hot end smelly in the hold. In the next half hoar we all grot sick age in* 
She ship is heading into the wind and seas now and is pitching consider- 
ablely as the sees break over her bow. All hatchs and ports on the 
first two decks are closed and it is very hot end stuffy within, we 
expect to arrive at Canton about 1500 Monday and would leave about 1200 
Tuesday. 
25 March 1963 
We arrived at Canton 1430 today, were meet at the pier by the 
American Administrator. We went to his office were he told us something 
about the island and told us were we could rent a jeep so that we might 
look at the birds while we were there. After super we rode around 
the island looking for birds in the jeep, walked alone the beachs 
and the lagoon sides of the atoll. We noted few birds as we approached 
Canton today some Fairy Terns, and Sooty Terns, and close to the island 
numerous brown end few Masked Boobies some Sooty end Grey backed Tern, and 
some common Hoddies-T only 3 Frigate birds were noted around the island. 
Golden Plovers were fairly abundant alone the beachs of the atoll and we 
saw several small groups of Turnstones and few Tattlers. Canton is 
a large circler atoll, the lagoon is enclosed accept for an artificial 
ship's channel through the atoll. The ground is primarily coral rock 
or rock fragment, or coral snnd and the island again is very dry, the 
native vegetation is quite sparsh. The island does not appear suited 
to Petrel or Shearwaters though the exstenslve tiddle areas around the 
' : 3 
lagoon probably attract shore birds migration . I m told that frigates 
and some turaateaes terns nest here and also that natives eat the 
former. There are many house cats loose on this island also. 
