DEPARTMENT OE MARINE BIOLOGY- IO7 



On behalf of the Department of Marine Biology, it is a pleasure to ex- 

 press our gratitude for and appreciation of the courteous kindness of His 

 Excellency Sir William Grey-Wilson, who, as governor-in-council, permitted 

 the expedition to carry out scientific dredgings among the Bahama Islands 

 and to collect specimens of the frigate birds on Cay Verde. 



Our voyage among the Bahamas proved to be the most adventurous the 

 yacht has yet encountered. On April i, 1907, a strong southerly gale forced 

 us into a harbor of refuge under the lee of Elbers Cay, about 50 miles 

 southeast of Nassau. The sun was about to set when, on the northern 

 horizon, vast masses of black clouds suddenly arose, driving before them 

 the heavy breakers of the oncoming storm, and in an instant the wind re- 

 versed and we found ourselves dragging anchors toward the rocks of a coral 

 reef. With all haste we got the yacht under way. It proved impossible 

 to steam up into the gathering storm, and we had no choice but to scud 

 before it; "jumping" a bar with less depth than our draft, and sailing out 

 between the jagged masses of rock, we reached the open water, where we met 

 the roughest sea the Physalia had encountered since she was launched. At 

 midnight the naphtha-tank burst, through the excessive rolling of the vessel, 

 and, with all lights out and only an electric "candle" held close to the bin- 

 nacle, we went on through the night under storm sails, and when the morn- 

 ing broke we were more than 100 miles away from our former anchorage. 

 A large bark foundered near us in this storm, and a yacht larger than the 

 Physalia, which left Miami with us, was never again heard from. How- 

 ever, the Physalia returned to Miami in excellent condition, her seaworthy 

 qualities having been thoroughly tested. 



Messrs. Chapman and Shiras remained on Cay Verde from April 8 to 

 12, inclusive, and obtained a complete series of specimens of the young sea- 

 birds and a large number of photographs illustrating their nesting habits. 

 The results of these studies will be published by Mr. Chapman and are 

 briefly referred to in his preliminary report presented herewith. A practical 

 result of the expedition will be the construction of a "group" in the American 

 Museum illustrating the nesting habits of the frigate birds and gannets of 

 the Bahamas. 



An actuating motive which prompted the setting out of the expedition 

 was that for the past three years the pelagic tours at Tortugas, Florida, have 

 been very poor in comparison with those of 1897-99. Accordingly, between 

 March 15 and July 31, 1907, the laboratory vessels cruised over 2,000 miles, 

 making frequent surface and intermediate hauls, but everywhere we met 

 with uniformly poor success. As these tours covered the wide region beyond 

 the Columbus Bank to the Tongue of the Ocean, and on both sides of the 

 Oulf Stream, and along the Barrier Reef of Florida to Tortugas, it is evi- 

 dent that the poverty of pelagic forms is not local and peculiar to the Tortu- 

 gas, but is widespread and cyclical. It appears that the whole pelagic fauna 



