12 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



others with fledgling young. Two days before, we had noted two pairs 

 of flightless cormorants on Albemarle, one pair with eggs under one 

 of the birds, the other pair attending two half-grown young. It is 

 believed that these observations extend the known egg dates for both 

 species of birds. 



On a number of occasions some very interesting animal life was 

 obtained from the anchor chain. For instance, when the anchor was 

 hoisted at Tagus Cove, a number of specimens of sea urchins were 

 found attached to the chain. They belonged to a genus new to the 

 Galapagos and, moreover, represented a new species. 



Two and a half days were given over to the reputed "treasure 

 island" of the Pacific, Cocos Island. It was indeed a treasure house of 

 sailfish, for 16 were obtained in the course of the brief stay there. 

 The largest was 10 feet 2 inches long and weighed upward of 130 

 pounds. The President captured a record rainbow runner, Elagatis 

 Iripinnulatus , a 20-pound specimen of a species not heretofore known 

 to have exceeded 12 pounds. He also had a most interesting experi- 

 ence — the landing of a 9^-foot, 100-pound sailfish in a knotted loop 

 of his line. The "beak"' of the fish became entangled in the line while 

 he was playing a still larger individual that had been hooked a moment 

 earlier. Although the hooked fish got away, he managed to bring the 

 snared one to gaff. Those who have seen the beak of the fish, which 

 the President has saved with the knot in place, believe that this is the 

 first time a good-sized sailfish or perhaps any sailfish has been landed 

 in this manner. The top fish for weight taken by any member of the 

 President's party was a 230-pound tiger shark, Galeocerdo arcticus, 

 that he himself hooked while circumnavigating Cocos Island. It took 

 him a good i\ hours to land it. Off Chatham Bay a party from our 

 convoy, the U.S.S. McDougal, harpooned a giant ray, Manta biros tris, 

 which should be mentioned here because it is one of the few specimens 

 for which one is able to record the actual weight. It tipped a heavy- 

 duty boat scales at 1,645 pounds, and measured 15 feet wide and 9 feet 

 long, exclusive of its 4-foot tail. 



With the aid of a detachment of officers and men from the Houston 

 I obtained comprehensive botanical material of an undescribed species 

 of palm, and some rare tree ferns of which several species are known 

 from this still incompletely explored island. 



The next leg of our journey, Cocos to Balboa, was uneventful. No 

 scientific collecting was undertaken in the Canal Zone, August 4-5. 



Collecting was resumed at Old Providence Island in the Caribbean 

 on August 6. Though lying abreast the Atlantic coast of the Republic 



