Viewing page 59 of 75

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

In the cave were living many of the large [[strikethrough]] bat [[/strikethrough]] fruit eating bats. [[strikethrough]] Artibeus [[/strikethrough]] (Artibeus carpolegus). They kept in the holes in the roof near the entrance where they could be seen readily from below and none were found in the dark interior.


in a great variety of forms among which the white cloth-like folds like huge curtains were especially beautiful. In the mouth of this cave a native hermit lived for many years, cultivating a patch of corn on the steep slopes close by- The town is at an alt. of about 800 ft. & at 900 ft. on adjacent slopes of the mt. is a straggling growth of pines of the kind sent in as no. of my bot. coll- It is lower here than I have seen it at any other place so far. In the mouth of the canon of a small stream [[strikethrough]] her [[/strikethrough]] flowing out of the mts. here are a few bananas & some small coffee trees under their shade. These coffee trees do not appear very vigorous. This part of the Isthm. while being a little more rainy than about Tehuantepec is still very dry & crops are often lost for lack of rain. For this reason these people have made ranches for corn & coffee back a few miles in the mts. where we will go for a few days.

Two specimens of the little opossum described from here have been secured by getting the people to hunt them. They have spent much time & finally secured them. Like all the small opossums these are active little creatures & show no signs of feigning dead. On the contrary they bite at everything offered & try constantly to escape. Gray foxes are very common here but other mammals of all kinds are rather scarce. The men here are well supplied with shotguns and hunt deer at night by means of a dark-lantern fixed on a hat.