Toward noon the surf rose and King recalled us before it became 
impossible to re embark. 
Anoient Bird Colony. 
In traveling west from Gardiner Island, one comes soon to iiaro 
S 
and Dowsett Beefs - named from some ancient shipwreok^- mere coral 
rings marked lay breakers without visible land, and then over the horizon 
beyond the dangerous Jaws of these hidden traps comes Laysan island, 
distant 855 nautical miles from Honolulu. From its discovery Laysan 
has been famed for its seabirds. Pilot books and the logs of sea voyages 
through these water's describe their hordes and even the hydrographic 
charts depiot the low elevation of Laysan with the air above filled with 
birds. Thousmall at best Laysan is the most pretentious of the islets 
in the Leeward Chain, as it is a mile and three-quarters long and a mile 
wide. An elevated rim rising somewhat abruptly from the beach, line to 
a height of forty feet encloses a shallow oblong basin, in whose cantor 
is a saline lagoon with waters concentrated by evaporation under a biiaing 
sun until they are far more heavily charged with salt than the sea itself. 
The sandy slopes leading down to this saltost of 3alt lakes hold s<^oot 
water which falls in the frequent rains so that a supply fit to drink 
(though heavily charged with lime) may be obtained from shallow wells. 
