2G2 REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



are still conspicuous iu the higher inaccessible localities, while on the 

 lowlands near the shores they have been cut down by thoughtless 

 visitors in order to procure their fruit without the labor of climbing. 

 We found one vigorous young cocoanut tree on the beach iu Chatham 

 Bay at the time of our visit in the spring of 1<S9I, the sole representa- 

 tive of the hundreds which formerly stood iu the immediate vicinity, 

 affording grateiul refreshment to the exhausted or thirsty visitor. Tree- 

 ferns were conspicuous: and every stump, rock, or trunk of tree was 

 festooned with morning-glories. Pumpkin-vines, daisies, poke-berries, 

 etc., gave a familiar air to the surroundings. 



Tradition ciedits the buccaneers with having buried vast amounts of 

 treasure on the island, which, for some reason, they were unable to 

 recover, and that fortune awaits the lucky finder of this hidden wealth. 

 The truth of this tradition has been so thoroughly impressed upon the 

 minds of men that expeditions have been dispatched from time to time, 

 at considerable expense, to search for the treasure. A few huts in 

 various stages of dilapidation remain as evidence of the periodical visits 

 of these parties, and the pigs, which run wild on the island, may have 

 descended from those carried there for food by the gold-hunters. A 

 solitary donkey, which we found i)assing a lonely existence on the shores 

 of Chatham Bay, may owe his presence there to the same source. 



Chatham Bay affords fairly good anchorage in fine weather, which is 

 the rule, and is a convenient place to procure wood and water. Wafer 

 Bay has the largest area of level land seen on the island, and several 

 acres showed unmistakable evidence of having been cultivated. The 

 anchorage, however, is open and exjjosed to heavy swells. We made 

 a reconnaissance of the eastern shores of the island, which had not been 

 charted, and sent a tracing to the U. S. Hydrographic Office. 



To Malpelo Inland and return to Panama, — Leaving Cocos Island on 

 the morning of March 1, a line of dredging stations was run S. 54° E. 

 true, about 300 miles, passing en route over the position of Eivade- 

 neyra Shoal, the line of soundings crossing our line of 1888 without 

 indi(;ating shoal water or a decrease in the normal depth of the region. 

 Turning to the northward and eastward from the extremity of the 

 above line, observations were extended to Malpelo, the sea bed being- 

 found remarkably level, shoaling regularly as the island was approached. 

 We reached it on the morning of the 5th of March, made several hauls 

 of the trawl in shoal water, and a little before noon lay to and sent a 

 collecting party to the island, which succeeded in capturing a number 

 of birds, lizards, etc., but could not land. Fish lines were used in 50 

 fathoms, but the waters were alive with sharks, which destroyed the 

 gear as fast as it was put over. One large grouper represented the catch. 



From observations taken on the deck of this vessel the highest peak 

 of Malpelo is in 3° 50' 07" N. and 81° 34' 27" W. It is a double- 

 peaked volcanic rock with vertical sides, 84(> feet in height, a mile in 

 length and about a fourth of a fuile wide, surrounded by detached rocks, 



