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Haiti 12

Sealion 22.
Near the top of the pass on road between Fond Verettes and Bodarie. A sparse pine forest near the lower edge of the pine belt with the edge of the "jingle" on one side. Collecting here included the evening before, during, logs, and beating.
The sky began to cloud over while I was beating so I started back toward camp, working along the way. When I reached camp it was starting to rain and threatened more than a light shower. As the motor was parked in a situation hard to get out of in the wet when things would be slippery, I hurriedly packed and got back to the road. This was at eleven o'clock and as these seemed little chance of any more collecting in such weather, I decided to start home on the chance that I could get through. The road down the pass is all very rocky, so, in spite of a heavy downpour, was just as easily travelled as when dry. In ten minutes I was soaked through, including helmet and boots. The rain was so thick that it was impossible to tell what there was off to the east (where the [[Lagoda]] [[Enriquillo]] and mountains were).
The last ten miles into the Fond Verettes the rain stopped and my shirt started to dry in spots. I stopped for lunch and was entertained by the natives in the valley below, - unseen but loudly heard, as they called back and forth, apparently without purpose or meaning, and occasionally with a bit of song. There seemed to be little going on, so they were amusing themselves with making a joyful noise! I have frequently noticed on the road that the men give their orders to mules, horses, or oxen in a loud shout, repeated frequently and loud enough to be heard half a mile, but not angrily The entire region traversed seems to be limestone. On the pass there were many small sink holes a couple of feet in diameter and small undrained valleys were occasionally seen. Various colors of [[]] could be seen in road cuts but is mostly discoloured brown and unusually weathers into a reddish brown clay. This sail seems to be rather fertile, however, as the natives grow corn on hillsides where the sail is so thin as to leave the hill white from the exposed [[strikethrough]] lock [[/strikethrough]] rock which shows through.