HANCOCK EXPEDITION OF 1939 TO THE NORTH COAST 

 OF SOUTH AMERICA 



By WALDO L. SCHMITT 



Curator, Division of Marine Invertebrates 



U. S. National Museum 



In the spring of 1939 Capt. G. Allan Hancock took his motor 

 cruiser, the Vclero III, into Atlantic waters for the first time, travel- 

 ing along the north coast of South America as far as Trinidad, and 

 back by way of Tobago and the Dutch Island of Curagao. Through 

 the kind invitation of Captain Hancock, I had the good fortune to 

 accompany the expedition as representative of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



Outward bound from Cristobal we first visited the San Bias Indian 

 country, putting in at Caledonia Bay in the early morning of April 3. 

 The bay seemed immense, fringed with sand and coral beaches, over- 

 hung by graceful cocoanut palms, and studded with innumerable 

 large and small islands. Some of the islands are green hills rising 

 out of the bay ; others are mere sand bars a few feet above high- 

 water mark. The latter are favored by the San Bias as their village 

 sites. 



At some little distance from our anchorage, near the southern end 

 of the bay and yet readily accessible by launch, were two sizable 

 villages of the characteristic stave-and-thatch houses. During our visit 

 to the farther of them not a woman or girl was to be seen, which is 

 quite in keeping with the customs of tribes who have not had much 

 intercourse with outsiders. Men and boys, the latter for the greater 

 part with no clothing whatever, gathered closely around in order to 

 gaze as curiously at us as we did at them. Near the center of the 

 village was a large communal house with tiers of seats around a 

 central square where were hung the hammocks of the leading men. 

 The central area was open to the roof, but around it at second-story 

 level was a balcony crowded with a great number of carved and 

 painted wooden ceremonial figurines of various sizes from small dolls 

 to images larger than the average man. 



In an open dugout drawn up on shore was a considerable store of 

 light brown meaty kernels that I concluded were used as food, though 

 I could not make much out of the few words of apparent Spanish 

 that the Indian who was standing near tried to articulate. Those 



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