NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE 



261 



With the heavy rolHng of the vessel and with the high speeds 

 we were making, the extraneous water-noises in the microphones 

 of the depth-finder became very annoying — often obscuring the 

 echo entirely. Accordingly, we sent a radio message to the U. S. 

 Navy asking whether filter sections might not improve things. 

 They replied that a five-hundred-cycle filter might well end our 



Chamorro Houses near Agana, Guam 



Picturesque carabao or water-buffalo at work in the fields are seen as one drives over 

 the beautiful automobile roads. 



difficulty and two of these were ordered by our headquarters in 

 Washington. 



About this time a total eclipse of the sun was visible over this 

 part of the ocean but we were several days late in reaching the 

 proper zone. We had had so much cloudy and rainy weather 

 that it is doubtful whether we could have enjoyed the event in 

 any case. 



On May 19 we had our first sight of the Mariana Islands, Rota 



