50 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL. 1 



The Voyages of Velero HI 



Since the launching of the Velero III in the summer of 1931, use has 

 been made of her to explore the shore and coastal waters of the Pacific 

 coast of the Americas, from the Golden Gate, San Francisco, California, 

 37° 49' North, 122° 29' West, to Port San Juan, Pern, 15° 20' South, 

 75° 10' West, a distance of over 4,500 miles ; and, if the coast of the Gulf 

 of California is included, as it must be, 1,500 miles should be added. 

 Most of the continental islands have been visited, as well as the oceanic 

 islands, the Revilla Gigedo group (Socorro and Clarion), Clipperton, 

 Cocos, and the several islands of the Galapagos Archipelago. 



Thrown in, as an extra that cannot readily be included in the Pacific 

 Expeditions, was a cruise in 1939 through the Panama Canal, east along 

 the coasts of Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Guianas, to the 

 Island of Trinidad and Tobago Island. 



Although, particularly in the later expeditions, the main objective has 

 been oceanographic and, especially, biological, abundant opportunity has 

 been provided to collect material and data concerning terrestrial organ- 

 isms and to observe the habits, customs, arts, and handicrafts of the na- 

 tives that inhabit the countries bordering on these shores. This account, 

 however, will be almost entirely restricted to the oceanographic work. 



On the first expedition, December 3, 1931, to February 27, 1932, the 

 first stop was made at Mazatlan, Mexico, from which the mainland 

 coast line was traversed to Balboa, Canal Zone, hence to the Galapagos 

 Islands and back to Balboa. The return trip was made by way of Cocos 

 Island, up the west coast to the Gulf of California, along the west shore 

 of the Gulf as far as Espiritu Santo Island, then back to port, after calling 

 at Cedros Island on the way. (Expedition Chart 1 ) 



The main object of this expedition was to obtain live animals — verte- 

 brates — for the San Diego Zoological Gardens. There was no special 

 equipment aboard for making any collections of marine invertebrates. 

 Some such collecting was done in addition to collecting of terrestrial 

 species. Insects on land and such shore forms as Crustacea and Mollusks 

 served as a beginning of the collections that have since become so exten- 

 sive, although this collecting was largely incidental. 



The second expedition, December 29, 1932, to March 23, 1933, 

 touched first at Tenacatita, Mexico, passed down the coast to Balboa by 

 way of Malpelo Island to La Libertad, Ecuador, across to the Galapagos 

 Islands by way of Cocos Island back to Balboa, then northwestward 

 along the coast to the home port without entering the Gulf of California. 

 (Expedition Chart 2) 



