25 



Hons err ate from Quint a 



containing two ,! azulejos n , 

 gray-blue birds about the 

 size of our catbird; one 

 of the other birds was a 

 mustard yellow and two were 

 dark blue. The bumblebees 

 (Bombus rubicundus) were 

 living in wooden box hives 

 that could be opened for 

 inspection. The lower part 

 was a drawer containing a 

 layer of charcoal with 

 sphagnum moss above it. The 

 charcoal was to inhibit the 

 growth of molds . The bees 

 were in a big lump of comb 

 and were very tame. The 

 hive had a flat top, with 

 wooden triangular supports 

 at each end for the two 

 slope tin roof. In a bot- 

 tom corner was a little 

 window, small enough to 

 keep in the queen but 

 large enough to let out the 



workers . One of the colonies was flourishing but the 

 other contained only specimens of Antherophagus , a 

 crypt ophagid beetle that is either parasitic or a com- 

 mensal in bumblebee nests. Osorno took us to his study, 



a small room without window 

 that opened off the second 

 patio; there were shelves of 

 books , some Japanese. 



Don Luis came in a taxi and 

 the four of us went to the 

 Quinta de Bolivar. In the 

 first room we found Dona Isabel 

 and the three daughters , Isa- 

 belita, 1 aria Teresa and Alicia. 

 The director escorted us through 

 the rooms of the house and took 

 us around the grounds and gave 

 us blossoms from the garden* 

 In the bedroom was Bolivar's 

 big mahogany bed, with a cruci- 

 fix on the head-board. We went 

 into the dining room where there 

 3 a long table and chairs . On 

 the back wall was a large paint- 

 ing of the army struggling to 

 cross the p&ramo of Cocuy, where 



i£l Libertador 



