NO. 2 FRASER : SCIENTIFIC WORK, VELERO III, EASTERN PACIFIC 135 



Gulf of California — East Coast 

 Plates 60-64; Charts 63-69 



On the east coast of the Gulf of California, the Velero III has not 

 proceeded farther north than Rocky Point. From this point to the mouth 

 of the Colorado River the coast has been described by the Coast Pilot 

 thus: 



Beyond Shoal Point, the eastern entrance point of the Colorado River, the coast, 

 trending east-southeastward for a distance of 10 miles, is generally low, with here 

 and there a sandhill of moderate height. Shoal water extends off shore to distances 

 increasing from }£ mile, near Shoal Point, to 2 miles, at a position 10 miles farther 

 east-southeastward. 



Adair Bay is a wide indentation that is entirely open to the southward, and is 

 so filled with dangerous shifting shoals as to be impracticable for even the smallest 

 coasters. Its western limit lies 10 miles east-southeastward of Shoal Point, and 

 Rocky Bluff, the eastern limit, lies 35^ miles in the same direction from that point. 

 The coast recedes 10 miles from a line drawn between these two points. The shore 

 of the bay is low and sandy, with occasional rocky patches. Opening into the north- 

 ern part is a lagoon, at the entrance to which there are several drying sandspits 

 that project out 2 or 3 miles into the bay. Low plains with surface deposits of soda 

 extend far into the interior. Spring tides rise about 22 feet. 



From the bold Rocky Bluff the coast turns eastward for 5 miles to 

 Rocky Point, the stretch between being Rocky Point Bay, with a sandy 

 shore. There are dredging stations off Rocky Bluff and in Rocky Point 

 Bay, 4-12 fathoms, sand and mud, at one of which basketstars were ob- 

 tained. 



From Rocky Point the coast turns almost directly eastward for 22 

 miles and then southward to form the wide open Georges Bay, about 26 

 miles from point to point, with low, sandy shore. Lying 7 miles offshore 

 from the southern extremity of the bay is a high, barren rock, white with 

 guano, Georges Island, with small outlying rocks. On portions of the 

 shore there are large individual rocks, so that the shore might be described 

 as a very coarse shingle. Here some collecting has been done, and there 

 are dredging stations near the island. 



From the southern extremity of Georges Bay the coastal trend is 

 almost directly southward for more than 20 miles, when it gradually 

 swings eastward past the mouth of the San Ignacio River, 32 miles from 

 the southern extremity of Georges Bay, and then southward again to 

 Cape Tepoca, 18 miles from the mouth of the river. The northern part 

 of this coast is low and sandy, but the southern part is not so low. Cape 

 Tepoca is high near the tip, but lower farther back. A low, rocky point 



