Up to that moment he had never collected for himself. He now decided, on the suggestion imparted to him by the study of that rare specimen, to form a Cuban collection. Removing, in 1846, to the "Refugio" farm, one mile from Cardenas, he deposited there his collections, which had acquired great value, and freely exhibited them to the numerous visitors who were attracted to the spot. Six weeks of the year 1850 were spent at San Juan de los Perros, on the coast of Cardenas, in collecting vertebrates, articulates, and mollusks, while the fishes were left to Poey.
At this period Gundlach formed a number of valuable scientific acquaintances and friendships. Señor Bias du Bouchet, assessor of Cardenas, made several visits to the Refugio, and a close association was formed between the two. Going to reside in Havana, thirteen years after his arrival in Cuba, Gundlach for the first time met Felipe Poey, whom Dr. Manuel Presas styles the true inaugurator of the new era of Cuban science, and whom he had before known only by correspondence. The greeting between the two was a warm one—"Animœ pars" (Part of my soul), exclaimed Gundlach; "Dimidia meœ" (Half of mine), responded Poey—and was the beginning of an intimacy which was cordial and lasting. In Havana he found, too, Juan Lembeye, the ornithologist, author of a little treatise on the birds of the island of Cuba,[1] whom he had known since 1846; Ramon Forns, Principal of the "Santa Teresa" School, another ornithologist; Antonio Fabre, Francisco A. Sanvalle, and Dr. Manuel Gandul; and a very pleasant circle of naturalists was formed for profitable intercourse. Very fruitful expeditions were made in 1855 to the mountain called the Pan of Guajaibón; and the encouragement of this success was an important factor in the development of a plan for exploring the Island of Pines. Dr. Nicolás Gutierez, Patricio Paz, and Poey found the means to carry out the idea, it being agreed that they should pay all the expenses and share with Gundlach the scientific harvest. The riches thus acquired stimulated desire, and the project of a new expedition to the east of Cuba was formed, with a view to the collection of mollusks, and particularly of the Helix imperator.
Gundlach started on his journey alone in June, 1856, and prosecuted it with an earnestness that nothing could dampen, and a determination that overcame every obstacle of bad roads, dense thickets and foliage, mountain ranges, the burning heat of the day and the cold of the night, tropical showers, high, waters, and mud up to the neck, with all the hardships they could inflict
- ↑ A continuation of, or rather a supplement to, the Physical, Political, and Natural History of the Island of Cuba, published by Ramon de la Sagra, in which the part allotted to ornithology is edited by Alcides d'Orbigny.
