NO. 2 FRASER : SCIENTIFIC WORK, VELERO III, EASTERN PACIFIC 161 



Panama. There is a small island, Isla Burica, lying about % mile off the 

 point and connected with it by a reef. 



Before leaving Costa Rica, it might be well to consider one of its 

 island possessions, Cocos Island, 5° 32' North, 87° West, which lies 280 

 miles to the southwest of Burica Point and approximately twice that dis- 

 tance due west of Cape Corrientes, Colombia. Cocos Island is roughly 

 rectangular, with the long axis northeast-southwest. Its greatest length 

 is slightly over 4 miles and its greatest width over 2 miles, the circum- 

 ference 13 miles. On the north coast there are two definite bays, Chatham 

 and Wafer, but the remainder of the coast is regular. It is everywhere 

 bold and quite precipitous. The whole island is covered with dense, tropi- 

 cal vegetation, as there is an abundance of moisture, with streams of 

 water descending to the coast. One emptying into Wafer Bay is readily 

 observed from the sea. The greatest height is reached in a peak, 2,788 feet 

 high, near the west coast. There are several small islands near shore, the 

 largest of which is Nuez Island, off Colnett Point, the northern tip of 

 Cocos Island, at the western extremity of Chatham Bay. 



Chatham Bay, which affords the best anchorage, is an indentation at 

 the northeastern portion of the island, between Colnett Point and Pitt 

 Head. Wafer Bay occupies the central portion of the northwest coast. 



Three visits have been made to Cocos Island. Shore collecting has 

 been done on the rocks, in the fresh-water stream; and by cargo-light 

 dipping has been done in Chatham Bay. Collecting has been done on the 

 rocks, in shingle, in fresh water, and in tide pools in Wafer Bay. Dredg- 

 ing has been done in Chatham Bay in shallow water, sand, and, farther 

 out, off Nuez Island in coralline. There is only one dredging station in 

 Wafer Bay. 



Lying east of the peninsula that ends at Punta Burica, extending 30 

 miles to Isla Partida and landward 16 miles, is Bahia Charco Azul 

 (David Bay). The western shore of the bay is high, but the northern 

 shore is low and cut by several rivers. Isla Partida is the farthest seaward 

 of an archipelago of deltas, large and small, 22 miles east and west and 15 

 miles north and south, at the mouths of the estuaries of several Pana- 

 manian rivers. 



Eastward and southeastward of the archipelago is a sweep of coast 

 line, over 40 miles to Punta Guarida, at the entrance to Bahia Honda. 

 The coast is low like that adjacent to the archipelago, with estuaries and 

 bays but with few deltas or other islands. 



