1916.] Townsend, Voyage of (he 'Albatross' in 1911. 445 



industry did not appear to be a flourishing one although lobsters were 

 abundant. The method of transportation makes it difficult to carry the 

 catch through alive. The lobsters were transported in crates, a halfway 

 stop being made at San Quentin to revive the lobsters by lowering the crates 

 into the water over night. This species has always been taken in limited 

 quantities in southern California, but the local supply is not large. 



The lobster resources of Lower California could be utilized at less expense 

 if regular steamer shipping facilities were available. The lonely, almost 

 waterless shores of the Peninsula are seldom visited, and there is doubtless 

 considerable difficulty in getting fishermen to remain for long periods in the 

 isolated camps. 



San Bartolome is apparently the only point in Lower California where a 

 lobster fishery is carried on, and the work there appears to be intermittent. 



Green Turtle (Chelonia virgata). — This species is found in abundance on 

 both sides of the Peninsula. There is probably no better place for obtain- 

 ing turtles than San Bartolome Bay. According to the fishermen located 

 there, turtles are present during most of the year, being inside the bay 

 chiefly during the winter months. They are reported to haul out on the 

 beaches for egg laying in April and May. A few were being sent to market, 

 but there appeared to be little demand for them. 



When the 'Albatross' visited San Bartolome on April 11, 1889, a very 

 remarkable catch of green turtle was made. The U. S. S. ' Ranger ' was there 

 at the same time and a seining party was made up consisting of members 

 of the crew of that vessel and of the 'Albatross.' In a single haul of a 

 seine 600 feet long we brought to shore 162 green turtles,, many of them 

 of large size. Probably half as many more escaped from the seine before 

 it could be beached; there being a continual loss by turtles crawling over 

 the cork lines during the entire time we were hauling it. The great bulk 

 of this catch was, of course, liberated, although both vessels took on board 

 all that could be used. There are doubtless other bays around the Penin- 

 sula which are frequented by turtles at the egg laying season and where 

 large numbers might be obtained by seining. 



Turtles are plentiful in the Gulf of California, and the 'Albatross' 

 obtained specimens in the vicinity of Willard Bay, on the Peninsula near 

 the head of the Gulf in 1889. During the present cruise, we found deserted 

 turtle camps and an abundance of turtle shells at Tiburon and other islands 

 in the Gulf. Turtles are said to abound near the mouth of the Rio Colorado 

 where their eggs are deposited in the sands. The inhabitants of the Penin- 

 sula seem to have no difficulty in obtaining a supply of them. Turtles are 

 sometimes shipped to San Francisco by steamer from Magdalena Bay. 



Hciwksbill or Tortoise-shell Turtle (Eretmochelys squamata). — The hawks- 



