oii'i A it'liijj I’o 0 
forded us constant amusement during the journey. An hour 
spent in this delightful occupation, brought us to Mariana 
Creek.’ This was a channel about ten. feet wide, which, at a 
short distance away was scarcely observable. It was covered 
with mangroves, and reminded one very forcibly of the descrip- 
tions by Mayne Reid of the hiding places of Indians, in some cf 
the tales of our boyhood. 
We bad not proceeded far, however, before our olfactory 
nerves were considerably affected by the stench arising from a 
dead alligator, and all haste was made to pass this uninviting por- 
tion of the route. Further inland the creek narrowed somewhat 
and we passed through tracts of marshy lands covered with a 
luxuriant growtii of the '' Swamp Fern”* Acrostichum (Chryso) 
AUREUM, Linn. From the roots of a mangrove, some three feet 
above water, we collected plants of .Brassavola nodosa, Lindl. 
a fine white flowered orchid, which yielded such a delicate per- 
fume as to effectually banish the thoughts of the dead alligator 
we had recently passed. At the landing place I observed a fine 
specimen of a coniferous tree (Finds Cubensis ?) On enquiry 
I found this had been brought from Bluefields, on the Mos- 
quito Coast, and planted here by one of the settlers. 
On leaving the landing place we proceeded for some dis- 
tance on gradually rising ground, through some fine pasture 
land, a large tract of which was enclosed Avith fences constructed 
of barbed wire. Inside this enclosure were grazing a small herd 
of white and black-spotted cattle in splendid condition. They 
Avere small but beautifully proportioned, obtained — I learnt from 
our guides — from the Yalicnte” Indians who live on the main- 
land. 
Some half a mile onAA^ard Ave reached a cottage pleasantly 
situated on a knoll overlooking the sea, in the midst of a splen- 
did grove of cocoanut trees. We rested here aAvhile and then 
made our way to the adjacent provision fields. Here Avere found 
plantains, bananas, pumpkins, cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, &c., 
growing in the greatest profusion. The only enemy they ap- 
peared to have to contend Avith being the ^We-Ave,” or Umbrella 
Ant. This insect — although very destructive it is true- did 
not appear to affect the general results of the cultiA^ation — and 
the groves of Cacao on the outskirts of the field were in most 
instances untouched by it. 
We found large colonies of this insect in every district we 
traversed and it is Avithout doubt in a great measure due to the 
labours of these little creatures, assisted by the numerous land- 
crabs, that the probably once barren coral rocks Avhich form the 
foundation of these islands, are raised from sea level to become 
