2 BULLETIN ISO, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



sea and has practically no vegetation. There are the remains of 

 some stone walls, perhaps abandoned huts, and a pole stands up off 

 a mound of rocks. Birds occur there in countless numbers, flying 

 over like swarming honeybees. Various members of the crew of the 

 Bushnell caught yellowfin tuna, barracuda, a rainbow runner, ca- 

 rangids, and red snappers off the reef of McKean Island. 



We arrived on Swains Island, latitude 11°03'35''' S., longitude 

 171°04'24'' AV., on May 3 and left again on May 10. The reef around 

 the island is 300 to 500 feet wide and nearly flat, but it has a little 

 elevation at the outer margin, which is deeply channeled so that the 

 reef is well drained at low tide. The channels are 50 to 100 feet long, 

 and the water coming through them spreads fanwise over the reef 

 at low tide. Between the channels the reef is elevated a foot or more 

 and deeply pitted with small holes that are occupied by live sea- 

 urchins, these varying from nearly white to dark purple. 



According to records kept by Mr. Jennings, owner of Swains 

 Island, the present population is 154, consisting of 44 girls, 29 boys. 

 44 men, and 37 women. 



Much of the vegetation w^as introduced from the Stimoan, Union, 

 and Gilbert Islands. Because of adequate rainfall. Swains Island 

 is a tropical paradise. The inhabitants live mostly on coconuts, 

 breadfruit, oranges, bananas, pigs, and chickens, supplemented by 

 fish. 



Copra, the dried meat of the coconut, is the main product exported 

 from this island. Each man on the island gathers and husks a cer- 

 tain number of coconuts each working day, and the women in the 

 village cut the meat out; it takes about one and one-half minutes to 

 remove the white meat, which is then laid out under a roof to dry. 

 Dried copra is packed and shipped a couple of times each year to 

 Honolulu. The women make mats from the pandanus leaves and 

 strings of beads from the tiny corals picked up on the beach. A 

 fresh-water lake or lagoon occupies the center of the island, around 

 the shores of which lives a small goby. 



The night of May 12 I spent on Canton Island, seining fishes in 

 the lagoon; May 13 gave me an opportunity to collect in a small 

 section of the widest shallow channel. 



The next day I landed on Enderbury Island through a bad surf and 

 over a rough reef. The reef of this island is 100 to 300 feet wide, 

 and channels and coral heads occur at the outer edge where the waves 

 break with great force. At night, with a flashlight, cowrie shells, 

 spiny lobsters, shovel-tailed and other crabs, certain fishes, and many 

 other species of animals can be found and captured. During the day 

 these creatures hide in the rock crevices. Leaving the island on 

 May 20, 1 was again on the Bushnell caring for specimens and dr3ang 

 plants and bird skins. 



