Page 2. 
THE BLUE BONNET 
— : THE BLUE BONNET 
A weekly publication of the ship’s com- 
pany of the U. S. S. Houston, Captain 
G. N. Barker, U.S.N., Commanding and 
Commander C. A. Bailey, U.S.N., Execu- 
tive Officer. 
Editor Lieut, (jg) E. A. McDonald 
Assistant Editor : Ensign J.P.M. Johnston 
Associate Editor: Stefan Sivak, Jr., SKlc 
Associate Editor : W. J. Bannen, Sea. lc 
Cartoonist : W. C. Ridge 
Circulation : A. M. Partridge, Flc 
- Cpclilo tuu - 
Watch standing, gun drills, and 
divisional work have scarce left us a 
breathing spell. The time passes 
quickly this way— perhaps even too 
quickly for us to assimilate all the 
new things we hear and see concern- 
ing the stops made. 
The other evening, Dr. Schmitt 
gave an excellent talk on the Galapa- 
gos Islands illustrated by lantern 
slides. It was too bad there was a 
high wind at the time which took 
some of the words right out of the 
loud speakers and blew them once or 
twice around the stack before finally 
coming to our ears. 
For those who were unfortunate 
enough not to be present then, and 
for those having difficulty in hearing 
the lecture we are running highlights 
of the Galapagos (Extracts from one 
of Dr. Schmitt’s articles) in this 
issue— also a plain, unvarnished tale 
of the Baroness and her two lovers. 
The Galapagos, under the jurisdic- 
tion of the Government of Ecuador 
are the most interesting bits of land 
on the face of the globe today. To 
know them thoroughly provides you 
with a topic of engaging interest 
which should make anyone sit up and 
take notice. 
Shortly we shall visit Cocos Island. 
The tales of buried bucaneer’s trea- 
sure and loot have made people search 
there by the scores. 
It is a very good thing to seek out 
all the facts. To know your lands 
visited well is to broaden your char- 
acter to a corresponding degree. 
FISHING FACTS ABOUT 
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 
For those who intend dropping 
a line in the waters of these parts 
the following may be of great in- 
terest to you when upon pulling in 
your line you may find an unusual 
fish. It may be any of these we 
are about to describe. The most 
prevalent (and tiresome) fish is the 
common “Grouper” a brownish bass- 
like beggar of from two to twelve 
pounds in weight. For the sports- 
man they . provide little sport, but 
for the table, few dishes are better. 
The “Golden Grouper” is less com- 
mon by far, and rather more difficult 
to catch. Groupers have a trick of 
doubling back upon the line and 
severing it just above the leader. 
The “Skipjack” is a common catch, 
and, per pound of weight, is as gamy 
as any, fighting until pulled into the 
boat. The largest Skipjack in these 
waters appear to be about twenty- 
five inches, weighing not more than 
six pounds. With its deep blue back 
and rainbow shades blending into 
silver stripes, few fishes of the mack- 
eral family could be called more 
beautiful. 
The “Cosmopolitan Dolphin” - not 
the Porpoise, but the fish of the High 
Seas, is one of the rare catches 
among the Islands, and is prone to 
measure only three of four feet in 
length. The coloration is vivid and 
extraordinary, being shot with elec- 
tric blues and yelow capable of rapid 
change. The “Dolphin” is a welcome 
catch in the Galapagos, not only for 
the sport, but for the table. 
Equally prized for the table is the 
“Cerro”, a game little chap, some- 
what resembling the “Spanish Mack- 
eral”, but with yellow spots on the 
sides, weighing up to eight pounds. 
The “Tuna” is another fighter in 
these waters, but one must be fast 
to bring in the whole Tuna due to 
the Shark menace. 
The “Wahoo”, Barracuda-like in 
form, here reaches a length of about 
five feet or more. Barracuda-like 
again, the nose is sharp, but the teeth 
comparatively small. When hooked 
DIVINE SERVICE 
DIVINE SERVICE 
All hands are cordially invited to attend 
on Sunday. The ship’s orchestra will 
furnish splendid music as usual. The 
Chaplain will discuss problems of impor- 
tance to everyday living. 
“I was glad when they said to me 
Let us go unto the House of the Lord.” 
the Wahoo is generally off with many 
yards of the line before the angler 
has had time to gather his wits, 
and the fight is continuous thence 
onward to the gaff. 
The “Rooster fish”, with his buff- 
alo hump and highstanding rooster- 
feathers, though apparently less com- 
mon in the Galapagos than either 
the Tuna or Wahoo, is surely no less 
of a fighter per pound of weight. 
He is more difficult to land, darting 
swiftly toward the angler, then 
suddenly away, he is often able 
to free himself, and always able to 
provoke some excitement. Stream- 
lined like the Dolphin, heavy by the 
head and long tapering, he may be 
expected to weigh about fiflty to 
seventy-five pounds. No game fishes 
of the Galapagos are more capable 
of putting up a lasting battle. From 
the standpoint of pleasure, the Gal- 
apagos angler may expect more of 
it from Tuna, Rooster-Fish, and 
Wahoo than from any other game 
of these waters. 
Last but not least, is the many 
types of Sharks which may be seen 
and caught. The Ground Sharks are 
the greatest in numbers. 
One fishes for nothing in particu- 
lar in the Galapagos, and tackle 
should be selected accordingly. 
- Card of Thanks - 
The message of condolence and 
accompanying token at the time 
of the death of my brother, Nor- 
bert Kallaus, are deeply appre- 
ciated. Heartfelt thanks to my 
shipmates. 
Joe Kallaus, S2c 
THE BLUE BONNET 
Page 3. 
The Galapagos Islands 
By 
WALDO L. SCHMITT 
The Galapagos Islands might well have been called Nature’s laboratory 
of experimental evolution; a visual demonstration of the facts and the princi- 
ples of evolution. They are, to this day, a living epitome of the ORIGIN 
OF SPECIES. 
THE STORY OF THE BARONESS 
AND HER LOVERS 
Here is a story written by every 
newspaper in the land, yet there was 
never a tale with less facts, more 
misinformation and conflicting theo- 
ries. 
The setting lies on a small Galapa- 
gos Island known as Floreana, Char- 
les, or Santa Maria (the second is the 
most commonly used). With its spot- 
ty patches of fertility it is anything 
but an Utopia or Eden. In fact a 
grim struggle to eke out a bare liv- 
ing in even the choicest portions is 
the lot of the settler there. 
Before the advent of the three maj- 
or characters, who were to tear the 
normal tranquil life asunder with 
hate, passion, and greed, two fami- 
lies and a Norwegian lived on the 
island. Urholt, the Norwegian, the 
1st permanent inhabitant, was joined 
by a Dr. Friederick Ritter and a com- 
panion, Frau Dore Koerwin. The 
latter couple fled from Germany after 
leaving their more civilization loving 
spouses. Shortly afterward a second 
couple, the Wittmers, came to live on 
the Island. 
To blast this rather doubtful har- 
monic life into shreds, and to focus 
the eyes of the world on this little 
portion of volcanic matter the three 
characters made their sweeping en- 
trance. 
Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner 
Wehrborn of Vienna and Paris con- 
ceived the idea, in company with her 
lover, Alfred Rudolph Lorenz, of 
establishing a summer resort on the 
island and having it a regular call- 
ing place for Grace Line ships. To- 
gether with Robert Phillipson they 
arrived on the island,. 
(Continued on Page 4.) 
I have made three visits to the 
islands and on them have traveled 
trails unchanged since the early days 
of man’s sojourn there. Among those 
trails is one up to the Salt Crater 
Lake on James Island. Salt work- 
ers have come and gone over this 
trail. Their shelters lay fallen and 
forgotten over others that were con- 
structed at even earlier periods. 
Upon the crest of the crater wall 
stand an old rusty engine for oper- 
ating an abandoned cable-way, idle 
and dilapidated. Goats, descendants 
of the original flock that escaped 
Admiral Porter’s men back in 1813, 
still are plentiful. 
Tagus Cove, indenting the western 
shore of northern Albemarle, has 
changed little in the last hundred 
years, except for the disappearance 
of the tortoises from the vicinity. 
The precipitious rock walls of this 
breached crater-harbor today carry 
no end of large painted calling 
cards of yachts from all parts of the 
world, and of tuna fisherman and 
various expeditions from the states. 
At anchor far back in the most 
sheltered place in the cove at the 
time of my last visit was the small 
yawl of the circumnavigator, Robin- 
son, who was saved from an untime- 
ly end by an emergency appendicitis 
operation by U. S. Navy doctors who 
flew over from Panama on a wireless 
hurry call. 
There is no mistaking the wholly 
volcanic nature of the Galapagos. 
On every hand are craters of primary, 
secondary, and lesser degree, fuma- 
roles, cones, and vents, a graphic ex- 
ample of vulcanism to the nth degree. 
The valley of Ten Thousand Smokes 
would suffer, I believe, by comparison. 
Indeed much of the Galapagos scene- 
ry and especially that about Christo- 
pher Point, the most westerly projec- 
tion of southern Albemarle, prompts 
one instinctively to exclaim, “The 
Valley of the Moon!” No more typi- 
cally lunar landscape is to be seen 
anywhere else on earth. 
On Albemarle, steam jets are not 
uncommon sights, and on adjacent 
Narborough as well. Various expedi- 
tions have reported volcanic activity, 
including brilliant eruptions, on a 
number of the islands. 
Chatham supports a larger popula- 
tion than any other of the islands. 
Between two and three hundred per- 
sons cultivate its extensive, fertile 
plantations, work in the sugar mill 
when this is in operation, and engage 
in cattle raising for export to the 
mainland. 
Many years ago Charles Island sup- 
ported about as large a population 
as exists on Chatham today. These 
people were described, at that time 
as “nearly all people of color who had 
been banished for political crimes”. 
They lived in an agricultural com- 
munity consisting of some fifty of 
more crude little homes distributed 
about as many little chacras, or farms. 
Traces of the original settlement and 
a later attempt of colonization 
remain - occasional bits of stone wall 
or foundation, wild cattle and pigs, 
burros, dogs and cats, even chickens, 
a few plants that may have escaped 
cultivation, and a host of orange and 
lemon trees. 
These trees, though running wild, 
are still flourishing in great profu- 
sion, so that in season the fruit falls 
to the ground for want of hands to 
pick it. Magnificent trees bear as 
delicious oranges as any you ever 
tasted. These trees must well be a 
hundred years old or more, some 
have boles a foot thick. 
When the ripe fruit falls, the wild 
pigs and the wild cattle swarm to the 
feast, so that the place is no longer 
safe for man. The wild boars and 
the powerful, fierce, Black Spanish 
bulls are not to be trifled with. 
The climate of the Galapagos has 
been described as ideal. Despite the 
fact that the archipelago lies direct- 
ly under the Equator, the average 
temperature is quite low, ranging 
between 70 and 80 degrees. This 
uniformly low and even temperature 
is due to the Humbolt current, a cold 
stream that sweeps up along the 
(Continued on Page 4.) 
