Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 
13 
tal, ” it will be noticed, extends off to the northeast, and apparently 
disappears in a peninsula extending into the Caribbean, the Goajira 
Peninsula, named after its but slightly civilized and war-like native 
inhabitants. Just to the east of the mouth of the great Magdalena 
river will be seen on the map a high group of mountains, appar¬ 
ently not connected with the Cordillera Oriental, near which they 
are placed, and coming down very sharply to the sea. These are 
the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, reaching an elevation of over 
seventeen thousand feet and the highest slopes of which are perpet¬ 
ually snow covered, like the higher Andes. Separated from the 
eastern Andes, the Sierra Nevada, as the name is generally short¬ 
ened, is an island mountain mass, with a different geological his¬ 
tory and some marked differences in its animal life from the chains 
of the Andes. 
The animal life of this region has been investigated by a number 
of workers, usually interested in some special field of study, but 
outside of the vertebrate forms of life no more than a preliminary 
survey has been made. The work of a resident American zoologist, 
Mr. M. A. Carriker, Jr., and his encouragement and assistance to 
visiting student friends, have been very largely responsible for bring¬ 
ing to light many of the interesting things which have been dis¬ 
covered in the Santa Marta region. 
Late in June, 1920, the steamer “Santa Marta’’ of the United 
Fruit Company left New York bound for Santa Marta, and among 
its passengers were Mr. James A. G. Rehn, Assistant Curator of 
the Academy, Mr. Morgan Hebard, Research Associate, and Mr. 
Frank R. Mason, a member of this institution. Their purpose in 
going to Colombia was to study and secure collections of Orthoptera, 
Coleoptera, and other insects from representative localities in and 
near the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Calls at Kingston, 
Jamaica, Cristobal, Canal Zone, and Cartagena and Puerto Colom¬ 
bia, Colombia, ranging from one to three days, permitted some 
work to be done at each of these points. 
The opportunities to work at Cartagena and Puerto Colombia 
were particularly valuable to us, as thereby important comparative 
material was secured and studies made, both of these localities 
being in the arid Caribbean Faunal Area. Here cacti, aloes, thorn¬ 
bearing and mimosa-like bushes and trees, and other plants, lovers 
of dry soils, largely made up a dense scrub, which was still in part 
leafless on account of the delayed onset of the rainy season. 
