/ol. XXIII NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1923 No. 6 TRAILING THE RHINOCEROS IGUANA IN SANTO DOMINGO One of the major objectives of the Angelo Heilprin Expedition of 1922 G. KINGSLEY NOBLE DOGS AS FISHERMEN A little-known habit that canines indulge in for sport, to obtain food, or in the service of man E. W. GUDGER A WASP THAT HUNTS CICADAS Episodes in the life history of Sphecius speciosus WILLIAM M. SAVIN "THE MOST WONDERFUL PLANT IN THE WORLD" With some hitherto unpublished correspondence of Charles Darwin regarding the insectivorous plant, Venus's flytrap FRANK MORTON JONES HOW ELEPHANTS ARE MOUNTED A chapter in the history of taxidermy FREDERIC A. LUCAS THE DEPARTMENT OF FISHES, AMERICAN MUSEUM Its aims and achievements BASHFORD DEAN TREASURE HOUSE OF SPAIN-MOUNTING HORSE SKELETONS TO EXEMPLIFY DIFFERENT GAITS AND ACTIONS W'mMJW 5 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN g Q MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (1 EXPLORATION RESEARCH-EDUCATION D. .G NNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $3.00 SINGLE COPIES 50 CENTS FREE TO MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATE MEMBERS OF THE MUSEUM NATUR L H TORY THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM DEVOTED TO NATURAL HISTORY. EXPLORATION. AND THE DEVELOP- MENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION THROUGH THE MUSEUM NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1923 [Published December, 1923] Volume XXIII, Number 6 C^opyright, 1923, by The Ameriran Museum of Natural History, Xew York, N. Y, . ^ V maq H ^ Jl ^ ml -^ Si ^^1 -<J CT ^Rl -^ f" \ -« •- "C s: u :. N — ^^ — — cl 3 -C «4-r Si c: Zi .. ^ c 1 o z: 1 '^ . *M •^ ^^ Q 1 J- 1 C-^ (— o ^ ^ ^ t*, K o ^ V V- .^ c ^ £ a c 2-S o £ 1 ^ cl -<-^ -«- '^ ' ocS^ — c -= B -*:: o tN « |.. o < 3 '^ ^ S c § 1 o -H fl E: 'J2 c3 (- o •Si C '•Jo z o EH -H ^ " ' M ^ »v^ c c — be a ii: c K O "3 ^ Doir exhibiti Santo on of placed aroas ly ,- t' ^^H " fc, ^ C 3 i t ^o F*« =S "Hi ^ S w v^ h~ -^ ? c c «J c cr ;_ •~i u ;j «— ^ ^^ X X O .c t t*H "€ J= o c eg- ^ "c . _ r =£ — ^ NATURAL HISTORY Vol-l MK XXIII iNOVKMUKK-Ul'AKMliKU .Nl MIlKK '» Trailing the Rhinoceros Iguana HOW rnK 1 ACTS iMn;si:NTi:i) in i hi; (ikoipoi -niiisi; i{i;i'riLi;s Kl•:(•^:^^I,^ INS'IAIJ.Kl) IN rHK \Mi:UI('AN MISKIM. W lilU! oU lAI NKI ) F\ IIIK riKLi) in nil: ancklo iikilpkin Kxi'KDrrioN Hv (;. KIX(;SLKV NOIM.K ( \>>«>(i!itf t iir.'iti'i 111 MtrpriolojfV ( In "li!irir»'). \rii(ri<:iii Mumiiih BLANC'HKI) cliffs of .jii^^mI cor- with iiiollusks and tropic fish in als shut ill on both sides the splendor and brilliancy of color. Later viscid waters of Lak(» Knri(}uillo. came an orogenic movement which I'lider the dazzlint]^ ^lare of a Domini- cut off the strait fiom its mother ocean can sun these waters have jiradually and transformed it into two large lakes. evaporated, turninj>; first from a brack- Enriquillo to the east and Saumatre ish solution to a brine, leaving behind to the west. Mountain streams poured miles and miles of scorching .so/ar/a-s fresh water into these lakes; the sea (salt plains) to dance in the broiling life died. With the tropical sun beat- heat. When the sun has reached its ing down from overhead, the water fullest intensity, great, dark-skinned gradually receded, leaving the skeletons lizards here and there slide out from of dead sea creatures ghastly white on the tunnels which they have clawed the parched plains. through these cliffs of coral limestone. This region has bet^i a valley of Wagging their ponderous heads in death ever since man can remember. mechanical-toy fashion, they gaze with At first avoided by the Lidians because seeming contentment upon their deso- of its sterility, it later became a refuge late world. for natives that had escaped from their A portion of this i-egion has been vSpanish masters. At one time, six represented in the rhinoceros iguana hundred such fugitives gathered about group recently placed on exhibition in the lake, and under the wise guidance the American Museum, for it was in the of their chieftain Enriquillo, defied the vicinity of this shrunken Lake Enri- Spanish for many years. At length a quillo that the Angelo Heilprin Expedi- treaty was made and the district turned tion first went to hunt these powerful into an Lidian reservation, soon to be saurians. Although fully equipped destroyed by Spanish treachery. and provided with two Ford cars, the Today a few natives still gain their expedition required a month of the living near the mountain streams which most difficult traveling to capture the flow into these ever-receding lakes. specimens exhibited and to ferret out One of the largest of these settlements, the secrets of their strange life. known as Duverge, had been selected During a part of the Pleistocene, as our first base in the search for the this whole region was under the sea. rhinoceros iguanas. Toward this vil- A great arm of the ocean then separated lage, accordingly, we directed our two southwestern Haiti from the rest of Fords one September morning in 1922. the island. Corals and sea fans vied In these small outlving settlements I 'Photograph> hy G. Kingsley Noble and Ruth Croshv Xnble .541 542 XATlhAL HI STORY the most intiuciitial man is ai)t to be bettei'. Instead of gc^ing in for religion, the one with the blackest reputation. he went in foi- Americanism as he con- In Duverge the villag'e chief was an ceived it and adopted all the trappings Armenian ex-lmndit who had adopted of civilization which went with it. the name of Juan Herrei-a. In the Di'awing upon his treasure chest he neigh})orin^ town of San Juan, the role bought a stiaw hat, a Ford car, and of leadei- had been assumed bj^ ''Papa even set up an electric light plant in Lavoria." The latter, dressed hke a his hacienda. The Marines wiseh^ gave Zoiiav(\, had instituted a religious sect, him an official title and let him wear a U ^i A> -.^^ -^lrry^ * EnriquillO; the dead sea.—No life can exist here except where some mountain stream has worked its way across the scorching plains to mingle with the saline waters. The feral pig in the distance has been startled by the approach of members of the Heilprin Expedition and had won sufficient fame to have revolver. The added prestige delighted a brand of rum named after him. Al- Juan. He set aside his best thatched though the U. S. Marines had come to hut as quarters for visiting [Marines oi Santo Domingo to drive out the bandits, for their American friends. Hence it they coidd not do so if the latter hap- came about that we were to be his pened to be the leading citizens. The guests while at Duverge. next best thing was to make friends Duverge proved to be a scattering with these marauders of high station, of dingy huts staggering about without and try to reform th(Mn. ''Papa La- reason on the arid plain between Lake voria" would not leform. His crimes Enriquillo and the Sierra de Bahoruco. continued imtil he was finally shot in The enormous load of palm thatch attempting a bold getaway. With which smothered each hut served as an .luan Heir<M-a diplomacy had worked index to the tei-rific h(\Mt wc were des- ruMi.iM, rill. uiiiMH h:ii(is im .\\.\ fA'A % k Duvergo, at the foot of tht- Sici-ra dc Halioruco, was made tlic first liasc in the hunt for flic rliinocoros iij;uana The customs house near Las Lajas on the Haitian-Dominican border, one of the few well-built houses in this region, was devastated by l)andit.s in 1919 and has remained in ruins ever since tined to withstand during the fol- a few miles away. Ashy forests of lowing weeks. cacti and tamarind growing in dense The morning after our arrival we profusion in the valleys crowded against went with two guides into the hills the base of these hills, but the rugged 544 NATURAL HISTORY The home of the rhinoceros iguana on the western shore of Lake Enriquillo. The burrow: are clawed through fossil corals sometimes for a length of forty feet slopes were only sparsely clothed with grown here had been scorched out o vegetation. One of the guides took the existence, leaving only their gnarlec lead and without looking to right or roots to twist and writhe among th( left moved swiftly across the hills in a sun-heated limestones. Here and ther( westerly direction. In this desert little clumps of organ cacti had sur region of Santo Domingo the rains fall vived by drawing close together, lik< only during a short season, but then so many soldiers withstanding a fina the downpour is so violent that it attack. The guide had stopped anc carves deep chasms in the hills. These was pointing at something far up ii the natives call arroyos (streams), the canon. At first I could see only th( although they are dry throughout most twisted roots of the dead trees. Grad of the year. As I scrambled along ually there took shape in the shadov over the hills, I felt myself gradually of one of the larger trunks the crest of j wilt. Dark blotches of perspiration rhinoceros iguana. Slowly the beas spread rapidh' over my khaki trousers. I'aised itself. His deep-set eyes starec My leather putties turned from tan to coldly in our direction.