666 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [62] 



April 13, a haul with tangle at station 2651 (97 fathoms), and with 

 ship's dredge at station 2652 (140 fathoms), brought up a few gorgonian 

 corals, barnacles, and mollusks. 



On the 14th two boobies were shot, just after daylight, on Booby 

 Bocks, and later we lauded on Green Cay. The white-headed pigeons, 

 Columba leucocephala, were very abundant, but extremely shy, always 

 Hying out of thick foliage, and taking great care to put the tree between 

 you and themselves. We shot a number of small birds and found a 

 lizard, Lioeephalus carinatus, extremely abundant. 



In the pores of the limestone, near the salt-pond, were quartered im- 

 mense soldier-crabs, and under the bushes in the grassy swales in the 

 interior, were hundreds of laud-hermits crawling about. On the salt 

 pond we started three Bahama ducks and saw several winter yellow- 

 legs. 



In the afternoon we took a haul with beam trawl at station 2053 

 (1,000 fathoms), and found a bottom of coral ooze with no apparent 

 animal life. 



On the 15th we anchored in Southwest Bay, New Providence, and 

 had to wait till the 21st for the bar at Nassau to become passable. 



During this time the country was well hunted over and a number of 

 birds taken. 



From the ship fish could be plainly seen moving about on the bottom, 

 and several species were captured on hand-lines. 



On the 17th Mr. Townsend and I walked to Nassau aud shot several 

 birds on our way through the pine woods. 



Our secoud stay at Nassau, April 21 to 30, was pretty much a repe- 

 tition of our former work, though we added a few species to our col- 

 lection of birds, and nearly doubled our collection of fish. 



We left Nassau April 30 and reached Washington on May 10. 



On the way north we took twenty-three hauls with the beam trawl 

 and three with the tangle — stations 2654 to 2679 (263 to 731 fathoms). 

 We added many valuable specimens to our collection of deep-sea fish 

 aud invertebrates, several large hauls of coral being of special interest. 



At station 2655 one porpoise, Tursiops tursio, was taken, of interest 

 from his nearly uniform dark color. At station 2656 eight sharks, Car- 

 charhinus lamia, were taken with hook and line. Porpoise blood had 

 been draining from the scuppers all day, and when we put over the 

 electric light in the evening the water was literally alive with these 

 sharks. 



Throughout the entire cruise the electric light was used for surface 

 collecting whenever there was an opportunity, and, while among the 

 Bahamas, many interesting forms of fish and invertebrates were taken, 

 as well as at several stations during our run north. 



The Albatross lay in Washington till June 30, when we started for 

 Wood's Holl. 



July 15 we left Wood's Holl. Mr. Benedict was in charge of the sci- 

 entific department, assisted by Mr. Sanderson Smith and myself. 



