38 Director s Annual Report. 



inhabited islands, and omitting a few barren rocks near it, the 

 chain is composed, in the order mentioned, of Nihoa, Necker, 

 French Frigates Shoal, Gardner, Laysan, Lisianski, Midway and 

 Ocean Islands, together with various sunken rocks and reefs. 

 Midway' lies something over 1000 miles west by north from Hono- 

 lulu (28° 12' 22" N., 177° 22' 20" w.), and is, as its name implies, 

 near the geographical centre of the North Pacific. 



For the ornithologist, interest centres about the pelagic birds 

 which make these low coral islands their home, no less than 

 about the migratory species which have established themselves as 

 regular visitors. But such stragglers as may from time to time 

 come ashore as ocean waifs on such out of the wa}- places should 

 always be recorded as a fact having an important bearing on the 

 range and distribution of the species in question. 



Narrative. 

 The return voyage from Marcus (24° 14' n., 154° E.) was begun 

 August 7. August 19 we crossed the 180° meridian and decided 

 to stand down for Midway, since we were then less than 400 miles 

 to the northwest of it. At 10 a. m., August 21, we sighted Sand, 

 the larger of the two islets of the Midway group. When approach- 

 ing the island from the north, as we did, or indeed from any direc- 

 tion, Sand is always the first island sighted. It is visible at a 

 distance of not more than fifteen miles as a shimmering white strip 

 along the horizon. On a nearer approach breakers can be seen on 

 the reef surrounding it. By passing out well around the western 

 end of the breakers our little vessel came safely to anchor in blue 

 water off the wide, shallow opening in the northwest part of the 

 reef. A boat was lowered and we began a row of more than four 

 miles to shore. Landing on Sand Island we pulled our boat up on 

 the beach in a little cove fronting on Wells Harbor, and went at 

 once to the sailors' cabin close hy . This cabin was built 3'ears 

 ago from beach wood and wreckage, and has been rebuilt several 

 times since to form shelter for shipwrecked crews that have gone 

 ashore there. We found no signs of recent occupants, other than 

 the cast-off garments of the colony of Japanese bird-poachers, to 

 whose work of destrudtion I shall later refer. From the cabin we 

 went to the high sand pile marked on the accompanying plan by a 

 flag, in order to gather from that point of vantage the relation ex- 

 isting between the two islets and the surrounding reef. 



[292] 



