IN THE PACIFIC. 233 



a fish scarcely inferior to a salmon in beauty 

 and excellence, also rock-cod, mullet, gard-fish, 

 Spanish-mackerel, and many others. 



Whilst we were fishing, the natives of the 

 place came down to the beach to see what 

 they could get. I never beheld such a 

 miserable, unwholesome-looking lot ; they all 

 appeared to be afflicted with the leprosy, and 

 one old woman seemed by the look of her 

 skin to be a kind of cross between a toad 

 and an iguana. We of course allowed them to 

 take as much fish as they wanted, as we had 

 enough and to spare, and after they were 

 satisfied, dogs, pelicans, and turkey- buzzards 

 also crowded to the feast. When we left the 

 bay the water was still covered with dead fish, 

 the refuse of our haul. 



From Pifias Bay we worked along the shore 

 to the northward, so as to take advantage of 

 the current which sets in that direction on the 

 eastern side of the Gulf; the water was smooth, 

 the breeze fresh, and the ship tore through the 

 water ten knots an hour. By sunset we had 



