12 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM BOTANY, VOL. 2. 



that night and all the following day, during which we lay hove to 

 about 25 miles from the coast. 



Monday night was spent in discomfort until about five in the 

 morning, when the wind died down though the sea remained 

 extremely rough and choppy. At eight o'clock we shaped our 

 course as true as dead reckoning admitted, for the Alacran Shoals 

 and spent the day searching for them. Circling sea-birds finally in- 

 dicated their presence, and an hour later we dropped anchor in com- 

 paratively quiet water under the lee of Perez Island where we spent 

 the night. 



Mr. Armour accompanied me ashore before sunrise (March 8th), 

 where a thorough canvass was made of every plant species (1738- 

 1757}. Later the entire party visited the other islets: Pajaros (1758- 

 1764), Chica aud Allison (1766-1771), collecting and photographing, 

 and shooting snipe for the larder. 



The sea was too heavy to permit landing at the northernmost islet 

 of the shoal, so we drew away from the dangerous waters as evening 

 fell, and shaped our course almost due north for the jetties of the 

 Mississippi. 



With a strong wind and all plain sail set we averaged 8*4 knots 

 through the night, increasing to 10 knots during the following morn- 

 ing and 14 in the afternoon, when at five o'clock a sudden and fright- 

 ful shock thrilled the ship. Had we found rocks in water known to 

 be 1,500 fathoms deep ! We rushed to the rail and found the sea 

 brown with blood; we had struck a sleeping whale full broadside, 

 evidently wounding him severely. He rose astern accompanied by 

 his mate, where both blew and sank. The shock must have weak- 

 ened our fore top-mast, for an hour later it broke short off at the 

 masthead and went by the board. 



In this crippled condition, but without further accident, we entered 

 the Mississippi at 2:30 on the afternoon of the loth of March, and 

 steaming up the 100 miles of river during the night, reached the dock 

 at New Orleans at 7 A. M., March nth, our eventful and profitable 

 cruise ended. 



The foregoing outline is chiefly intended to fix the dates and 

 extent of time devoted to each collecting station, and to give some 

 slight idea of the weather conditions that prevail in the Antilles at 

 this season of the year. A detailed account of the work and obser- 

 vations made of existing conditions at each locality will be issued as a 

 second part of this publication, which will also include the plates and 

 indices. 



