154 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL. 1 



three of them. At a short distance offshore the three beaches appear to be 

 continuous. From 10 miles out to sea these bays are difficult to locate or 

 distinguish. In Tangola Tangola Bay there is a small island, Tangola 

 Tangola Island. The bottom is sandy out to a depth of 25 fathoms, after 

 which the sand is replaced by mud. A shore station on the rocky point and 

 3 dredging stations are located here. 



West of Tangola Tangola Bay, 23 miles, situated on a small bay, is 

 Port Angeles, the port of entry for the State of Oaxaca. 



Beginning between Port Angeles and Tangola Tangola Bay, there is 

 a long sweep of coast, northeastward, eastward, and southeastward, to 

 form the Gulf of Tehuantepec. The distance across the mouth of the 

 gulf, from Port Angeles to Suchiate Bar, where Mexico adjoins Guate- 

 mala, is about 250 miles. From such a line across the entrance to the 

 head of the gulf it is 65 miles. This head is 120 miles southward of the 

 southern shore of the Gulf of Mexico. From Salina Cruz the shore is a 

 continuous, sandy beach, often backed by lagoons. Although throughout 

 the whole of the Gulf there are few dangerous rocks, shoals, or obstruc- 

 tions, and although the sea bottom is even, deepening very gradually off- 

 shore, the effect of the strong winds coming across the trans-Mexican gap, 

 which forms the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which are felt for great dis- 

 tances out to sea, and the disturbance that these set up in the ocean cur- 

 rents in this region make the reputation of the Gulf of Tehuantepec any- 

 thing but savory. In the days of sailing vessels passage across the Gulf was 

 often hazardous, and even now, in the days of large steamships, it may be 

 an unpleasant experience. 



Salina Cruz, 55 miles east of Tangola Tangola Bay, the terminus of 

 the Tehuantepec Railroad, was a busy port at one time, but after the 

 completion of the Panama Canal it deteriorated badly. Apparently it is 

 now coming into its own again. 



The only collecting station in the whole Gulf is a dredging station, 

 20 miles offshore, State of Chiapas, 15° 41' North, 94° 08' West, in 35 

 fathoms, mud, where a catch of shrimps was the chief feature of the haul. 



