218 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
surface. The thin roof of the main chamber has a hole blasted into it, through 
which light reaches the water. The floor is of fallen rock, as in other caves 
The cave of Jaiguan, 2 or 3 miles east of Cajio, is a chamber 100 feet long by 
40 or 50 feet wide. It probably contains more water than any other cave visited, 
with the possible exception of Pedregales. There is an opening in the center of the 
roof affording considerable light. The entrance is a small sink hole at the edge of 
the cave, which is provided with steps cut in the rock. The roots of a tree reach 
from the central opening down to the water, a distance of 18 feet. The rootlets, 
very abundant here, were found to shelter many of the young blind fishes. In this 
cave is a central, rocky islet, formerly completely surrounded by water, as in Modes ta 
No. 1. A narrow bridge of rocks has been built, which unites it with the entrance 
to the cave. 
La Tranquilidad No. 1, in the Cauas region, 3 miles west of Ashton, is of the 
Modesto type. It is a large cave, entered only by means of a rope from an opening- 
in the roof 4 feet in diameter. The water here presents an extensive surface, but 
nowhere is it deep. Large specimens- were taken here. Side channels allow one to 
follow the water farther in this cave than in any other visited. The greater part of 
the cave is very dark. 
La Tranquilidad No. 2 is a small cave with much light. It is in the center of 
a large sink probably GOO feet in diameter. The water is not deep and is easily 
accessible to cattle and swine. The bottom is formed of very soft, deep mud. 
The number and species of fishes taken in these caves are listed under the head 
of the various species. In many of the cases 2 blind crustaceans, both of them new 
species, were found to be abundant. One of them is a very graceful Palsemonetes , 
the other, a Cirolana , is much more abundant and forms a large part of the food of 
the blind fishes. a 
My attention was called by Messrs. Wolfe and Hammond to the Pedregales caves 
near Alacranes in Matanzas Province, 60 miles east of the easternmost of the caves 
from which Pocy recorded blind fishes. They were visited more for the sake of 
visiting all the caves that might possibly contain blind fishes than with the expec- 
tation of finding any. When near these caves we inquired whether any of them 
contained fishes and were told “.yes, but they don’t amount to anything; they don’t 
have any eyes.” After this remark we felt thoroughly comfortable in a place where 
certainly nothing else contributed to comfort. 
Pedregales cave, about 3 miles from Alacranes, differs in some respects from the 
caves of the Cabas region. The cave slopes down as steeply as can conveniently be 
descended from a narrow opening, but once inside it widens out, descending continu- 
ally. The floor was formed of a section of a cone that recalls the central masses in 
the bell-shaped caves of Cahas. The floor and the roof were elaborately decorated 
with stalagmites and stalactites, some of them united and ranging from 3 feet in diame- 
ter to a fraction of an inch. These were pure white when broken, but tinted a red on 
the outside l>y the coral earth. When struck they gave out a clear bell-like tone, and 
the striking of various- sized columns by different members of the party produced a 
pleasing chime-like effect. Among the caves that 1 have visited this is approached 
in elaborateness of decoration only by the cave of the fairies in Colorado. 
aSee W. B. Hay, in U. S. Nat. Mu?., xxyi, pp. 429-435. 
