", facing 

 on the Prado, for dinner. El Malecon is a very beau- 

 tiful boulevard or shore drive. It extends from La 

 Punta, which is the point of Isold extending toward 

 El Morro, west along the shore to beyond Vedado, in 

 all several miles. From La Punta in toward the center 

 of the city runs El Prado, a beautiful avenue with a 

 magnificent shaded terrace which divides the two lanes 

 of traffic. At the head of Prado stands the ornate 

 Capitolio, the seat of the Cuban government. 



Dinner at El Patio was excellent and bountiful; 

 I had fruit cup, soup, fish, steak, salad and coffee. 

 By the end of the salad course there was no room left 

 for the dessert, so it was omitted. It was 9.40 FM 

 when we left the table and we immediately started by 

 ford to call on Alex. Bierig, in Vedado. We found him 

 in and talked about beetles, especially Staphylinidae, 

 until nearly midnight. Bierig is an artist and 



