NO. 2 FRASER ! SCIENTIFIC WORK, VELERO III, EASTERN PACIFIC 97 



more temperate regions. Such changes are to be expected in such a great 

 extent of coast line, but the changes here are somewhat emphasized by the 

 general configuration. 



Following along the west coast of the Gulf from Cabo Falso, or Cape 

 San Lucas, at the entrance, to the mouth of the Colorado River, at the 

 head, consideration is given to the principal collecting locations. 



While Cabo Falso is the southern limit of Lower California, it is 

 little farther south than Cape San Lucas, 4 miles to the eastward. The 

 coast between consists of a succession of sandy beaches and forbidding 

 rocky bluffs. A gap in the hills connects one of these beaches, three quar- 

 ters of a mile westward of Cape San Lucas, with San Lucas Bay, to cut 

 off a high, steep, rocky mass which forms the tip of the Cape. Off this 

 there are a number of outlying rocks, in one of which there is a conspicu- 

 ous arch through which the sea rushes with great force. 



From Cape San Lucas, the coast turns abruptly northward, and then 

 eastward again to form the mile-wide San Lucas Bay, which provides a 

 safe anchorage from northwest winds, but is wholly exposed to the south- 

 east. Several species of commercial fish are plentiful here, and there is a 

 cannery in the village of San Lucas on the shore of the bay. There is one 

 dredging station off the mouth of the bay in 25 fathoms. 



Eastward from the sandy beach of San Lucas Bay, a rocky coast ex- 

 tends for 2 miles to Cabeza Ballena, a rocky headland rising almost ver- 

 tically from the water's edge. From the shore, reeflike, rocky ledges ex- 

 tend seaward, and on these there are some interesting tide pools from 

 which collections have been made. There is one dredging station north- 

 east of the point, close in, and one 3 miles farther to the northeast. 



From Cabeza Ballena, the coast continues without any definite ir- 

 regularity in a northeasterly direction for 10 miles to Palmilla Point. 

 Toward the center of this part there is a low, sandy beach, 2y 2 miles in 

 length, but the remainder of the shore is rocky. 



Palmilla Point, a low, bluff, rocky point, with numerous outlying 

 sunken rocks, is the western limit of San Jose del Cabo Bay, a shallow 

 bight extending for 9 miles to Gorda Point. The shore is rocky at both 

 ends of the bay, but the remainder, the greater portion, is a sandy beach. 

 The San Jose valley is one of the most fertile areas in Lower California. 

 The San Jose River empties into the bay, with San Jose village situated 

 on its bank, a mile from shore. There is a station on the rocky shore at 

 the west end of the sand beach. 



