I heard, no bird singing whatever and no sound of 
insects. The latter seemed scarce. I saw very few house 
flies, one small butterfly and a bee of some kind. 
A Lizard which looked like our Chameleon was clinging 
to the wall in a garden and I caught glimpses of others of 
larger size along the roadside. 
As we steamed away from St. Thomas at 3 P. M. on our 
way to St. Croix, we had a fine view of the western and 
southern coast and mountain slopes. At a distance of a mile 
or two from shore the whole face of the country looked 
brown ox yellowish brown with a few dots or belts of green. 
A few white birds, perhaps Royal Terns, were flying 
about the harbor but none of them came nearer than half-a- 
mile and I could not identify them. 
Perhaps the prettiest bits we saw on shore this 
morning were the walled-in courts and gardens with their 
palms, lime trees and yucca-like plants. These, seen through 
low, broad arches which opened on the street, were singularly 
picturesque but more oriental than American-tropical, as it 
seemed to me 
