172 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



large ones too, that reveal from within the muffled 

 roar of the sea. As a matter of fact most tropic 

 beaches are too well guarded by coral reefs which 

 catch and hold anything swept in from beyond; 

 and as a rule the sea depths beyond are too great 

 for the ocean surges to affect the bottom and sweep 

 in loose material. Inside the reef the scouring 

 force of the great ocean waves is lost and all that 

 lives there upon the bottom is fairly secure from 

 danger of being torn from its moorings and cast 

 ashore. The beaches that met our childhood ex- 

 pectations for pink shells are those that face a 

 gradually deepening sea for many miles out and 

 are unprotected by reefs or shoals. 



Greenlaw brought the launch and we embarked 

 with a good wetting through the surf. Soon after 

 reaching the schooner we spied the shore party 

 waving from the charcoal landing and rescued 

 them. Torre and Rodriguez had remained at 

 the lighthouse. Simpson and Clapp were quite 

 exhausted after their day of exceptionally hard 

 work tramping through many miles of hot mos- 

 quito-infested forest. The auxiliary was de- 

 spatched to retrieve the Doctor and Rodriguez 

 who did not arrive till 9 or lo o'clock. We had 



