135 FISHES OF SINALOA 507 



SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE ON THE FISHES OF LA PAZ HARBOR. 



Mr. James A. Richardson, a member of the Hopkins 

 Expedition, spent two days at La Paz, the chief city of 

 Baja California, where he made a small collection of fishes'. 

 The work was done under very unfavorable conditions, as 

 La Paz has no fish market and its fish supply is obtained 

 by the spear and the hook and line. There is but one 

 seine at La Paz, a very old and rotten one, which was 

 rented by Mr. Richardson, as was also a parachute seine 

 and a small dip-net. Considering all the difficulties en- 

 countered, the list here given shows that the locality is 

 well worthy of a detailed exploration. 



Concerning the harbor of La Paz, Mr. Richardson has 

 the following notes : 



" The approach to La Paz estuary is guarded by several 

 large islands, uninhabited, wild and precipitous. The en- 

 trance to the estuary is very wide, apparently ten or fif- 

 teen miles, the general direction being north and south 

 and the length of the estuary about fifteen miles. The 

 estuary gradually narrows to about one mile at ten 

 miles from the entrance. As the steamer proceeds up 

 the estuary it is noticed that she hugs the left bank 

 closely. I was told that in all that breadth of water there 

 is but a very narrow channel, the balance of the space in 

 the estuary being of a sand formation, the sand bars com- 

 ing very near the surface of the water so that they can 

 be seen from the deck of the steamer. The steamer in 

 following the channel nearly doubles on itself occasion- 

 ally, and in the darkness of the night a boat is lowered 

 and a search is made for certain buoys. The left bank 

 is made up alternately of gravel beach and abrupt cliffs 

 all the way to La Paz. The country behind La Paz is 

 hilly and mountainous, of no value, covered with rocks 

 and cactus. The right bank opposite La Paz, as far as 



