Thomas Barbour and the Utowana voyages (1929-1934) in the West Indies

13 Pages·2001·7.3 MB·English

by  Robert W Henderson

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Bonnerzoologische Beiträge Band 52 (2003) Heft 3/4 Seiten 297-309 Bonn, November 2004
Thomas Barbour and the Utowäna Voyages (1929-1934) in the West Indies
Robert W. Henderson" & Robert Powell"'
Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
' Department ofBiology, Avila University, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Abstract. Between 1929 and 1934, Thomas BARBOUR made four voyages on the research yacht Utowana, owned by
Allison V. Armour. Three ofthe fourvoyages were centered in the West Indies, with the Bahamas, Hispaniola, and the
Lesser Antilles as primary geographic foci. Because ofthe ephemeral amount oftime spent on any one island, many of
the amphibian and reptilian specimens were accumulated by establishing "markets," whereby the locals at a particular
port were encouraged to collect and were subsequently paid for the specimens they brought to BARBOUR. Although this
technique resulted in a rapid accumulation ofspecimens, it often precluded firsthand encounters with the herpetofauna.
This subsequently led BARBOUR to make many misleading statements regarding the rarity ofcertain frogs and reptiles.
Despite accumulating many valuable collections, the Utowana expeditions resulted in the discovery ofonly six currently
recognized full species of West Indian frogs and squamate reptiles. This is a surprisingly low figure considering the
number ofspecies described subsequent to the Utowana voyages, but it undoubtedly reflects the method used for accu-
mulating specimens.
Key words. Allison ARMOUR, amphibians, reptiles, history ofherpetology.
/ am quite overwhelmed with emotion and I have to lean landfalls, however, still can be reached only by
master an overwhelmingfeeling of nostalgia which is boat. Fifty and more years ago, however, herpetological
engendered when I attempt to write about our voyages exploration in the West Indies was dependent solely on
on the Utowana. boat transportation to reach all but a few large islands.
Thomas Barbour, 1945 Herein we appraise voyages made in 1929-1934 on, ar-
guably, the most famous research vessel used in herpe-
tological explorations of the West Indies, the means
INTRODUCTION used to assemble the collections, and the man who as-
I.
sembled them.
Nowhere in the Western Hemisphere has herpetological Eyerdam (1954) provided the following account of
exploration had a longer history than in the West Indies. field work in the West Indies in 1927: "He seldom car-
It began, albeit with a focus on other goals, with CO- ried more than ... a machete, pocket knife, aneroid [ba-
LUMBUS'S first landfall in 1492, ostensibly on San Sal- rometer], and pack-sack; with blanket, a small pot to
vador (Watling's) Island in the Bahamas, where he un- boil tea, and enough sugar and biscuits to last two or
doubtedly observed reptiles that are no longer extant on
three days. For water, he depended mostly on what he
that island (e.g., Cyclura rileyi Stejneger, 1903; OLSON could find in the forest or get from natives. He always
et al. 1990). Columbus's writings (in Ma.ior 1870; spent the nights in native huts when in the mountains,
MORISON 1963) contained frequent references to turtles and enjoyed the cheerful hospitality of the people.
and iguanas (presumably marine turtles and Cyclura Sometimes he made the grievous mistake of not carry-
spp.), as do those of Gonzalo DE Oviedo (in Stou- ing enough water, when climbing a high mountain or
DEMIRE 1959), who lived in the Caribbean during 1512-
traversing an arid district; and several times he suffered
1557. Those early acknowledgments ofthe rich herpeto-
great hardship from this lack of precaution". Although
logical bounty of the West Indies set the stage for the
an accurate description of the travails that faced biolo-
subsequent systematic collecting that has been ongoing
gists working in the region during the early part ofthis
for about 300 years (WILLIAMS 1999), and which century, Eyerdam was not describing the efforts of a
continues to the present day. New species are being herpetologist, but instead those of Eric Ekman, the
discovered and described every year, especially on the noted Swedish botanist. Ekman was "fearless and dar-
G(rHeEaDtGerESA1n9t9i6l;lePaonweislllan&dsHeonfdeCrusboan a1n9d99,H2i0s0p3aan)i.ola ing," "used to hard marches," and came to know inti-
mately "nearly every valley and most ofthe moun-
. . .
Today, biologists intent on herpetological exploration tains and islands of Haiti and Cuba. He knew the
can fly to virtually all of the major islands in the West conditions and surroundings in detail". EKMAN died in
Indies, and many ofthe lesser ones as well. Many Antil- 1931 ofmalaria, contracted during his expeditions.
298 Bonner zoologische Beiträge 52 (2004)
In stark contrast to Ekman's Spartan approach to field Agassiz to the West Indies on The Blake in 1879. Sub-
work, picture, if you can, the opportunity provided by sequently, during 1887 and 1888, he published a series
access to a 70-meter-long (230-foot) yacht with a crew of significant contributions to the herpetological litera-
of 30 and a sailing radius of 12,000 miles (22,000 km). ture of the area, describing 18 species of lizards (16)
Picture further this vessel on the amazingly blue waters and snakes (2) that are recognized today (Powell &
of the Caribbean, going from the palm-lined shores of Henderson 1996a). Garman, known primarily for his
one sun-drenched island to those ofanother in search of work in ichthyology (Jordan & Barbour 1928), based
amphibians and reptiles. Living conditions aboard the his West Indian herpetological publications not only on
yacht are very comfortable, food is of gourmet quality, material he collected himself while on The Blake, but
yet laboratory space for specimen preparation is avail- also on specimens purchased from other collectors
able and an automobile is carried below deck for excur- (Garman 1887). Thomas Barbour worked with
sions on land. This was life on the Utowana, the ship on Garman for many years, and considered him an ex-
which Thomas Barbour (1884-1946) (Fig. 1), cer- traordinary character, but did not realize . . what an
tainly the most influential heipetologist working in the oddity he really was until after his death when I found
West Indies during the first halfofthe 20"' century, vis- in a cupboard in his room ajar full oflittle stickers bear-
ited many islands between 1929 and 1934. ing his name and address which he had cut from each
copy of the Nation more unsavory was anotherjar,
. . .
at least three feet high, which contained bits of bread,
the uneaten corners of the sandwiches which [he] had
brought for his lunches for years and years" (Barbour
1943).
The herpetological baton at Harvard passed from
Garman to Barbour around 1910, and the latter fig-
ured prominently in the history ofWest Indian herpetol-
ogy between 1910 and 1942 (POWELL & Henderson
1996; Williams 1999). He described 40 species ofAn-
tillean frogs (9), turtles (1), and squamates (30) recog-
nized today.
Although Barbour's research was not limited to a
West Indian focus (he published in excess of350 papers
on various aspects of biology; BiGELOW 1952), his
Antillean publications are those most frequently cited
today. His life has been given cursory examination
in several obituaries (BiGELOW 1952; Dunn 1946;
LOVERIDGE 1946) and historical overviews of West In-
dian herpetology (Henderson & Powell 2003; Pow-
ell & Henderson 1996a, 2003b; Williams 1999).
Despite his significant contributions to herpetology,
Barbour has sustained crificism, especially in the me-
thods he employed in securing specimens during field
work. He was born into wealth, maintained a com-
fortable lifestyle throughout his career, and perhaps it is
only fitting that someone with Barbour's social status
should have the opportunity to conduct some ofhis field
work from the comfort ofa yacht.
Fig. 1: Thomas Barbour (photograph courtesy of Kraig
Adler). ALLISON ARMOUR AND THE RESEARCH
3.
YACHT UTOWANA
THOMAS BARBOUR AND WEST INDIAN
2H.ERPETOLOGY Born in Chicago on 18 March 1863, Allison Armour
(Fig. 2) received a B. A. degree from Yale in 1884. He
Beginning with Samuel Garman (1843-1927), herpe- was married in 1885, but his wife died in France in
tology at Harvard College's Museum of Comparative 1890. According to David Fairchild (Barbour 1945),
Zoology (MCZ) has had a long history of field work in "Allison was the soul of courtesy towards ladies but
the West Indies. Garman accompanied Alexander I have always felt that the tragedy ofhis early marriage
Robert W. Henderson & RobertPowell: Thomas Barbour and the Utowana Voyages (1929-1934) 299
Fig. 3: The Utowana anchored off Castries. St. Lucia (Ernst
Fig. 2: Allison Armour (left) and Thomas Barbour on the Mayr Library ofthe Museum ofComparative Zoology, Har-
deck ofthe Utowana (photograph used with the permission of vard University. © President and Fellows ofHarvard College).
Louisa B. Parker).
expeditions was originally a tramp steamer that Ar-
prevented him from ever inarrying again". Once, as mour had converted into a luxurious floating laboratory
Fairchild and Armour drove through Nice, Armour at Göteborg, Sweden. She was 70.1 m (230 feet) long
m
pointed to a fashionable hotel on a cliff and remarked, by 10.3 (33 feet 10 inches) at the beam, and her
"There is where the light ofmy life went out". weight was 1,192,948 kg (1315 tons). She drew 3.35-
3.66 m (11-12 feet) draft and was provided with two
Barbour (1945) described Armour as "formal, almost
Atlas Diesel 500 H.P. engines capable ofspeeds ofup to
stiff, . . . and he moved and met people with a stately, 10.5 knots/hour (FAIRCHILD 1930; BARBOUR 1943).
rather old-fashioned dignity ... He was never a man
According to BARBOUR (1945), the main deck was big
who told a smutty story or indulged in any evidence of
and comfoitable, with a "roomy lounge forward and an
vulgarity. He was nevertheless one of the wittiest men
that I ever knew, a bom raconteur, with a background asiprayc,iocouosl,cadbiinnisngwistahlobnatahfst., Baenldoawfttherewwaesrethneinleabvoerray-
oftravel all over the world and a marvelously retentive . . .
tory, thoroughly equipped for all sorts of scientific
memory With all his apparent stiffness and formal-
. . . work. She was the last word in luxury in the sense that
ity, Allison had so warm a heart and such a deeply gen-
she was roomy and well furnished but there was nothing
erous nature that he made friends everywhere. His ap-
elaborate or gaudy about her equipment. She was built
parent stiffness was really a defense reaction for Allison
for work and not play. She carried a motorcar below the
was essentially a shy man". Barbour's daughter
decks which could be hoisted out through the old cargo
Louisa, a member of the 1934 Utowana voyage, de-
scribed Armour as "terribly generous, anything you'd hatch . . . and let down upon a dock with only a few
moments delay. As a means of collecting she was just
want, he'd get" (pers. comm. to RWH; 10 Aug 1999).
about perfect although, of course, there were many lo-
Thomas Barbour considered him "a distinguished epi-
calities where her depth kept her from getting near
cure, seriously interested in serving good food and good shore". FAIRCHILD (1930) recalled ARMOUR saying thaL
wine .", and Louisa Barbour (pers. comm. to RWH;
. . "he could victual her for a six months' cruise, that she
10 Aug 1999) observed that her father and ARMOUR
had tanks cairying 200 tons ofwater and enough oil for
"would eat anything". Despite an apparently fastidious
a cruising radius of 12,000 sea miles, and that there was
nature, Barbour concluded that Armour, "took a sin-
a crew on her of30 men". FAIRCHILD considered her "
cere interest in the somewhat messy pastimes which .
nothing short of a floating palace". This Utowana
were an inevitable concomitant of the imtnediate pres- . .
made its maiden voyage in 1925 when it was used in U.
ence of naturalists, and he was as keen to provide ade-
S. Department ofAgriculture-sponsored research under
quate facilities for the botanists as well as for the zoolo-
the direction of David FAIRCHILD (a friend of Ar-
gists .". Armour was an honorary member of the
New .Yo. rk Academy of Sciences and in 1931 was mour's), cruising as far east as Ceylon (now Sri
Lanka). Subsequent cruises took the Utowana and Ar-
awarded the Frank M. MEYER Medal by the American
mour to the Canary Islands and West Africa, again un-
Genetic Association. He died on 7 March 1941.
der the charge of FAIRCHILD and the U. S. Department
During his lifetime. Armour spent considerable time ofAgriculture for the purpose of botanical exploration.
cruising on a series ofboats, especially in European wa- Some 1,400 varieties of plants were collected and
ters. Prior to World War 1, he used a schooner-rigged brought back to the United States for study (ANONY-
vessel for archaeological research in North Africa. The MOUS 1941). Several expeditions via the Utowana were
yacht (Fig. 3) that carried Barbour on the West Indian made specifically to search for plants that had the poten-
300 Bonnerzoologische Beiträge 52 (2004)
tial for use in the southeastern United States, and the West Indian focus. Because so many people participated
Utowana made at least eight voyages in the service of in each of the voyages, it seems unlikely that any was
the U. S. Department of Agriculture. As of 16 April arranged specifically for Barbour.
1933, the Utowana had traveled 201,341 km (108,657
miles) and had made a total of369 stops at 199 ports in 4.1. Voyage of 1929 (Fig. 4).
56 countries (ANONYMOUS 1933). Although Barbour (1945) reported that his first voy-
Barbour's first experience on the Utowana apparently age on the Utowana comMmaeyncred at Nassau onMC15ZJanu-
ary, records at the Ernst Library at the state
occurred in 1928, and it was brief Nevertheless, he that the Utowana was in New London, Connecticut on
(Barbour 1945) "instantly saw the possibilities of the
15 January 1929, did not stop at Nassau, and went di-
yacht for zoological, as well as botanical collecting".
rectly from Miami to Havana. Regardless ofthe starting
Barbour's first research voyage on the Utowana oc-
curred in 1929 and, according to Barbour & Shreve date and port, according to BARBOUR, 'This enterprise
was not to be strictly either botanical or zoological. Our
(1935), the boat went out ofcommission sometime after
mutual friend, Charles Francis Adams, then Secretary
the 1934 West Indian cruise.
ofthe Navy, was anxious to obtain certain confidential
information concerning some of the Lesser Antilles".
THE VOYAGES
4. Therefore, aside from ARMOUR, the crew. Armour's
Between 1929 and 1934, Barbour participated in four nephew, and some additional friends, Barbour's ship-
voyages on the Utowana in order that he and other bi- mates included Navy Lt. E. E. DuvAL.
ologists could collect, but only three had a primarily
Miami
dep.2Feb.
WEST
INDIES
Habana
arr.3Feb
dep.5Feb.
St.Christopher
arr. 19Feb.
dep.21Feb.
arr.21Feb.
Port-au-Prince dep.22Feb.
arr.9Feb. Saba
dep 12Feb. arr. 19Feb. Antigua
dep. 19Feb. arr.23Feb.
dep.24Feb.
Nevis
Sto.Domingo arr.21 Feb.
Beata arr. 16Feb. dep.21 Feb.
dep. 17Feb.
arr. 14Feb. Guadeloupe
dep. 15Feb. arr.24Feb.
dep.25Feb.
Martinique
arr. 1 Mar.
dep,2Mar. St.Lucia
arr.2Mar.
1929 Voyage ofthe Utowana St.Vincent dep.5Mar.
arr.7Mar. Grenada Carriacou
dep.8Mar. arr.2Mar. arr.8Mar.
dep.5Mar dep.9Mar.
Tobago,Trinidad,andmainlandSouthAmerica
Fig. 4: Map ofthe route and itinerary ofthe 1929 Utowana West Indian voyage.
MCZ
Five days were spent in Cuba before the Utowana pro- heavy seas) before going to Hispaniola, but the
ceeded to Hispaniola. Again a discrepancy exists be- material states that the Utowana arrived in Port-au-
tween Barbour's (1945) account and that of the Ar- Prince on 9 February, and Navassa on 13 February. In
mour archives at the MCZ. According to BARBOUR, a Port-au-Prince, BARBOUR, already enamored with the
landing at Navassa was attempted (and thwarted by West Indies, was taken with the women going to mar-
RobertW. Henderson & Robert Powell: Thomas Barbour and the Utowana Voyages (1929-1934) 301
ket, ". . . the impression that will stand out as long as I were not other species which more or less intergrade
live will be the long lines ofwomen, bearing incredible with the general run ofthe species in this enormous ge-
burdens on their heads, pad-padding along the dusty nus, it might be set forth itselfas being generically dis-
roads on their way to market. They came from unbe- tinct (Barbour 1943).
lievable distances and look forward to much visiting and
After departing the West Indies, the Utowana and
chaffering after reaching their destination".
Barbour headed for South and Central America. At
Two subsequent days, 14 and 15 February, were spent Roatán in the Islas de la Bahía (Honduras), BARBOUR col-
at Isla Beata, situated offthe southwestern tip ofthe Ba- lected a series ofan undescribed anole that he subsequently
rahona Peninsula in the Dominican Republic. Here named Anolis allisoni Barbour, 1928 (now known also
Barbour collected Cyclura comiita (BonnateiTe, 1789) from Cuba), inhonorofhis hostaboardthe Utowana.
vaantdio"n.s. .mpardeesedruvreidnsgevtehrealv.is1ita,mangdladsuwbesedqiude,ntforonoebssera-s 4.2. Voyage of 1931.
well, forced the conclusion that they belong to a This voyage was largely devoted to working on the
doomed race [see below: page 306]. No young indi- Central American mainland, but brief sojoums in the
viduals were to be found and tracks in the sand showed Bahamas, Cuba, and the Swan Islands provided some
that feral cats, escaped from the camps of fishemien, West Indian flavor. Barbour's (1945) account of this
who go to Beata to dry fish or catch turtles, were re- voyage made no mention ofherpetological collecting.
sponsible" (BARBOUR 1945).
4.3. Voyage of 1933.
Following their sojourn on Hispaniola, the Utowana vis-
Barbour's second voyage on the Utowana with a
ited many ports in the Lesser Antilles (19 February-10
March). Despite not having previously collected on those strong West Indian focus began from Nassau on 16 Feb-
ruary. Besides Barbour, Armour, and crew, biologists
islands, Barbour apparently did little collecting. His ra- David Fairchild and James C. Greenway were
tionale was that the collections from the West Indies
in the Museum of Com. p.arative Zoology are extraordi- aboard. This voyage visited six sites in the Bahamas
(16-27 February), Haiti (28 February-4 March), Ja-
narily rich and varied, so that in many localities there
maica (5-11 March), Providencia (13-15 March), and
was nothing especially for me to do but see the sights.
This always gave me the greatest possible enjoyment. San Andrés (15-16 March). After a stop in the Canal
Zone (17-26 March), an ephemeral visit to Grand Cay-
Next to vigorous collecting in a new locality, nothing is
man (29 March) preceded a sojourn on Cuba. According
so interesting to the naturalist as the opportunity to see
to Barbour (1945), "This was a wholly charming voy-
those places from which he has studied material gathered
age. Most ofthe time the weather was ideal and as most
by other collectors" (BARBOUR 1945). He was pleased,
ofthe localities we visited were remote and little known
however, "to see the peculiar Anolis lizard [Anolis saba-
to naturalists, our booty was a rich one". BARBOUR de-
nus Garman, 1887] of Saba in life [February 19] ... I parted the Utowana at Cienfuegos, Cuba on 3 April, and
had sturdily held out for its distinctness on the basis of
remarked upon the conspicuous ". daily thanksgiving
coloration, which 1 will confess fades considerably after by my shamelessly worldly selffor.t.he delicious cuisine
tphreesaesrsvearttiioonn. wThhiechcriIttheardinmaldifee,"h(oawnedvewrh,icfhulsluybjsuesqtiufeinets for which the yacht was famed. I am ashamed to say I
began to gain weight badly during this voyage .".
workers in the West Indies have supported). . .
Barbour's (1945) account ofthis voyage makes almost
On Marie Galante (25-26 February), an island in the no mention ofcollecting herpetological material, but in-
Guadeloupean Archipelago, BARBOUR found Anolis fer- stead referred to Nye's Woodpecker on San Salvador,
reus (Cope, 1864) "surprisingly abundant... The types land shells on Fortune, Crooked, and Mariguana (= Ma-
were in the Agassiz Museum and had been collected by yaguana) islands, rodents on East Plana Cay, birds on
Samuel Garman while he was in the West Indies on the San Andres, "bullhorn acacias swarming with stinging
Blake in 1879, with Alexander AOASSIZ. Our series of ants" on Providencia, and "... a day collecting land
the specimens originally taken was somewhat depleted. shells to good advantage" on Grand Cayman. Only on
A number of museums had sought examples of this Mayaguana did he allude to collecting ". more new
. .
most peculiar creature, which is naturally hard to get lizards .".
. .
because Marie Galante is seldom visited. I took the op-
portunity to lay in a fresh supply" (Barbour 1945). 4.4. Voyage of 1934 (Fig. 5)
Barbour found it "strange that so many of these little Barbour's last voyage on the Utowana commenced in
islands which at first sight appeared to be but recently Nassau from 1-7 February. James C. GREENWAY was
separated from their larger neighbors should support so again on board, as was his wife Helen. The first landfall
many extraordinarily distinct lizards. "The Anolis of of herpetological significance was Great Inagua on 25-
Marie Galante is a truly beautiful lizard, and if there 27 February. GREENWAY swam from the yacht's launch
302 Bonner zoologische Beiträge 52 (2004)
to Sheep Cay, just offGreat Inagua, where he collected written, "I suspect that these [Epicrates and Alsophis']
a new boa (Epicrates relicquiis Barbour & Shreve, once were abundant all over Inagua and that they have
1935, now E. civysogaster relicquus) and a new been extirpated by the introduced vermin. At any rate as
racer {Alsophis viidii iitowanae Barbour & Shreve, far as I know no one ever found them on the large island
1935), . . which no doubt once occurred on Inagua it- and it has been visited by a number of naturalists"
self Now that island is so completely overrun with feral (Barbour 1943). Despite Barbour's gloomy view of
dogs and cats that the extermination ofthe two new spe- Inagua, both the boa and the racer subsequently were
cies he [Greenway] found still to exist on the Cay is collected there (Schwartz & Thomas 1975).
not really surprising" (BARBOUR 1945). In 1943, he had
Fig. 5: Map ofthe route and itinerary ofthe 1934 Uiowaiui West Indian voyage.
Apparently the locals on Mayaguana, Crooked Island, revisiting several islands for the benefit of Barbour's
nearby South Cay, and Fish Cay (off Acklin's Island) family.
"turned out to be keen collectors, and we got enormous
amounts of material. Birds, iguanas, and other lizards, After leaving the Bahamas, the yacht sailed south to-
butterflies, and land snails, fell to our 'bow and spear' in ward Hispaniola, stopping initially at Cap Haitien (30
quantities" (Barbour 1945). Returning to Nassau on 9 March). Subsequently, at íle de la Tortue (2 April), ". . .
March, the Greenways, who, in Barbour's (1945) the people were most industrious collectors and we got
words, were ". extremely efficient collectors", de- an unbelievable number of snakes, several of which
. .
parted the Utowana. ARMOUR and BARBOUR were then were new" (BARBOUR 1945). From there the expedition
joined by Froelich Rainey, an archaeologist from proceeded to Samana Bay (5 April) on the eastern coast
Yale's Peabody Museum, Barbour's wife Rosamond, of the Dominican Republic. BARBOUR waxed poetic
and his daughters Julia and Louisa. "My daughters are about this site (". an enchanting body ofwater, quite
. .
not interested in collecting in any form and neither they indescribable"), but made no mention ofcollecting. Af-
nor their mother are really comfortable in hot weather, ter Samana, the Utowana anchored at Isla Saona (8
but in spite of all this, I know that the ensuing voyage April), offthe southeastern coast ofthe Dominican Re-
remains for them a pleasant memory" (Barbour 1945). public [although Barbour (1943) erroneously stated
With the exception ofa stop in Miami on 18-21 March, that it was "off the coast of Haiti"]. "It is a rather flat,
the Utowana remained in the Bahamas until 30 March, uninteresting little island and I was not prepared for
Robert W. Henderson & RobertPowell: Thomas Barbour and the Utowana Voyages (1929-1934) 303
what I found. I knew that there was a high degree ofen- full of lizards. We sat for awhile on the porch of the
demicity on all these islands around the [Hispaniolan] pitiful little rectory, conversing in our pretty poor
coast. I knew, also, that Saona had never been visited by French, and with difficulty reimbursed the priest for the
anyone in search ofreptiles, so I walked around the con- money that he had dispensed among his flock for catch-
fines ofa small garden patch, knowing that this was the ing the lizards. We walked back down the hill, after a
sort of terrain where one might expect to find Ameiva long and wonderful day which neither Rosamond nor I
lizards. Lizards ofthis genus have a way ofsplitting up, will ever forget. I then climbed the long gangway on
so novelties may be expected. board the Utowana for the last time. I left her in Miami
on the 20"' ofApril, 1934" (BARBOUR 1945).
"I hunted a long time before I heard a noise in the dead
leaves. Ameiva lizards are anteaters and scratch with
their paws among the leaves, throwing them about in
their search for the insects which may be below them. I
approached the sound as stealthily as possible and could
scarcely believe my eyes when I saw a perfectly typical
Ameiva, and by the same token one utterly unlike any
of which I had ever seen ... It was lilac gray on the
back, washed with fawn color on the head and turning
to pale blue on the tail. A black band, beginning with
the eyes, ran along the side of the body and the tail,
which was azure blue beneath, while the undersurfaces
ofthe body were glaucous blue, suffused anteriorly with
cream color. The sides ofthe head were buffyellow. All
in all, it was one ofthe most beautiful and strikingly co-
lored reptiles which I have ever seen.
"I sent the specimen to Miss Cochran at the National
Museum in Washington, . . . although 1 fairly itched to
describe it myself I realized it was new the second 1
saw it ... and asked her if she would name it for my
wife" (Barbour 1943). Cochran described Ameiva
rosamondae Cochran, 1934 (now A. taeniiira rosamon-
dae; Fig. 6) in 1934, and noted that "Dr. BARBOUR saw
but two individuals ofthis beautiful species. They were
excessively shy and he secured the unique type with
great difficulty on account of its being almost impos-
sible to use a collecting gun in the very dense, thorny
scrub".
After a brief stop in Santo Domingo, the Utowana pro-
ceeded to Isla Beata on 1 1 April. There BARBOUR
(1945) ''wanted to make another search to see ifany but
We
adult iguanas [Cyclwa connifa] could be found.
hunted for young individuals once more in vain and
Fig. 6: Anicini lueiiiiiru rosaiiioiulae [Milwaukee Public Mu-
found the population of adults grown smaller". On 12 seum 18886] collected at Mano Juan, Isla Saona, Dominican
April the Utowana arrived at Ile-á-Vache off Haiti's Republic (photograph by Richard A. Sajdak).
southern coast. "Here the natives again outdid them-
selves and the number of reptiles secured during the
COLLECTING STRATEGY
couple of days we spent in a pretty anchorage between 5.
Isle Vache and the mainland was most satisfying" The collecting strategy usually employed by BARBOUR
(Barbour 1945). The departure from Íle-á-Vache and ar- during the Utowana expeditions has been criticized
rival at Anse á Galets, lie de la Gonäve occurred on the (e.g., Curtis 1947), yet it was an extremely efficient
next day. BARBOUR apparently left two buckets ofalco- means of accumulating long series of specimens of
hol with a local parish priest and then departed Gonäve some species in short periods of time, and one that has
the same day (13 April). After a sojourn in Port-au- been used to great advantage in the West Indies
Prince until 17 April, he returned to Gonäve and, upon by many contemporary herpetologists. The technique
arrival, found our two covered buckets of alcohol was to establish "markets" at different ports. BARBOUR
. .
304 Bonner zoologische Beiträge 52 (2004)
(1946) described the protocol: "If the harbor where the Bahamas we got big collections. You can do this in Ja-
Utowana came to anchor was uninhabited, there was maica, but not in Cuba.
nothing to do but scratch for ourselves Many of
these creatures [birds and lizards] were col. l.ec.ted with a We stopped on one occasion at Isle Tortue. I went ashore
.22 rifle, the cartridges being loaded with dust shot. in the morning and passed word around that we would be
When, as was usually the case, we anchored off a vil- back in the latter part of the afternoon prepared to pur-
lage in the Bahamas or one of the islands about Haiti, chase what might be forthcoming, explaining what we
we generally went ashore first to size up the population. wanted. I had a sack ofHaitian five-cent pieces on board
You must remember that all people who met us for the the yacht. We found that we got much better results from
tlrst time were entirely convinced we were crazy. I al- our collectors if we ourselves did not stay where they
ways carried a sack ofsmall coins, British or Haitian could watch us. It was so much more fun to stand and
. . .
These we would display freely and all and sundry would stare at strangers than it was to do anything else that the
be informed that we would buy living creatures of the temptation was quite overwhelming. But if we went
various groups of animals which we knew from long ashore in the morning and spread the news of what we
experience might reasonably be expected to be caught were prepared to do, then disappeared on board and
without doing the specimens too much damage. We hauled up the gangway, by the middle of the afternoon
would advise our helpers to roll stones over, and search we could go ashore and be overwhelmed by the rabble of
under banana trash and driftwood, seeking out the little men and women, boys and girls, with snakes and lizards
snakes and lizards that hide under such material. dangling at the ends of dozens of little lassoes which
they fashioned cunningly from shredded palm leaves".
"We carried cans,jars, and canvas sacks ofvarious sizes Barbour's daughter Louisa recalls going to Beata and
to lend out as containers - and, I may add, the tempta- Saona on "snake buying expeditions We went in on
. . .
tion to purloin these was often too great to withstand. the ship's 'port launch' which was shallow draughted
Usually we picked out a youngster, either a boy or a enough for us to get close to the beach. Swarms ofchil-
bright young girl, who could head up the collectors. If dren immediately waded out - holding their shirts up
they showed a willingness to scatter off into the brush almost over their heads, and obviously delighted at the
and go to work right away [we would collect also] . . . prospect of being paid I cent a foot for any snake they
If, however, . . . they simply persisted in standing about brought out for us. We went back to the Utowana - had
to stare, there was nothing to do but go back on the the usual absolutely delicious lunch - and then we re-
yacht . . . This, ofcourse, was not what we most wanted turned to the beach. There were swarms of children -
to do, but the point was to get the largest amount ofma- each clutching one or more sticks - to which were tied
terial in the shortest time possible. (with grass) a snake. My father of course was thril-
... It is essential to buy everything which is brought to led . . ." (in litt, to RWH; August 1999).
one by natives unless the quarry represents something
In the paper describing the material he obtained during
which in the beginning you have said very definitely the Bahamian portion of the 1934 voyage, Barbour
you did not want. Ifyou do not do this, your [collectors] elaborated on the market technique even more (Barbour
will think that you have not dealt fairly with them. They & Shreve 1935): "The repeated short visits to some of
cannot tell perfect specimens from damaged speci- the Bahama Islands and La Gonave [Haiti] are ac-
mens... When a laggard comes along with fifty addi- counted for by the fact that we knew ofresponsible per-
tional specimens of some species you have found to be sons at these points who were willing to take containers
really common, the temptation is to say, 'No, I don't and distribute cash rewards for specimens offlists given
want any more.' To do this is a fatally bad practice. them of forms especially desired. The Bahamian and
It is well to pay two to three times the price originally Haitian natives are excellent observers and ingenious
offered for something which turns out to be really rare. captors of lizards and the like. . . From every point of
Be careful, however, not to stress too much the search- view this is the most fruitful, as well as the most eco-
ing for rarities when they are not reasonably easy to nomical method ofcollecting from a vessel".
find. Discouragement often results ."
. . This technique has been used very successfully by her-
In Haiti, for example, Barbour (1943) explained, "We petologists working in the West Indies subsequent to
often had as many as a hundred people collecting for us. Barbour, and it is used today. Mention ofits effective-
In this way, on the islands that were populated of cour- ness has been made in Schwartz & Henderson
se, it was possible to secure in a few days as much ma- (1991), DUELLMAN et al. (1993), and HENDERSON &
terial as a single person could have gotten in a long stay, Powell (1999). One ofus (RWH) was instructed in the
so that while we stopped at innumerable different locali- most efficient methods for establishing reptile markets
ties during these voyages on the Utowana and never had by Albert SCHWARTZ (1923-1992), the most prolific de-
very much time at one place, all around Haiti and the scriber of West Indian frog and reptile taxa, and the