262 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
are still conspicuous in the higher inaccessible localities, while on the 
lowlands near the shores they have been cut down by thoughtless 
visitors in order to procure their fruit without the labor of climbing. 
We found one vigorous young cocoanut tree onthe beach in Chatham 
Bay at the time of our visit in the spring of 1891, the sole representa- 
tive of the hundreds which formerly stood in the immediate vicinity, 
affording grateful refreshment tothe exhausted or thirsty visitor. Tree- 
ferns were conspicuous; and every stump, rock, or trunk of tree was 
festooned with morning-glories. Pumpkin-vines, daisies, poke-berries, 
etc., gave a familiar air to the surroundings. 
Tradition credits the buecaneers with having buried vast amounts of 
treasure on the island, which, for some reason, they were unable to 
recover, and that fortune awaits the lucky finder of this hidden wealth, 
The truth of this tradition has been so thoroughly impressed upon the 
minds of men that expeditions have been dispatched from time to time, 
at considerable expense, to search for the treasure. A few huts in 
various stages of dilapidation remain as evidence of the periodical visits 
of these parties, and the pigs, which run wild on the island, may have 
descended from those carried there for food by the gold-hunters. A 
solitary donkey, which we found passing a lonely existence on the shores 
of Chatham Bay, may owe his presence there to the same source. 
Chatham Bay affords fairly good anchorage in fine weather, which is 
the rule, and is a convenient place to procure wood and water. Water 
Bay has the largest area of level land seen on the island, and several 
acres showed unmistakable evidence of having been cultivated. The 
anchorage, however, is open and exposed to heavy swells. We made 
a reconnaissance of the eastern shores of the island, which had not been 
charted, and sent a tracing to the U.S. Hydrographic Office. 
To Malpelo Island and return to Panama.—Leaving Cocos Island on 
the morning of March 1, a line of dredging stations was run 8. 54° E. 
true, about 300 miles, passing en route over the position of Rivade- 
neyra Shoal, the line of soundings crossing our line of 1888 without 
indicating shoal water or a decrease in the normal depth of the region. 
Turning to the northward and eastward from the extremity of the 
above line, observations were extended to Malpelo, the sea-bed being 
found remarkably level, shoaling regularly as the island was approached. 
We reached it on the morning of the 5th of March, made several hauls 
of the trawl in shoal water, and a little before noon lay to and sent a 
collecting party tothe island, which succeeded in capturing a number 
of birds, lizards, ete., but could not land. Fish lines were used in 50 
fathoms, but the waters were alive with sharks, which destroyed the 
gear as fast asit was put over. One large grouper represented the catch. 
From observations taken on the deck of this vessel the highest peak 
of Malpelo is in 3° 59’ 07” N. and 81° 34’ 27” W. It is a double- 
peaked volcanic rock with vertical sides, 846 feet in height, a mile in 
length and about a fourth of a mile wide, surrounded by detached rocks, 
