io6 Natural History Bulletin. 



had been sorely tried by the attitude of the officials and the 

 repeated visits of the native soldiery to our vessel. It was no 

 slight ordeal, moreover, to trust one's schooner to a piratical 

 looking Spaniard who couldn't speak a word of honest English 

 even to save a vessel. 



On the morning of Sunday, June 4th, Marquesas Buoy was 

 sighted, and the whole day was spent in beating against the 

 wind and current toward Key West. This strong current 

 setting westward was something of a surprise to us, as we 

 had expected the aid of the Gulf Stream at this time. The 

 westward flow is probably due largely to the backset or eddy 

 from the Gulf Stream moving in the opposite direction. This 

 westward, inshore current we found to vary considerably 

 during our stay along the Keys, being greatly affected by the 

 winds and tides. The various channels between the Keys 

 leading from the Gulf to the Atlantic side served to compli- 

 cate matters, so that the currents became a perplexing prob- 

 lem. The various '"rips" caused by these conflicting currents 

 would doubtless afford good collecting grounds for pelagic 

 material. As a general thing these currents flow from the 

 Atlantic to the Gulf side during^ the rise of the tide, and in the 

 opposite direction during its ebb. Late in the afternoon we 

 made Sand Key Light, near Key West, and stood off and on 

 all night, not being willing to risk running into the harbor 

 during the darkness. 



At 8:30 the next morning a pilot came aboard, one that 

 spoke good American and could give us the news, such as 

 there was. The charge for pilotage at Key West is three 

 dollars per foot for the draught of the vessel each ^^ay. If 

 the master of a vessel is willing to risk it without a pilot, he 

 can do so by pa3'ing one-half the regular pilotage for the 

 privilege. The tariff, therefore, for a vessel the size of ours 

 was eighteen dollars each way, with a pilot, or nine dollars 

 each way without. As we eventually found it necessary to 

 run into Key West a number of times, the pilotage would 

 have been a serious matter to our slender exchequer, had it 

 not been for the generosity of the Pilots' Association at Key 



