8 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



purpose of outfitting an expedition to the Tres Marias. A letter to the 

 collector of customs at San Bias, kindly furnished me by the Mexican 

 Minister in Washington, the late Don Matias Romero, proved of the 

 greatest service. The collector of customs rendered every assistance 

 in his power, including the loan of a large open boat 25 feet long, and 

 a letter to his deputy which secured us very pleasant quarters in the 

 custom house on Maria Madre. While preparations for the trip were 

 in progress a party from Socorro, ST. Mex., consisting of Prof. C. L. 

 Herrick, his son Harry, and Dr. T. S. Maltby arrived at San Bias, also 

 bound for the Tres Marias, and we made the trip together. On the 

 evening of April 28 the boat crept out of the lagoon, and by the aid of 

 a faint land breeze edged slowly off shore. The islands came in sight 

 the next morning, but it was impossible to reach them for several days, 

 owing to calms, head winds, and the lack of a keel to the boat. The 

 stock of water was on the point of exhaustion when Maria Madre was 

 finally reached, three days later, on the afternoon of May 2. 



The landing was made at the settlement at the head of a shallow 

 bay on the east side of the island. Our letters secured a cordial 

 welcome from the customs inspector and the agent of the owner of the 

 islands. In a couple of hours the outfit was snugly installed on the 

 broad upper verandas of the custom house, where our headquarters 

 were located. Collections were made near this place, the island trav- 

 ersed both on foot and horseback, and on May 20 a boat trip was made 

 to the north end of the island and across to San Jnanito. On May 23 

 the party returned to the settlement, and two days later proceeded to 

 Maria Magdalena, where camp was made near the beach for four days. 

 On May 29 we crossed to Maria Cleofa, where we remained two days, 

 and then started, May 31, on the return to the mainland. The wind was 

 fair, and a quick trip was made, San Bias being reached on the evening 

 of June 1. 



When Colonel Grayson visited the islands, in 1865, he found a settle- 

 ment on Maria Madre, but the other islands uninhabited. In the 

 spring of 1897 there was a branch custom-house, with three inspectors, 

 at the main settlement on Maria Madre, which had supervision of the 

 shipment of salt and Spanish cedar. The settlement contained about 

 twenty-five families, all of whom, except the customs inspectors, were 

 in the service of the owner of the islands, Sefiora Gil de Azcona, 

 who lived in the city of Tepic, on the mainland. In May and June 

 the workmen are employed in salt-making at a lagoon near the south 

 point of the island, where there is a small group of houses. The rest 

 of the year they are occupied in cutting cedar and hauling it to the 

 beach for shipment. The available supply of this valuable timber is 

 now approaching exhaustion. Subsequent to Grayson's visit a settle- 

 ment of woodcutters was made on the northeast side of Maria Magda- 

 lena, and a number of houses were built and a field cleared. We 

 found the place deserted, the houses in ruins, and the field overgrown 

 with thorny bushes. 



