Jaradero 
November 24 
Bear Dr. Schmitt: 
The fine set of transparencies and the bolo ties arrived in 
perfect conditions some days ago, and I regret to have been so long 
in acknowledging your extreme kindness to us all. 
Needless to say the ’photos have been shown all around with 
a great deal of pride and have: been admired no, end by all who have 
seen them; they: really are professional and I can't begin to tell 
you how much I appreGiate having them. We are all delighted with 
our bolo ties, The children immediately rushed upstairs to put 
them ;:on and then forthwith- toured the neighborhood for proud 
inspection of their young friends ! 
Abelardo and myself have made our first dredging try on the 
north coast of Varadero, and the results have been astounding (at 
least /mollusk-wise. V/e found the bottom very rich at a depth of 
15 fathomp,; Gollecting a number of shells that I ara sure are as yet 
unrepbrted from Guba, Abelardo will probably be sending along to 
you at Some future date, the various forms of Crustacea taken. The 
bottom at -the depth mentioned is a rather coarse sandy one - the 
type We 'must endeavor to continue seeking out , as my dredge and the 
ppvTsr ly preci-udes any attempts at rocky or coral 
.hottbrash' ' "ASeiardb has how brought out his stereo microscope from 
Havana and is presently in the process of going over the sand taken 
for f prams. He informed me yesterday that although he has bniy 
scratched the surface ; he has so far some 40 Species set aside I 
We plan to go out again next Sunday, weather permitting, and make 
a trial in 40 fathoms. His general program here Is shaping Up 
nicely and his field lab in the: office basement ; is constantly 
receiving fresh material. He has still been Unable however to 
rent his Havana home, and as if to add insult to injury, it was 
v;lsited by burgiars last week; fortunately little was taken 
to report , , 
T f- 
m 
I have not yet heard from Dr. Rehder regarding what, in my 
humble opinion, cons tituted the 'highlights” of theshells taken 
on this year's expeditiQn, and look forward to hearing from^ him 
whenever he can find time to do so, Pleise tell him that within a 
day or so 1 will send him the Bursu- tenuisculpta that I had sent up 
to Tom McGinty for comparison.: ^ ^ i 
■ he : ' ; 'I ■ 
I am still in what might/referred to as a state of '’shock” 
over my elation at having been included among those fortunates who 
X'^ill make the next Smithsonian-Bredin trip. I am trying to dr e^ 
up some new type of mollusk trap; I don’t believe we need all tne 
bulk of those used at present. Will see what can be done. 
Old Man VJinter has still not made his first appearance of the 
year in Varadero. The office temperature was yesterday I! T 
must say we are all looking forward to some cooler weather which will 
no doubt be here soon. 
With repeated thanks to you for your generosity to the Finlay 
family, I remain 
