68 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL. 1 



picked up on deck, about 50 miles offshore, slightly south of San Juanico 

 Bay. 



From Cape San Lazaro the coast trends southeastward for 3% miles 

 to Hughes Point, the northwest boundary of Santa Maria Bay, with an 

 entrance width of 7% miles, to Cape Corso, its southwest boundary. 

 From this entrance, the bay extends 4% miles to the northeastward. A 

 narrow strip of sand beach serves as its east coast and separates the bay 

 from Magdalena Bay. 



Cape Corso is the northern extremity of a narrow peninsula that ex- 

 tends to the southeast 9 miles to Entrada Point, to separate all but the 

 southern portion of Magdalena Bay from the open ocean. Its open coast 

 consists of a series of rocky points separated by sandy beaches. The south- 

 ern portion of this bay and its southern extension through Marcy Chan- 

 nel, Almejas Bay, are separated from the open sea by the large island, 

 Santa Margarita, 21 miles long and as much as 4y 2 miles wide. It is bold 

 and rocky at each end but low and sandy in the central portion. The 

 northwestern tip is Redondo Point, and the southeastern is Point Tosco. 



Although the entrance to Magdalena Bay, from Entrada Point to 

 Redondo Point, is only 3 miles wide, the bay is large, 17 miles by 12 

 miles. Most of the coast is low and sandy, with numerous lagoons, shoals, 

 and sandbars. This is true of Almejas Bay as well. 



Considerable dredging and shore collecting have been done in and off 

 Santa Maria Bay, particularly in the vicinity of Hughes Point. There are 

 one dredging station 8 miles off the entrance to Magdalena Bay in 81 

 fathoms and two off Point Tosco in 15 and in 45 fathoms. 



From Point Tosco to Cabo Falso, the southern extremity of Lower 

 California, approximately 130 miles, the coast line is regular with no 

 significant indentations. Most of the minute dents appear where the ar- 

 royos meet the sea. For the first hundred miles the coast and the imme- 

 diate background are low, rather frequently cut with arroyos. At Lobos 

 Point, near-by low hills begin to appear and the sand beaches are broken 

 by rocky or sandy bluffs; this condition is continued to Cabo Falso. In 

 this area also there are distinctive arroyos. The shelf out to the 100- 

 fathom line continues wide until within 50 miles from the extremity of 

 the peninsula and then abruptly contracts to 1 to 3 miles. 



There has been little collecting in all of this vast area, but directly 

 west of Cabo Falso, 14 miles, rising from the deeper water to a minimum 

 depth of 50 fathoms and consisting of 3 patches, is the area known as San 

 Jaime Bank, which has been explored to some extent. 



