164 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL.1 



dredging in shallow water, 5 fathoms as a maximum, have been the only 

 activities here. 



Balboa, situated at the head of the narrowed approach to the Panama 

 Canal, is the Pacific port for the Canal Zone, a strip of land, 10 miles 

 wide, extending across the isthmus of Panama to Cristobal on the Carib- 

 bean Sea. At Balboa there is a wide tide range, said to be over 20 feet at 

 some of the spring tides. Some collecting has been done from the piles of 

 the wharf at low tide. 



Visits have been made to the laboratory on Barro Colorado Island in 

 Gatun Lake, but the collecting here has been incidental. Some bats have 

 been obtained from a cave near the Madden Dam. 



Balboa, Canal Zone 



Plate 84; Chart 82 



Ashore there is no separation between Balboa and Panama City, but 

 along the shore there is a point of land between the two, and Panama 

 faces on Panama Harbor to the east of the city. It is something to see a 

 real city, after leaving the last one, San Diego, so far behind. The fish 

 market provided the only specimens obtained here. 



Separating the present Panama Harbor from the harbor of the Old 

 Town of Panama, destroyed by Morgan, is another small point of land. 

 There are collecting stations on the rocks adjacent to the harbor of the 

 Old Town. 



From Old Panama the coast line forms a 75-mile crescent to Punta 

 Brava, at the entrance to Bahia San Miguel. The coast is low, and, al- 

 though there are several small bays and estuaries, the water is too shallow 

 for them to be of much use in navigation. The water deepens gradually 

 even some distance out from shore. The vegetation is now becoming more 

 extensive, as this is the approach to the belt of tropical rain forests. 



Lying off the southern half of this crescent, 10 miles as a minimum, is 

 the Archipelago De Las Perlas, extending 30 miles north and south and 

 20 miles east and west. Isla del Rey, 15 miles long and 7% miles wide, 

 is the largest of the group. There is no deep water between them and the 

 mainland. 



Bahia San Miguel, 14^4 miles wide at the entrance, between Punta 

 Brava and Punta Garachine, is very irregular, with bays and estuaries 

 straggling off from it. It extends about 20 miles to the eastward. From 

 Punta Garachine the coast continues south-southeastward to Punta 

 Pifias, 36 miles, with but one significant point, Punta Caracoles, along 

 the way. The coast here is bolder, and the offshore water deepens rapidly. 



