4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 134 
activity lessened with the depletion of the shell beds. Private holdings 
finally were acquired by the Government of Panama, and the island 
was set aside as the penal colony of the country. A plaque on the 
main guardhouse and cellblock at the headquarters records that this 
was done by President Porras in November 1919. The location of 
the headquarters, known as the Central, is below the base of Punta 
Damas in the northern rim of Bahia Damas. The seven outlying 
work camps are spread along the eastern side of the island from 
Aguja at the north end, opposite Isla Rancheria, to Playa Blanca at 
the southern end, a short distance west of Boca Grande. Only two, 
Catival and San Juan, located on the rivers of the same name, are 
inland. Extensive clearings for pasture and the planting of food 
crops have been made adjacent to these camps, the largest of these, 
embracing many hundred acres, extending from Punta Damas south 
to the Rio San Juan, and inland over the broad valley of that section. 
The cleared areas in general rise from the beaches back to the crest 
of the slopes of low hills, so that most of their area is visible from 
the sea, except for the interior of the San Juan Valley. Behind these 
there has been some logging for timber, but the great interior forests 
have not been touched. 
Trails, mainly near the shore, for travel on foot or by horse, con- 
nect the outlying camps with the Central, and pass back through the 
broad San Juan Valley. There is also one across to the opposite side 
of the island from Maria and Playa Blanca, traversing the lower 
elevation at the southern end of the island. During World War II 
radar detectors were installed on a 1,400-foot hill back of the San 
Juan Valley, with a camp located near Playa Hermosa. The tower 
was still visible at the time of my visit but the camp had been long 
abandoned. 
The impressive vegetative cover of Coiba is not appreciated until 
it is penetrated. I found an extensive stand of red mangroves at the 
mouths of the Catival and San Juan Rivers, and lesser tracts else- 
where. Behind these, at the rivers mentioned, there was swampy 
woodland, one of the common interesting trees being the alcornoque 
(Dimorphandra megistosperma) whose huge flattened, beanlike seeds 
measure up to 180 mm. in length. Near Playa Blanca I noted con- 
siderable numbers of manchineel growing in low, open groves along 
the beach. Plantings of coconut palms are extensive. 
Inland from the clearings the forest is unbroken, the great trees 
rising to such heights that loads for my shotgun, suitable for the 
largest birds, failed to reach hawks and pigeons in the higher 
branches. Only on the upper Rio Jaque in eastern Darién have I seen 
