SMITHSONIAN-BREDIN EXPEDITION—SCHMITT 429 
daddy of all blue marlins must be the one caught off Bimini, June 19, 
1949, by Aksel Wichfield, on a 180-pound line. It weighed 742 pounds. 
REDONDA REVISITED 
Redonda is an isolated, precipitous, and forbidding rock on which 
Dr. Clarke and I had landed during the Smithsonian-Bredin Carib- 
bean Expedition of 1956. We were ashore but a few hours because 
the captain did not care to hazard anchoring in those deep and rocky 
waters, where winds and currents are unpredictable. We landed pri- 
marily to get samples of the phosphate deposit formerly mined here 
and to gather what littoral invertebrates I could in the time available, 
while Dr. Clarke climbed a steep gully leading to the top, to recon- 
noiter the rock’s insect life. This altogether too brief visit whetted our 
desire for another opportunity. This Captain Nicholson vouchsafed 
this year, but regrettably I could not personally avail myself of the 
offer because of the long-line trial that had to be made. We put Dr. 
Clarke ashore with his ight trap, insect collecting gear, and a bite to 
eat. We were not to pick him up until the next afternoon, although 
we could anchor under the lee of the rock for as long as possible after 
the day’s fishing. 
As Dr. Clarke recounts his visit: 
Landing on Redonda is uncertain, as I learned year before last. This year 
it was smoother than I had expected. The climb up went better, too, as last 
time I had unwittingly essayed the more difficult of the two accessible ravines— 
gullies, if you prefer. By getting ashore in the afternoon, I had ample time for 
investigating the top of this 1,000-foot-high pinnacle rock, the birds, the bugs, 
and the buildings before dark. There were also lots of little geckos about. The 
boobies all had nestlings, but most noteworthy among the feathered residents 
was the burrowing owl, Speotyto cunicularia amaura. Identified by Dr. Alex- 
ander Wetmore from my description of its appearance and plaintive call, this is 
a new record for the species. The cistern on top for collecting water in the 
phosphate-mining days is still in good condition, and still contains what can be 
regarded as potable water, though I was not moved to drink any of it. Of the 
former residence or dormitory, only walls and ceiling of the first floor remain. 
I spent the night in this shelter, except for frequent visits to my traps and my 
several bouts with rats. Geckos, which abounded on the walls of my shelter, 
were easily caught by picking them off the walls with the aid of a flashlight. 
There were also many large hermit crabs, Coenobita, about. They were largest 
of their kind I had ever seen—perhaps a giant race? Naturally I was chided 
the next day for not bringing a few down with me, even though this crab is 
about the most widely distributed crustacean in all the West Indies. My 
primary objective was to set my light trap on this isolated rock. This I success- 
fully achieved by hanging the light from the island’s only tree, an introduction 
on the island. The catch was meager, but I got a long series of the beetle genus 
Hymenorus, of the family Alleculidae, apparently attracted to the area by the 
foul-smelling, nitrogenous excrement of the sea birds. There is no previous 
record for this family for the West Indies. There were few insects attracted 
to the light, but in addition to the beetles about 20 species of Microlepidoptera 
have been sorted from that overnight catch. 
