408 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



gated spines, and a tiny creature like a swordfish with two pale-blue 

 spots in the back, besides brilliant flyingfish of several species, 

 a half-beak with pectorals as long as a flyingfish, many small Cory- 

 pha?nap, and so on. Also six tiny squids, and sagittae, Halobates, 

 lanthina. 



Noon position: Lat. 5° 49' N: Long. 82° 46' W. 



May 4th. Crossing Panama Bay all day. Busily cleaning laboratory 

 in preparation for many visitors expected when we dock. The place 

 looks unholily neat. 



Noon position: Lat. 7° 13' N: Long. 80° 20' W. 



May 5th. Reached Balboa at 8 a. m. and tied up to Pier 16. Spent 

 five days preparing for another six weeks in the Pacific. Find from 

 our letters and newspaper clippings that we were lost to the world 

 for ten days, but as we did not know it, we were not worried. We 

 did realize that we could not pick up any wireless station, nor even 

 relay through another ship, but did not think anyone would be excited 

 about it. 



May 10th. Left Balboa wharf about 2 a. m., and anchored down 

 the bay. Two essential firemen had deserted, so we removed temp- 

 tation from the rest by lying well away from shore while the agent 

 rounded up substitutes. These were dragged aboard at 6:30 in the 

 evening, and we started for Cocos Island. Four submarines steamed 

 past us, homeward bound under a golden sky. 



May 11th. A grey day, passing the Panama coast, with its jungle- 

 clad mountains. Tide rips and heavy swells about Cape Marlato. 

 Water rich in life, great schools of mackerel leaping, and feeding on 

 smaller fish, while hundreds of shearwaters circle low and swiftly just 

 above the water. Caught a twenty-two pound tunny on spoon from 

 boom. 



Dragged a meter net at 8 p. m. and got about twenty Myctophids, 

 many small jellies, numerous Phyllosoma, and a fair amount of pale 

 pink plankton. A pail in the end of a small otter trawl caught noth- 

 ing. The fish in meter net were 7 Mycfophum laternafum, 11 Mycto- 

 phum affinis, 3 Myctophum coccoi, 2 Myctophum hv/mboldti, 5 larval 

 fish, 2 large Leptocephalus (135 and 200 mm. long) and 2 small 

 flounders. 



Noon position: Lat. 7° 10' N: Long. 80° 18' W. 



May 12th. Calm as a mirror, with a circle of blue-black rain-clouds 

 around the horizon before sunrise and lines of rain showing here 

 and there. 



In evening attempted to make four fifteen-minute hauls with meter 

 net from 6 to 7 p. m., but had to stop after second one because of 

 the mass of Ctenophores (Mnemiopsis) which filled the nets with gal- 

 lons of almost solid jelly. Only two or three very small fish in the 

 mass. At this time we passed a small current rip running north and 



