The Log From The Sea Of Cortez Part 5

17.

MARCH 27.

We had collected extensively on the outer parts of Puerto Escondido, but not in the inner bay itself. At five-thirty A.M. Mexican time, we set out to circle this inner bay in the little skiff. It was dark when we started, and we used the big flashlights for collecting. There was a good low tide, and we moved slowly along the sh.o.r.e, one rowing while the other inspected the bottom with the light. There was no ripple to distort the surface. The eastern sh.o.r.e was dominated by the big, flat, chocolate-brown holothurian.42 They moved slowly along, feeding on the bottom, many hundreds of them. They far overshadowed in number any other animals in this area. There were many of the ruffled clams They moved slowly along, feeding on the bottom, many hundreds of them. They far overshadowed in number any other animals in this area. There were many of the ruffled clams43 with hard, thick, wavy sh.e.l.ls. The under-rock fauna was not very rich. The eastern and northern sh.o.r.es were littered with shattered rock, recently enough splintered so that the edges were still sharp, and in this quiet bay no waves would have ground the edges smooth. Mangroves bordered a great part of the bay, and the spicy smell of their flowers was strong and pleasant. A few of the giant, snake-like synaptids that we had taken in the outer bay waved and moved on the bottom. As we rounded toward the westerly side of the bay, we came to sand flats and a change of fauna, for the big brown cuc.u.mbers did not live here. The dawn came as we moved along the sand flats. Two animals were at the waterside, about as large as small collies, dark brown, with a cat-like walk. In the half-light we could not see them clearly, and as we came nearer they melted away through the mangroves. Possibly they were something like giant civet-cats. They had undoubtedly been fis.h.i.+ng at the water's edge. On the smooth sand bottom of this area there were cl.u.s.ters of k.n.o.bbed, green coral (probably with hard, thick, wavy sh.e.l.ls. The under-rock fauna was not very rich. The eastern and northern sh.o.r.es were littered with shattered rock, recently enough splintered so that the edges were still sharp, and in this quiet bay no waves would have ground the edges smooth. Mangroves bordered a great part of the bay, and the spicy smell of their flowers was strong and pleasant. A few of the giant, snake-like synaptids that we had taken in the outer bay waved and moved on the bottom. As we rounded toward the westerly side of the bay, we came to sand flats and a change of fauna, for the big brown cuc.u.mbers did not live here. The dawn came as we moved along the sand flats. Two animals were at the waterside, about as large as small collies, dark brown, with a cat-like walk. In the half-light we could not see them clearly, and as we came nearer they melted away through the mangroves. Possibly they were something like giant civet-cats. They had undoubtedly been fis.h.i.+ng at the water's edge. On the smooth sand bottom of this area there were cl.u.s.ters of k.n.o.bbed, green coral (probably Porites porosa Porites porosa-no samples were gathered), but except for Cerianthus Cerianthus and a few bivalves this bottom was comparatively sterile. and a few bivalves this bottom was comparatively sterile.

Rounding the southern end of the bay, we came again to the single narrow entrance where the water was rus.h.i.+ng in on the returning tide, and here, suddenly, the area was incredibly rich in fauna. Here, where the water rushes in and out, bringing with it food and freshness, there was a remarkable gathering. Beautiful red and green cus.h.i.+on stars littered the rocky bottom. We found cl.u.s.ters of a solitary soft coral-like form44 in great k.n.o.bs and heads in one restricted location on the rocks. Caught against the rocks by the current was a very large pelagic coelenterate, in appearance like an anemone with long orange-pink tentacles, apparently not retractable. On picking him up we were badly stung. His nettle-cells were vicious, stinging even through the calluses of the palms, and hurting like a great many bee-stings. At this entrance also we took several giant sea-hares, in great k.n.o.bs and heads in one restricted location on the rocks. Caught against the rocks by the current was a very large pelagic coelenterate, in appearance like an anemone with long orange-pink tentacles, apparently not retractable. On picking him up we were badly stung. His nettle-cells were vicious, stinging even through the calluses of the palms, and hurting like a great many bee-stings. At this entrance also we took several giant sea-hares,45 a number of clams, and one small specimen of the clam-like hacha. For hours afterwards the sting of the anemone remained. So very many things are poisonous and hurtful in these Gulf waters: urchins, sting-rays, morays, heart-urchins, this beastly anemone, and many more. One becomes very timid after a while. Barnacle-cuts, which are impossible to avoid, cause irritating sores. The fingers and palms become cross-hatched with cuts, and then very quickly, possibly owing to the constant soaking in salt water and the regular lifting of rocks, the hands become covered with a hard, almost h.o.r.n.y, callus. a number of clams, and one small specimen of the clam-like hacha. For hours afterwards the sting of the anemone remained. So very many things are poisonous and hurtful in these Gulf waters: urchins, sting-rays, morays, heart-urchins, this beastly anemone, and many more. One becomes very timid after a while. Barnacle-cuts, which are impossible to avoid, cause irritating sores. The fingers and palms become cross-hatched with cuts, and then very quickly, possibly owing to the constant soaking in salt water and the regular lifting of rocks, the hands become covered with a hard, almost h.o.r.n.y, callus.

The Puerto Escondido station was one of the richest we visited, for it combined many kinds of environment in a very small area; sand bottom, stone sh.o.r.e, boulders, broken rock, coral, still, warm, shallow places, and racing tide. It is highly probable that careful and extended collecting would show that individuals of species of a very respectable proportion of the total Panamic fauna could be found in this tiny world. Barring surf-battered reef, every probable environment occurs within these few acres-a textbook exhibit for ecologists.

We took rock isopods, sponges, tunicates, turbellarians, chitons, bivalves, snails, hermit crabs, and many other crabs, Heteronereids and mysids pelagic at night, small ophiurans, limpets, and worms and even listed in our collecting notes for the day the horsehair worms from the little waterfall in the mountains.46 We took six to eight species of cuc.u.mbers and eleven of starfish at this one station. We took six to eight species of cuc.u.mbers and eleven of starfish at this one station.

When we came back from the early morning collecting we sailed immediately for the port of Loreto. We were eager to see this town, for it was the first successful settlement on the Peninsula, and its church is the oldest mission of all. Here the inhospitability of Lower California had finally been conquered and a colony had taken root in the face of hunger and mishap. From the sea, the town was buried in a grove of palms and greenery. We dropped anchor and searched the sh.o.r.e with our gla.s.ses. A line of canoes lay on the beach and a group of men sat on the sand by the canoes and watched us; comfortable, lazy-looking men in white clothes. When our anchor dropped they got up and made for the town. Of course, they had to find their uniforms, and since Loreto was not very often visited and since the Governor had not not recently been there, this may not have been so easy. There may have been some scurrying of errand-bound children from house to house, looking for tunics or belts or borrowing clean s.h.i.+rts. Senor the official had to shave and scent himself and dress. It all takes time, and the boat in the harbor will wait. It didn't look like much of a boat anyway, but at least it was a boat. recently been there, this may not have been so easy. There may have been some scurrying of errand-bound children from house to house, looking for tunics or belts or borrowing clean s.h.i.+rts. Senor the official had to shave and scent himself and dress. It all takes time, and the boat in the harbor will wait. It didn't look like much of a boat anyway, but at least it was a boat.

One fine thing about Mexican officials is that they greet a fis.h.i.+ng boat with the same serious ceremony they would afford the Queen Mary, Queen Mary, and the and the Queen Mary Queen Mary would have to wait just as long. This made us feel very good and not rebellious about the port fees-absent in this case! We came to them and they made us feel, not like stodgy people in a purse-seiner but like amba.s.sadors from Ultra-Marina bringing letters of greeting out of the distances. It is no wonder that we too scurried for clean s.h.i.+rts, that Tony put on his master's cap, and Tiny polished the naval insignia on his, which he had come by no doubt honorably in a washroom in San Diego. We were not smart, not very alert, but we were clean and we smelled rather delicious. Sparky sprinkled us with shaving lotion and we filled the air with an odor of flowers. If the would have to wait just as long. This made us feel very good and not rebellious about the port fees-absent in this case! We came to them and they made us feel, not like stodgy people in a purse-seiner but like amba.s.sadors from Ultra-Marina bringing letters of greeting out of the distances. It is no wonder that we too scurried for clean s.h.i.+rts, that Tony put on his master's cap, and Tiny polished the naval insignia on his, which he had come by no doubt honorably in a washroom in San Diego. We were not smart, not very alert, but we were clean and we smelled rather delicious. Sparky sprinkled us with shaving lotion and we filled the air with an odor of flowers. If the brazo, brazo, the double embrace, should be indicated by any feeling of uncontrollable good-will, we were ready. the double embrace, should be indicated by any feeling of uncontrollable good-will, we were ready.

The men came back to the beach in their uniforms, paddled out, and we pa.s.sed the ceremony of induction. Loreto was asleep in the suns.h.i.+ne, a lovely town, with gardens in every yard and only the streets white and hot. The young males watched us from the safe shade of the cantina cantina and pa.s.sed greetings as we went by, and a covey of young girls grew tight-faced and rushed around a corner and giggled. How strange we were in Loreto! Our trousers were dark, not white; the silly caps we wore were so outlandish that no store in Loreto would think of stocking them. We were neither soldiers nor sailors-the little girls just couldn't take it. We could hear their strangled giggling from around the corner. Now and then they peeked back around the corner to verify for themselves our ridiculousness, and then giggled again while their elders hissed in disapproval. And one woman standing in a lovely garden shaded with purple bougainvillaea explained, "Everyone knows what silly things girls are. You must forgive their ill manners; they will be ashamed later on." But we felt that the silly girls had something worthwhile in their att.i.tude. They were definitely amused. It is often so, particularly in our country, that the first reaction to strangeness is fear and hatred; we much preferred the laughter. We don't think it was even unkind-they'd simply never seen anything so funny in their lives. and pa.s.sed greetings as we went by, and a covey of young girls grew tight-faced and rushed around a corner and giggled. How strange we were in Loreto! Our trousers were dark, not white; the silly caps we wore were so outlandish that no store in Loreto would think of stocking them. We were neither soldiers nor sailors-the little girls just couldn't take it. We could hear their strangled giggling from around the corner. Now and then they peeked back around the corner to verify for themselves our ridiculousness, and then giggled again while their elders hissed in disapproval. And one woman standing in a lovely garden shaded with purple bougainvillaea explained, "Everyone knows what silly things girls are. You must forgive their ill manners; they will be ashamed later on." But we felt that the silly girls had something worthwhile in their att.i.tude. They were definitely amused. It is often so, particularly in our country, that the first reaction to strangeness is fear and hatred; we much preferred the laughter. We don't think it was even unkind-they'd simply never seen anything so funny in their lives.

As usual, a good serious small boy attached himself to us. It would be interesting to see whether a nation governed by the small boys of Mexico would not be a better, happier nation than those ruled by old men whose prejudices may or may not be conditioned by ulcerous stomachs and perhaps a little drying up of the stream of love.

This small boy could have been an amba.s.sador to almost any country in the world. His straight-seeing dark eyes were courteous, yet firm. He was kind and dignified. He told us something of Loreto; of its poverty, and how its church was tumbled down now; and he walked with us to the destroyed mission. The roof had fallen in and the main body of the church was a ma.s.s of rubble. From the walls hung the shreds of old paintings. But the bell-tower was intact, and we wormed our way deviously up to look at the old bells and to strike them softly with the palms of our hands so that they glowed a little with tone. From here we could look down on the low roofs and into the enclosed gardens of the town. The white sunlight could not get into the gardens and a sleepy shade lay in them.

One small chapel was intact in the church, but the door to it was barred by a wooden grille, and we had to peer through into the small, dark, cool room. There were paintings on the walls, one of which we wanted badly to see more closely, for it looked very much like an El Greco, and probably was not not painted by El Greco. Still, strange things have found their way here. The bells on the tower were the special present of the Spanish throne to this very loyal city. But it would be good to see this picture more closely. The Virgin Herself, Our Lady of Loreto, was in a gla.s.s case and surrounded by the lilies of the recently past Easter. In the dim light of the chapel she seemed very lovely. Perhaps she is gaudy; she has not the look of smug virginity so many have-the "I-am-the-Mother-of-Christ" look-but rather there was a look of terror in her face, of the Virgin Mother of the world and the prayers of so very many people heavy on her. painted by El Greco. Still, strange things have found their way here. The bells on the tower were the special present of the Spanish throne to this very loyal city. But it would be good to see this picture more closely. The Virgin Herself, Our Lady of Loreto, was in a gla.s.s case and surrounded by the lilies of the recently past Easter. In the dim light of the chapel she seemed very lovely. Perhaps she is gaudy; she has not the look of smug virginity so many have-the "I-am-the-Mother-of-Christ" look-but rather there was a look of terror in her face, of the Virgin Mother of the world and the prayers of so very many people heavy on her.

To the people of Loreto, and particularly to the Indians of the outland, she must be the loveliest thing in the world. It doesn't matter that our eyes, critical and thin with good taste, should find her gaudy. And actually we did not. We too found her lovely in her dim chapel with the lilies of Easter around her. This is a very holy place, and to question it is to question a fact as established as the tide. How easily and quickly we slide into our race-pattern unless we keep intact the stiff-necked and blinded pattern of the recent intellectual training.

We threw it over, and there wasn't much to throw over, and we felt good about it. This Lady, of plaster and wood and paint, is one of the strong ecological factors of the town of Loreto, and not to know her and her strength is to fail to know Loreto. One could not ignore a granite monolith in the path of the waves. Such a rock, breaking the rus.h.i.+ng waters, would have an effect on animal distribution radiating in circles like a dropped stone in a pool. So has this plaster Lady a powerful effect on the deep black water of the human spirit. She may disappear and her name be lost, as the Magna Mater, as Isis, have disappeared. But something very like her will take her place, and the longings which created her will find somewhere in the world a similar altar on which to pour their force. No matter what her name is, Artemis, or Venus, or a girl behind a Woolworth counter vaguely remembered, she is as eternal as our species, and we will continue to manufacture her as long as we survive.

We came back slowly through the deserted streets of Loreto, and we walked quietly laden with submergence in a dim chapel.

A few supplies went aboard, and we pulled up the anchor and moved northward again. On the way we caught a Mexican sierra and another fish, apparently a cross between a yellow-fin tuna47 and an albacore. and an albacore.48 Tiny and Sparky, who have fished in tuna water a good deal, say that this cross is often found and taken, although never in numbers. Tiny and Sparky, who have fished in tuna water a good deal, say that this cross is often found and taken, although never in numbers.

We sailed north and found anchorage on the northern end of Coronado Island, and went immediately to collect on a long, westerly-extending point. This reef of water-covered stones was not very rich. In high boots we moved slowly about, turning over the flattened algae-covered boulders. We found here many solitary corals, 49 49 and with great difficulty took some of them. They are very hard, and shatter easily when they are removed. If one could saw out the small section of rock to which they are fastened, it would be easy to take them. The next best method is to use a thin, very sharp knife and, by treating them as delicately as jewels, to remove them from their hard anchorage. Even with care, only about one in five is unbroken. Here also we found cl.u.s.tered heads of hard zoanthidean anemones of two types, one much larger than the other. We found a great number of large hemispherical yellow sponges which were noted in the collecting reports as "strikingly similar to the Monterey Bay and with great difficulty took some of them. They are very hard, and shatter easily when they are removed. If one could saw out the small section of rock to which they are fastened, it would be easy to take them. The next best method is to use a thin, very sharp knife and, by treating them as delicately as jewels, to remove them from their hard anchorage. Even with care, only about one in five is unbroken. Here also we found cl.u.s.tered heads of hard zoanthidean anemones of two types, one much larger than the other. We found a great number of large hemispherical yellow sponges which were noted in the collecting reports as "strikingly similar to the Monterey Bay Tethya aurantia Tethya aurantia or or Geodia"-a Geodia"-a similarity partly explainable by the fact that they turned out to be similarity partly explainable by the fact that they turned out to be Tethya aurantia Tethya aurantia and a species of and a species of Geodia! Geodia! Our collecting included the usual a.s.sortment of creatures, ranging from the crabs which plant algae on their backs for protection to the bryozoa which look more like moss than animals. With all these, the region was still not rich, but "burned," and again we felt the thing which had been at the strange Cayo Islet, a resentment of the sh.o.r.e toward animal life, an inhospitable quality in the stones that would make an animal think twice about living there. Our collecting included the usual a.s.sortment of creatures, ranging from the crabs which plant algae on their backs for protection to the bryozoa which look more like moss than animals. With all these, the region was still not rich, but "burned," and again we felt the thing which had been at the strange Cayo Islet, a resentment of the sh.o.r.e toward animal life, an inhospitable quality in the stones that would make an animal think twice about living there.

It is so strange, this burned quality. We have seen places which seemed hostile to human life, too. There are parts of the coast of California which do not like humans. It is as though they were already inhabited by another and invisible species which resented humans. Perhaps such places are "burned" for us; perhaps a petrologist could say why. Might there not be a mild radio-activity which made one nervous in such a place so that he would say, trying to put words to his feeling, "This place is unfriendly. There is something here that will not tolerate my kind"? While some radio-activities have been shown to encourage not only life but mutation (note experimentation with fruit-flies), there might well be some other combinations which have an opposite effect.

Little fragments of seemingly unrelated information will sometimes acc.u.mulate in a process of speculation until a tenable hypothesis emerges. We had come on a riddle in our reading about the Gulf and now we were able to see this riddle in terms of the animals. There is an observable geographic differential in the fauna of the Gulf of California. The Cape San Lucas-La Paz area is strongly Panamic. Many warm-water mollusks and crustaceans are not known to occur in numbers north of La Paz, and some not even north of Cape San Lucas. But the region north of Santa Rosalia, and even of Puerto Escondido, is known to be inhabited by many colder-water animals, including Pachygrapsus cra.s.sipes, Pachygrapsus cra.s.sipes, the commonest California sh.o.r.e crab, which ranges north as far as Oregon. These animals are apparently trapped in a blind alley with no members of their kind to the south of them. the commonest California sh.o.r.e crab, which ranges north as far as Oregon. These animals are apparently trapped in a blind alley with no members of their kind to the south of them.

The problem is: "How did they get there?" In 1895 Cooper50 advanced an explanation. He remarks, referring to the northern part of the Gulf: "It appears that the species found there are more largely of the temperate fauna, many of them being identical with those of the same lat.i.tude on the west [outer] coast of the Peninsula. This seems to indicate that the dividing ridge, now three thousand feet or more in alt.i.tude, was crossed by one or more channels within geologically recent times." advanced an explanation. He remarks, referring to the northern part of the Gulf: "It appears that the species found there are more largely of the temperate fauna, many of them being identical with those of the same lat.i.tude on the west [outer] coast of the Peninsula. This seems to indicate that the dividing ridge, now three thousand feet or more in alt.i.tude, was crossed by one or more channels within geologically recent times."

This differential, which we ourselves saw, has been remarked a number of times in the literature of the region, especially by conchologists. Eric Knight Jordan, son of David Starr Jordan, an extremely promising young paleontologist who was killed some years ago, studied the geological and present distribution of mollusks along the west coast of Lower California. He says51: "Two distinct faunas exist on the west coast of Lower California. The southern Californian now now ranges southward from Point Conception to Cedros Island ... probably extends a little farther.... The fauna of the Gulf of California ranges to the north on the west coast of the Peninsula approximately to Scammon's Lagoon, which is a little farther up than Cedros Island." Present geographical ranges are given for 124 species, collected in lower Quaternary beds at Magdalena Bay, all of which occur living today, but farther to the north. Two pages later he remarks: "It ... appears that when these Quaternary beds were laid down there was a southward displacement of the isotherms sufficient to carry the conditions today prevailing at Cedros down as far as the lat.i.tude of Magdalena Bay." ranges southward from Point Conception to Cedros Island ... probably extends a little farther.... The fauna of the Gulf of California ranges to the north on the west coast of the Peninsula approximately to Scammon's Lagoon, which is a little farther up than Cedros Island." Present geographical ranges are given for 124 species, collected in lower Quaternary beds at Magdalena Bay, all of which occur living today, but farther to the north. Two pages later he remarks: "It ... appears that when these Quaternary beds were laid down there was a southward displacement of the isotherms sufficient to carry the conditions today prevailing at Cedros down as far as the lat.i.tude of Magdalena Bay."

Having reviewed the literature, we can confirm the significance of the Cedros Island complex as a present critical horizon (as Carpenter did eighty years ago) where the north and south fauna to some extent intermingle. Apparently this is the very condition that obtained at Magdalena Bay or southward when the lower Quaternary beds were being laid down. The present Magdalena Plain, extending to La Paz on the Gulf side, was at that time submerged. Then it was cold enough to permit a commingling of cold-water and warm-water species at that point. The hypothesis is tenable that when the isotherms retreated northward, the cold-water forms were no longer able to inhabit southern Lower California sh.o.r.es, which included the then Gulf entrance. In these increasingly warm waters they would have perished or would have been pushed northward, both along the outside coast, where they could retreat indefinitely, and into the Gulf. In the latter case the migrating waves of competinganimals from the south, which were invading the Gulf and spilling upward, would have pocketed the northern species in the upper reaches, where they have remained to this day. These animals, hemmed in by tropical waters and fortunate compet.i.tors, have maintained themselves for thousands of years, though in the struggle they have been modified toward pauperization.

This hypothesis would seem to offset Cooper's a.s.sumption of a channel through ridges some 350 miles to the north which show no signs of Quaternary submergence.

It is interesting that a paleontologist, working in one area, should lay the groundwork for a very reasonable hypothesis concerning the distribution of animals in another. It is, however, only one example among many of the obliqueness of investigation and the accident quotient involved in much investigation. The literature of science is filled with answers found when the question propounded had an entirely different direction and end.

There is one great difficulty with a good hypothesis. When it is completed and rounded, the corners smooth and the content cohesive and coherent, it is likely to become a thing in itself, a work of art. It is then like a finished sonnet or a painting completed. One hates to disturb it. Even if subsequent information should shoot a hole in it, one hates to tear it down because it once was beautiful and whole. One of our leading scientists, having reasoned a reef in the Pacific, was unable for a long time to reconcile the lack of a reef, indicated by soundings, with the reef his mind told him was there. A parallel occurred some years ago. A learned inst.i.tution sent an expedition southward, one of whose many projects was to establish whether or not the sea-otter was extinct. In due time it returned with the information that the sea-otter was indeed extinct. One of us, some time later, talking with a woman on the coast below Monterey, was astonished to hear her describe animals living in the surf which could only be sea-otters, since she described accurately animals she couldn't have known about except by observation. A report of this to the inst.i.tution in question elicited no response. It had extincted sea-otters and that was that. It was only when a reporter on one of our more disreputable newspapers photographed the animals that the public was informed. It is not yet known whether the inst.i.tution of learning has been won over.

This is not set down in criticism; it is no light matter to make up one's mind about anything, even about sea-otters, and once made up, it is even harder to abandon the position. When a hypothesis is deeply accepted it becomes a growth which only a kind of surgery can amputate. Thus, beliefs persist long after their factual bases have been removed, and practices based on beliefs are often carried on even when the beliefs which stimulated them have been forgotten. The practice must follow the belief. It is often considered, particularly by reformers and legislators, that law is a stimulant to action or an inhibitor of action, when actually the reverse is true. Successful law is simply the publication of the practice of the majority of units of a society, and by it the inevitable variable units are either driven to conform or are eliminated. We have had many examples of law trying to be the well-spring of action; our prohibition law showed how completely fallacious that theory is.

The things of our minds have for us a greater toughness than external reality. One of us has a beard, and one night when this one was standing wheel-watch, the others sat in the galley drinking coffee. We were discussing werewolves and their almost universal occurrence in regional literature. From this beginning, we played with a macabre thought, "The moon will soon be full," we said, "and he of the beard will begin to feel the pull of the moon. Last night," we said, "we heard the scratch of claws on the deck. When you see him go down on all fours, when you see the red light come into his eyes, then look out, for he will slash your throat." We were delighted with the game. We developed the bearded one's tendencies, how his teeth, the canines at least, had been noticeably longer of late, how for the past week he had torn his dinner apart with his teeth. It was night as we talked thus, and the deck was dark and the wind was blowing. Suddenly he appeared in the doorway, his beard and hair blown, his eyes red from the wind. Climbing the two steps up from the galley, he seemed to arise from all fours, and everyone of us started, and felt the p.r.i.c.kle of erecting hairs. We had actually talked and thought ourselves into this pattern, and it took a while for it to wear off.

These mind things are very strong; in some, so strong as to blot out the external things completely.

18.

MARCH 28.

After the collecting on Coronado Island, on the twenty-seventh, and the preservation and labeling, we found that we were very tired. We had worked constantly. On the morning of the twenty-eighth we slept. It was a good thing, we told ourselves; the eyes grow weary with looking at new things; sleeping late, we said, has its genuine therapeutic value; we would be better for it, would be able to work more effectively. We have little doubt that all this was true, but we wish we could build as good a rationalization every time we are lazy. For in some beastly way this fine laziness has got itself a bad name. It is easy to see how it might have come into disrepute, if the result of laziness were hunger. But it rarely is. Hunger makes laziness impossible. It has even become sinful to be lazy. We wonder why. One could argue, particularly if one had a gift for laziness, that it is a relaxation pregnant of activity, a sense of rest from which directed effort may arise, whereas most busy-ness is merely a kind of nervous tic. We know a lady who is obsessed with the idea of ashes in an ashtray. She is not lazy. She spends a good half of her waking time making sure that no ashes remain in any ashtray, and to make sure of keeping busy she has a great many ashtrays. Another acquaintance, a man, straightens rugs and pictures and arranges books and magazines in neat piles. He is not lazy, either; he is very busy. To what end? If he should relax, perhaps with his feet up on a chair and a gla.s.s of cool beer beside him-not cold, but cool-if he should examine from this position a rumpled rug or a crooked picture, saying to himself between sips of beer (preferably Carta Blanca beer), "This rug irritates me for some reason. If it were straight, I should be comfortable; but there is only one straight position (and this is of course, only my own personal discipline of straightness) among all possible positions. I am, in effect, trying to impose my will, my insular sense of rightness, on a rug, which of itself can have no such sense, since it seems equally contented straight or crooked. Suppose I should try to straighten people," and here he sips deeply. "Helen C., for instance, is not neat, and Helen C."-here he goes into a reverie-"how beautiful she is with her hair messy, how lovely when she is excited and breathing through her mouth." Again he raises his gla.s.s, and in a few minutes he picks up the telephone. He is happy; Helen C. may be happy; and the rug is not disturbed at all.

How can such a process have become a shame and a sin? Only in laziness can one achieve a state of contemplation which is a balancing of values, a weighing of oneself against the world and the world against itself. A busy man cannot find time for such balancing. We do not think a lazy man can commit murders, nor great thefts, nor lead a mob. He would be more likely to think about it and laugh. And a nation of lazy contemplative men would be incapable of fighting a war unless their very laziness were attacked. Wars are the activities of busy-ness.

With such a background of reasoning, we slept until nine A.M. And then the engines started and we moved toward Concepcion Bay. The sea, with the exception of one blow outside of La Paz, had been very calm. This day, a little wind blew over the ultramarine water. The swordfish in great numbers jumped and played about us. We set up our lightest harpoon on the bow with a coil of cotton line beside it, and for hours we stood watch. The helmsman changed course again and again to try to bring the bow over a resting fish, but they seemed to wait until we were barely within throwing range and then they sounded so quickly that they seemed to snap from view. We made many wild casts and once we got the iron in, near the tail of a monster. But he flicked his tail and tore it out and was gone. We could see schools of leaping tuna all about us, and whenever we crossed the path of a school, our lines jumped and snapped under the strikes, and we brought the beautiful fish in.

We had set up a salt barrel near the stern, and we cut the fish into pieces and put them into brine to take home. It developed after we got home that several of us had added salt to the brine and the whole barrel was hopelessly salty and inedible.

As we turned Aguja Point and headed southward into the deep pocket of Concepcion Bay, we could see Mulege on the northern sh.o.r.e-a small town in a blistering country. We had no plan for stopping there, for the story is that the port charges are mischievous and ruinous. We do not know that this is so, but it is repeated about Mulege very often. Also, there may be malaria there. We had been following the trail of malaria for a long time. At the Cape they said there was no malaria there but at La Paz it was very serious. At La Paz, they said it was only at Loreto. At Loreto they declared that Mulege was full of it. And there it must remain, for we didn't stop at Mulege; so we do not know what the Mulegenos say about it. Later, we picked up the malaria on the other side, ran it down to Topolobambo, and left it there. We would say offhand, never having been to either place, that the malaria is very bad at Mulege and Topolobambo.

A strong, north-pointing peninsula is the outer boundary of Concepcion Bay. At the mouth it is three and a quarter miles wide and it extends twenty-two miles southward, varying in width from two to five miles. The eastern sh.o.r.e, along which we collected, is regular in outline, with steep beaches of sand and pebbles and billions of bleaching sh.e.l.ls and many clams and great snails. From the sh.o.r.e, the ascent is gradual toward mountains which ridge the little peninsula and protect this small gulf from the Gulf of California. Along the sh.o.r.e are many pools of very salty water, where thousands of fiddler crabs sit by their moist burrows and bubble as one approaches. The beach was beautiful with the pink and white sh.e.l.ls of the murex.52 Sparky found them so beautiful that he collected a washtubful of them and stored them in the hold. And even then, back in Monterey, he found he did not have enough for his friends. Sparky found them so beautiful that he collected a washtubful of them and stored them in the hold. And even then, back in Monterey, he found he did not have enough for his friends.

Behind the beach there was a little level land, sandy and dry and covered with cactus and thick brush. And behind that, the rising dry hills. Now again the wild doves were calling among the hills with their song of homesickness. The quality of longing in this sound, the memory response it sets up, is curious and strong. And it has also the quality of a dying day. One wishes to walk toward the sound-to walk on and on toward it, forgetting everything else. Undoubtedly there are sound symbols in the unconscious just as there are visual symbols-sounds that trigger off a response, a little spasm of fear, or a quick l.u.s.tfulness, or, as with the doves, a nostalgic sadness. Perhaps in our pre-humanity this sound of doves was a signal that the day was over and a night of terror due-a night which perhaps this time was permanent. Keyed to the visual symbol of the sinking sun and to the odor symbol of the cooling earth, these might all cause the little spasm of sorrow; and with the long response-history, one alone of these symbols might suffice for all three. The smell of a musking goat is not in our experience, but it is in some experience, for smelled faintly, or in perfume, it is not without its effect even on those who have not smelled the pa.s.sionate gland nor seen the play which follows its discharge. But some great group of shepherd peoples must have known this odor and its result, and must, from the goat's excitement, have taken a very strong suggestion. Even now, a city man is stirred deeply when he smells it in the perfume on a girl's hair. It may be thought that we produce no musk nor anything like it, but this we do not believe. One has the experience again and again of suddenly turning and following with one's eyes some particular girl among many girls, even trotting after her. She may not be beautiful, indeed, often is not. But what are the stimuli if not odors, perhaps above or below the conscious olfactory range? If one follows such an impulse to its conclusion, one is not often wrong. If there be visual symbols, strong and virile in the unconscious, there must be others planted by the other senses. The sensitive places, ball of thumb, ear-lobe, skin just below the ribs, thigh, and lip, must have their memories too. And smell of some spring flowers when the senses thaw, and smell of a ready woman, and smell of reptiles and smell of death, are deep in our unconscious. Sometimes we can say truly, "That man is going to die." Do we smell the disintegrating cells? Do we see the hair losing its l.u.s.ter and uneasy against the scalp, and the skin dropping its tone? We do not know these reactions one by one, but we say, that man or cat or dog or cow is going to die. If the fleas on a dog know it and leave their host in advance, why do not we also know it? Approaching death, the pre-death of the cells, has informed the fleas and us too.

The shallow water along the sh.o.r.e at Concepcion Bay was littered with sand dollars, two common species53 and one and one54 very rare. And in the same a.s.sociation, brilliant-red sponge arborescences very rare. And in the same a.s.sociation, brilliant-red sponge arborescences55 grew in loose stones in the sand or on the k.n.o.bs of old coral. These are the important horizon markers. On other rocks, imbedded in the sand, there were giant hachas, cl.u.s.tered over with tunicates and bearing on their sh.e.l.ls the usual small ophiurans and crabs. One of the masked rock-clams had on it a group of solitary corals. Close insh.o.r.e were many brilliant large snails, the living animals the sh.e.l.ls of which had so moved Sparky. In this area we collected from the skiff, leaning over the edge, bringing up animals in a dip-net or spearing them with a small trident, sometimes jumping overboard and diving for a heavier rock with a fine sponge growing on it. grew in loose stones in the sand or on the k.n.o.bs of old coral. These are the important horizon markers. On other rocks, imbedded in the sand, there were giant hachas, cl.u.s.tered over with tunicates and bearing on their sh.e.l.ls the usual small ophiurans and crabs. One of the masked rock-clams had on it a group of solitary corals. Close insh.o.r.e were many brilliant large snails, the living animals the sh.e.l.ls of which had so moved Sparky. In this area we collected from the skiff, leaning over the edge, bringing up animals in a dip-net or spearing them with a small trident, sometimes jumping overboard and diving for a heavier rock with a fine sponge growing on it.

The ice we had taken aboard at La Paz was all gone now. We started our little motor and ran it for hours to cool the ice-chest, but the heat on deck would not permit it to drop the temperature below about thirty-eight degrees F., and the little motor struggled and died often, apparently hating to run in such heat. It sounded tired and sweaty and disgusted. When the evening came, we had fried fish, caught that day, and after dark we lighted the deck and put our reflecting lamp over the side. We netted a serpent-like eel, thinking from its slow, writhing movement through the water that it might be one of the true viperine sea-snakes which are common farther south. Also we captured some flying fish.

We used long-handled dip-nets in the lighted water, and set up the enameled pans so that the small pelagic animals could be dropped directly into them. The groups in the pans grew rapidly. There were heteronereis heteronereis (the free stages of otherwise crawling worms who develop paddle-like tails upon s.e.xual maturity). There were swimming crabs, other free-swimming annelids, and ribbon-fish which could not be seen at all, so perfectly transparent were they. We should not have known they were there, if they had not thrown faint shadows on the bottom of the pans. Placed in alcohol, they lost their transparency and could easily be seen. The pans became crowded with little skittering animals, for each net brought in many species. When the hooded light was put down very near the water, the smallest animals came to it and scurried about in a dizzying dance so rapidly that they seemed to draw crazy lines in the water. Then the small fishes began to dart in and out, snapping up this concentration, and farther out in the shadows the large wise fishes cruised, occasionally swooping and gobbling the small fishes. Several more of the cream-colored spotted snake-eels wriggled near and were netted. They were very snake-like and they had small bright-blue eyes. They did not swim with a beating tail as fishes do, but rather squirmed through the water. (the free stages of otherwise crawling worms who develop paddle-like tails upon s.e.xual maturity). There were swimming crabs, other free-swimming annelids, and ribbon-fish which could not be seen at all, so perfectly transparent were they. We should not have known they were there, if they had not thrown faint shadows on the bottom of the pans. Placed in alcohol, they lost their transparency and could easily be seen. The pans became crowded with little skittering animals, for each net brought in many species. When the hooded light was put down very near the water, the smallest animals came to it and scurried about in a dizzying dance so rapidly that they seemed to draw crazy lines in the water. Then the small fishes began to dart in and out, snapping up this concentration, and farther out in the shadows the large wise fishes cruised, occasionally swooping and gobbling the small fishes. Several more of the cream-colored spotted snake-eels wriggled near and were netted. They were very snake-like and they had small bright-blue eyes. They did not swim with a beating tail as fishes do, but rather squirmed through the water.

While we worked on the deck, we put down crab-nets on the bottom, baiting them with heads and entrails of the fish we had had for dinner. When we pulled them up they were loaded with large stalk-eyed snails56 and with sea-urchins having long vicious spines. and with sea-urchins having long vicious spines.57 The colder-water relatives of both these animals are very slow-moving, but these moved quickly and were completely voracious. A net left down five minutes was brought up with at least twenty urchins in it, and all attacking the bait. In addition to the speed with which they move, these urchins are clever and sensitive with their spines. When approached, the long sharp little spears all move and aim their points at the approaching body until the animal is armed like a Macedonian phalanx. The main shafts of the spines were cream-yellowish-white, but a half-inch from the needle-points they were blue-black. The p.r.i.c.k of one of the points burned like a bee-sting. They seemed to live in great numbers at four fathoms; we do not know their depth range, but their physical abilities and their voraciousness would indicate a rather wide one. In the same nets we took several dromiaceous crabs, reminiscent of hermits, which had adjusted themselves to life in half the sh.e.l.l of a bivalve, and had changed their body shapes accordingly. The colder-water relatives of both these animals are very slow-moving, but these moved quickly and were completely voracious. A net left down five minutes was brought up with at least twenty urchins in it, and all attacking the bait. In addition to the speed with which they move, these urchins are clever and sensitive with their spines. When approached, the long sharp little spears all move and aim their points at the approaching body until the animal is armed like a Macedonian phalanx. The main shafts of the spines were cream-yellowish-white, but a half-inch from the needle-points they were blue-black. The p.r.i.c.k of one of the points burned like a bee-sting. They seemed to live in great numbers at four fathoms; we do not know their depth range, but their physical abilities and their voraciousness would indicate a rather wide one. In the same nets we took several dromiaceous crabs, reminiscent of hermits, which had adjusted themselves to life in half the sh.e.l.l of a bivalve, and had changed their body shapes accordingly.

It is probable that no animal tissue ever decays in this water. The furious appet.i.tes which abound would make it unlikely that a dead animal, or even a hurt animal, should last more than a few moments. There would be quick death for the quick animal which became slow, for the sh.e.l.led animal which opened at the wrong time, for the fierce animal which grew timid. It would seem that the penalty for a mistake or an error would be instant death and there would be no second chance.

It would have been good to keep some of the sensitive urchins alive and watch their method of getting about and their method of attack. Indeed, we will never go again without a full-sized observation aquarium into which we can put interesting animals and keep them for some time. The aquaria taken were made with polarized gla.s.s. Thus, the fish could look out but we could not look in. This, it turned out, was an error on our part.

There are three ways of seeing animals: dead and preserved; in their own habitats for the short time of a low tide; and for long periods in an aquarium. The ideal is all three. It is only after long observation that one comes to know the animal at all. In his natural place one can see the normal life, but in an aquarium it is possible to create abnormal conditions and to note the animal's adaptability or lack of it. As an example of this third method of observation, we can use a few notes made during observation of a small colony of anemones in an aquarium. We had them for a number of months.

In their natural place in the tide pool they are thick and close to the rock. When the tide covers them they extend their beautiful tentacles and with their nettle-cells capture and eat many microorganisms. When a powerful animal, a small crab for example, touches them, they paralyze it and fold it into the stomach, beginning the digestive process before the animal is dead, and in time ejecting the sh.e.l.l and other indigestible matter. On being touched by an enemy, they fold in upon themselves for protection. We brought a group of these on their own stone into the laboratory and placed them in an aquarium. Cooled and oxygenated sea water was sprayed into the aquarium to keep them alive. Then we gave them various kinds of food, and found that they do not respond to simple touch-stimulus on the tentacles, but have something which is at least a vague parallel to taste-buds, whatever may be the chemical or mechanical method. Thus, protein food was seized by the tentacles, taken and eaten without hesitation; fat was touched gingerly, taken without enthusiasm to the stomach, and immediately rejected; starches were not taken at all-the tentacles touched starchy food and then ignored it. Sugars, if concentrated, seemed actually to burn them so that the tentacles moved away from contact. There did really appear to be a chemical method of differentiation and choice. We circulated the same sea water again and again, only cooling and freshening it. Pure oxygen, introduced into the stomach in bubbles, caused something like drunkenness; the animal relaxed and its reaction to touch was greatly slowed, and sometimes completely stopped for a while. But the reaction to chemical stimulus remained active, although slower. In time, all the microscopic food was removed from the water through constant circulation past the anemones, and then the animals began to change their shapes. Their bodies, which had been thick and fat, grew long and neck-like; from a normal inch in length, they changed to three inches long and very slender. We suspected this was due to starvation. Then one day, after three months, we dropped a small crab into the aquarium. The anemones, moving on their new long necks, bent over and attacked the crab, striking downward like slow snakes. Their normal reaction would have been to close up and draw in their tentacles, but these animals had changed their pattern in hunger, and now we found that when touched on the body, even down near the base, they moved downward, curving on their stalks, while their tentacles hungrily searched for food. There seemed even to be compet.i.tion among the individuals, a thing we have never seen in a tide pool among anemones. This versatility had never been observed by us and is not mentioned in any of the literature we have seen.

The aquarium is a very valuable extension of sh.o.r.e observation. Quick-eyed, timid animals soon become used to having humans about, and quite soon conduct their business under lights. If we could have put our sensitive urchins in an aquarium, we could have seen how it is that they move so rapidly and how they are stimulated to aim their points at an approaching body. But we preserved them, and of course they lost color and dropped many of their beautiful sharp spines. Also, we could have seen how the great snails are able to consume animal tissue so quickly. As it is, we do not know these things.

19.

MARCH 29.

Tides had been giving us trouble, for we were now far enough up the Gulf so that the tidal run had to be taken into time consideration. In the evening we had set up a flagged stake at the waterline, so that with gla.s.ses we could see from the deck the rise and fall of the tide in relation to the stick. At seven-thirty in the morning the tide was going down from our marker. We had abandoned our tide charts as useless by now, and since we stayed such a short time at each station we could not make new ones. The irregular length of our jumps made it impossible for us to forecast with accuracy from a preceding station. Besides all this, a good, leisurely state of mind had come over us which had nothing to do with the speed and duration of our work. It is very possible to work hard and fast in a leisurely manner, or to work slowly and clumsily with great nervousness.

On this day, the sun glowing on the morning beach made us feel good. It reminded us of Charles Darwin, who arrived late at night on the Beagle Beagle in the Bay of Valparaiso. In the morning he awakened and looked ash.o.r.e and he felt so well that he wrote, "When morning came everything appeared delightful. After Tierra del Fuego, the climate felt quite delicious, the atmosphere so dry and the heavens so clear and blue with the sun s.h.i.+ning brightly, that all nature seemed sparkling with life." in the Bay of Valparaiso. In the morning he awakened and looked ash.o.r.e and he felt so well that he wrote, "When morning came everything appeared delightful. After Tierra del Fuego, the climate felt quite delicious, the atmosphere so dry and the heavens so clear and blue with the sun s.h.i.+ning brightly, that all nature seemed sparkling with life."58 Darwin was not saying how it was with Valparaiso, but rather how it was with him. Being a naturalist, he said, "All nature seemed sparkling with life," but actually it was he who was sparkling. He felt so very fine that he can, in these charged though general adjectives, translate his ecstasy over a hundred years to us. And we can feel how he stretched his muscles in the morning air and perhaps took off his hat-we hope a bowler-and tossed it and caught it. Darwin was not saying how it was with Valparaiso, but rather how it was with him. Being a naturalist, he said, "All nature seemed sparkling with life," but actually it was he who was sparkling. He felt so very fine that he can, in these charged though general adjectives, translate his ecstasy over a hundred years to us. And we can feel how he stretched his muscles in the morning air and perhaps took off his hat-we hope a bowler-and tossed it and caught it.

On this morning, we felt the same way at Concepcion Bay. "Everything appeared delightful." The tiny waves slid up and down the beach, hardly breaking at all; out in the Bay the pelicans were fis.h.i.+ng, flying along and then folding their wings and falling in their clumsy-appearing dives, which nevertheless must be effective, else there would be no more pelicans.

By nine A.M. the water was well down, and by ten seemed to have pa.s.sed low and to be flowing again. We went ash.o.r.e and followed the tide down. The beach is steep for a short distance, and then levels out to a gradual slope. We took two species of cake urchins which commingled at one-half to one and one-half feet of water at low tide. The ordinary cake urchin here, with holes, is Encope californica Encope californica Verrill. The grotesquely beautiful keyhole sand dollar Verrill. The grotesquely beautiful keyhole sand dollar59 was very common here. Finally, there was a rare member of the same group, was very common here. Finally, there was a rare member of the same group,60 which we collected unknowingly, and turned out only three individuals of the species when the animals were separated on deck. A little deeper, about two feet submerged, at low tide, a species of cuc.u.mber new to us was taken, a flat, sand-encrusted fellow. which we collected unknowingly, and turned out only three individuals of the species when the animals were separated on deck. A little deeper, about two feet submerged, at low tide, a species of cuc.u.mber new to us was taken, a flat, sand-encrusted fellow.61 Giant heart-urchins Giant heart-urchins62 in some places were available in the thousands. They ranged between two feet and three feet below the surface at low water, and very few were deeper. The greatest number occurred at three feet. in some places were available in the thousands. They ranged between two feet and three feet below the surface at low water, and very few were deeper. The greatest number occurred at three feet.

The sh.o.r.e line here is much like that at Puget Sound: in the high littoral is a foresh.o.r.e of gravel to pebbles to small rocks; in the low littoral, gravelly sand and fine sand with occasional stones below the low tide level. In this zone, with a maximum at four feet, were heavy groves of algae, presumably Sarga.s.sum, Sarga.s.sum, lush and tall, extending to the surface. Except for the lack of eel-gra.s.s, it might have been Puget Sound. We took giant stalk-eyed conchs, lush and tall, extending to the surface. Except for the lack of eel-gra.s.s, it might have been Puget Sound. We took giant stalk-eyed conchs,63 several species of holothurians and Cerianthus, the sand anemone whose head is beautiful but whose encased body is very ugly, like rotting gray cloth. Tiny christened several species of holothurians and Cerianthus, the sand anemone whose head is beautiful but whose encased body is very ugly, like rotting gray cloth. Tiny christened Cerianthus Cerianthus "sloppy-guts," and the name stuck. By diving, we took a number of hachas, the huge mussel-like clams. Their sh.e.l.ls were encrusted with sponges and tunicates under which small crabs and snapping shrimps hid themselves. Large scalloped limpets also were attached to the sh.e.l.ls of the hachas. This creature closes itself so tightly with its big adductor muscle that a knife cannot penetrate it and the sh.e.l.l will break before the muscle will relax. The best method for opening them is to place them in a bucket of water and, when they open a little, to introduce a sharp, thin-bladed knife and sever the muscle quickly. A finger caught between the closing sh.e.l.ls would probably be injured. In many of the hachas we found large, pale, commensal shrimps "sloppy-guts," and the name stuck. By diving, we took a number of hachas, the huge mussel-like clams. Their sh.e.l.ls were encrusted with sponges and tunicates under which small crabs and snapping shrimps hid themselves. Large scalloped limpets also were attached to the sh.e.l.ls of the hachas. This creature closes itself so tightly with its big adductor muscle that a knife cannot penetrate it and the sh.e.l.l will break before the muscle will relax. The best method for opening them is to place them in a bucket of water and, when they open a little, to introduce a sharp, thin-bladed knife and sever the muscle quickly. A finger caught between the closing sh.e.l.ls would probably be injured. In many of the hachas we found large, pale, commensal shrimps64 living in the folds of the body. They are soft-bodied and apparently live there always. living in the folds of the body. They are soft-bodied and apparently live there always.

About noon we got under way for San Lucas Cove, and as usual did our preserving and labeling while the boat was moving. Some of the sand dollars we killed in formalin and then set in the sun to dry, and many more we preserved in formaldehyde solution in a small barrel. We had taken a great many of them. Sparky had, by now, filled several sacks with the fine white rose-lined murex sh.e.l.ls, explaining, as though he were asked for an explanation, that they would be nice for lining a garden path. In reality, he simply loved them and wanted to have them about.

We pa.s.sed Mulege, that malaria-ridden town, that town of high port fees-so far as we know-and it looked gay against the mountains, red-roofed and white-walled. We wished we were going ash.o.r.e there, but the wall of our own resolve kept us out, for we had said, "We will not stop at Mulege," and having said it, we could not overcome our own decision. Sparky and Tiny looked longingly at it as we pa.s.sed; they had come to like the quick excursions into little towns: they found that their Italian was understood for any purposes they had in mind. It was their practice to wander through the streets, carrying their cameras, and in a very short time they had friends. Tony and Tex were foreigners, but Tiny and Sparky were very much at home in the little towns-and they never inquired whose home. This was not reticence, but rather a native tactfulness.

Now that we were engaged in headland navigating, Tiny's and Sparky's work at the wheel had improved, and except when they chased a swordfish (which was fairly often) we were not off course more than two or three times during their watch. They had abandoned the compa.s.s with relief and blue water was no longer thrust upon them.

At about this time it was discovered that Tex was getting fat, and inasmuch as he was to be married soon after his return, we decided to diet him and put him in a marrying condition. He protested feebly when we cut off his food, and for three days he sneaked food and stole food and cozened us out of food. During the three days of his diet, he probably ate twice as much as he did before, but the idea that he was starving made him so hungry that at the end of the third day he said he couldn't stand it any longer, and he ate a dinner that nearly killed him. Actually, with his thefts of food he had picked up a few pounds during his diet, but always afterwards he shuddered at the memory of those three days. He said, "A man doesn't feel his best when he is starving" and he asked what good it would do him to be married if he were weak and sick.

At five P.M. on March 29 we arrived at San Lucas Cove and anch.o.r.ed outside. The cove, a deep salt-water lagoon, guarded by a large sandspit, has an entrance that might mave been deep enough for us to enter, but the current is strong and there were no previous soundings available. Besides, Tony was nervous about taking his boat into such places. There was another reason for anchoring outside; in the open Gulf where the breeze moves there are no bugs, while if one anchors in still water near the mangroves little visitors come and spend the night. There is one small, beetle-like black fly which crawls down into bed with you and has a liking for very tender places. We had suffered from this fellow when the wind blew over the mangroves to us. This bug hates light, but finds security and happiness under the bedding, nestling over one's kidneys, munching contentedly. His bite leaves a fiery itch; his collective soul is roasting in h.e.l.l, if we have any influence in the court of Heaven. After one experience with him, we anch.o.r.ed always a little farther out.

When we came to San Lucas, the tide was flowing and the little channel was a mill-race. It would be necessary to wait for the morning tide. We were eager to see whether on this sandbar, so perfectly situated, we could not find amphioxus, that most primitive of vertebrates. As we dropped anchor a large shark cruised about us, his fin high above the water. We shot at him with a pistol and one shot went through his fin. He cut away like a razor blade and we could hear the hiss of the water. What incredible speed sharks can make when they hurry! We wonder how their greatest speed compares with that of a porpoise. The variations in speed among individuals of these fast-swimming species must be very great too. There must be incredible sharks, like Man o' War or Charlie Paddock, which make other sharks seem slow.

That night we hung the light over the side again and captured some small squid, the usual heteronereis, heteronereis, a number of free-swimming crustacea, quant.i.ties of crab larvae and the transparent ribbon-fish again. The boys developed a technique for catching flying fish: one jabbed at it with a net, making it fly into the net of another. But even in the nets they were not caught, for they struggled and fluttered away with ease. That night we had a mild celebration of some minor event which did not seem important enough to remember. The pans of animals were still lying on the deck and one of our members, confusing Epsom salts with cracker-crumbs, tried to anesthetize a large pan of holothurians with cracker-meal. The resulting thick paste seemed to have no narcotic qualities whatever. a number of free-swimming crustacea, quant.i.ties of crab larvae and the transparent ribbon-fish again. The boys developed a technique for catching flying fish: one jabbed at it with a net, making it fly into the net of another. But even in the nets they were not caught, for they struggled and fluttered away with ease. That night we had a mild celebration of some minor event which did not seem important enough to remember. The pans of animals were still lying on the deck