436 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
Benedicto. It may, however, exist in small quantities. There was neither 
wood, water, nor even a bush seen on the island ; but it was the home 
of thousands of sea birds, man-of-war hawks and three or four species 
of booby being the most numerous. A raven and rock wren were the 
only land birds found ; and there were very few insects, grasshoppers 
and spiders being the only ones seen. Fish were abundant, the species 
being identical with those of Socorro. 
The sailing directions mention a small shingle beach as the best land- 
ing, but other portions of the island are inaccessible from it, so our col- 
lectors landed on the rocks north of the beach at the foot of the bluff, 
from which point they had free access to the plateaus on either hand. 
Whales, old and young, were constantly in sight near the island. The 
collectors returning at 2 p. m., we got under way for the Gulf of Califor- 
nia and carried our line of soundings to the vicinity of Cape San Lucas, 
the greatest depth, 1,807 fathoms, being found 22 miles from the island. 
Hydrographic coiiclusions . — Reports of islands, rocks, and reefs in the 
regions recently traversed by the Albatross have been current from time 
immemorial. The U. S. S. NarragansetVs investigations resulted in 
their being expunged from the charts, but she gave us no information 
regarding the contour of the ocean bed, which is really the only sure 
method of deciding the existence or non-existence of submarine eleva- 
tions. This gap has been filled by the soundings of the Albatross, 
which prove definitely that these vigias do not exist in the positions 
assigned them. 
Another important problem has been solved. The chain of islands 
commencing with Guadeloupe and extending to Los Alijos and the Re- 
villa Gigedo group have been considered as a submerged mountain 
range, extending parallel with the peninsula, connected with it by a 
submarine ridge at one extremity and, previous to the submergence, 
inclosing a gulf similar to the Gulf of California. The Albatross sound- 
ings not only show this to be an error, but demonstrate the fact that 
the several islands are isolated volcanic elevations entirely independent 
of the continent and of each other, the sea reaching its normal depth 
between each of them, and also between them and the peninsula. 
La Paz to San Josef Island. — We entered the gulf on the evening of 
March 11 and arrived at Pichilingue Bay, the United States coaling 
station, at 11:24 a. m. the following day. An officer was sent to La Paz 
to call on the United States consul, Mr. James Yiosca, and the following 
morning I visited him and with him made official calls on the military 
governor and captain of the port. A lighter was towed from town by 
the steam cutter, and the work of coaling commenced immediately on 
our arrival. We finished coaling on the afternoon of the 15th, having 
taken on board 90 tons. 
Getting under way at 7:30 on the morning of the 16th, we steamed to 
the northward through La Paz Bay, and at 11:03 cast the trawl in 112 
fathoms, green mud, Balleiias Island bearing E. by S. (magnetic) 4 miles. 
