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[[underlined]] Houma to Baton Rouge May 16 [[/underlined]], Sunday. [[underlined]] May 17 [[/underlined]] Packed our specimens and made out report. Thompson went to Mr. Herbert Bartons place 4 miles from Houma and caught 87 bats - Nyctonomys. Said there were some thousands of them on the rafters and in cracks of the roof of Mr. Bartons stable. Worked till after midnight to get our things packed and ready for an early morning train. [[underlined]] May 17 [[/underlined]] Left Houma at 7:20 A.M. Thompson went to La Fayette, La. & I came as far as New Orleans on my way to Washington, Miss. and Have to wait till [[strikethrough]] f [[/strikethrough]] morning for a train. The boats do not go till day - after tomorrow. Stopped at the St. Charles Hotel Went out to the lake and did some writing. [[underlined]] May 18 [[/underlined]] Left New Orleans at 8 A.M. Crossed the river and went up to Port Allen on the 7 P.R.R., then crossed to Baton Rogue and had to wait till dark for train to Natchez. The R.R. is washed out.
Transcription Notes:
Nyctonomys = Vernon probably means Nyctinomus a bat genus. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Charles_Hotel,_New_Orleans for info on hotel he stayed in in New Orleans. -@siobhanleachman