David Binney Putnam

“ I saw three sea lions, two huge crawfish, or speckled lobsters, many sharks, and lots of different kinds of small fish. I stayed right in the little bay because it was so hard walking around on the lava, which was just like clinkers.
This day the groupers, big heavy rock fish, were so hungry they even attacked the moving propeller of Bill’s evinrude engine and when he shook his sock at them they actually grabbed it. I would not want to jump over near that shore. I believe the big groupers would attack a man. We saw more big devil fish jumping near here than at any other place. ”

“ We went up a lovely stream bed one day from Chatham Bay. We pulled ourselves up rocks and around bad places and stepped into deep pools sometimes up to our necks. We had gone at least a mile and a half up the river, climbing steadily, when we came to a beautiful little cascade that fell down a cliff about seventy feet high. I was catching small blue crayfish in the pool at the foot of it when I lost my balance and fell down onto a jagged rock. ”

“ My main idea is to get birds’ eggs. Gulls’ nests are mostly on the rocks of the cliffs, doves build on the lava rock on the ground or in little crevasses, mocking birds in low bushes or the cactus trees or shrubs, and the big boobies and frigate birds make ugly twig nests about two or three feet from the ground, [48] the greater number of them nearer the shore, although I did see some on my way up to the crater lake that Dwight had discovered in the center of the island, and these were in higher trees. There was one big nest right on the lava rock under a tree. ”

“ Most of these fish die when they are brought to the surface, for under the water there is a great pressure on them and when this is released by coming to the surface they explode or all come to pieces.
One night we were on the gangway, Uncle Will, Ruth Rose, Serge and myself and all of a sudden a great big squid came up and made a kind of “Ha—aa.” He tried his best [18] to take hold of the net with which Serge tried to grab at him, and put his huge tentacles out of the water. He was a sickly whitish color. ”

“ The next day when the big net was put over, we caught a lot of different things, tiny fish, glacous, salpa and others. At night the deep net again brought in new ones and many of the first ones again except that many of these specimens were bright red. It is [17] queer but many of the deep sea things are red like the shrimps, or else have the power to change to red, like a small squid which was white one minute and bright red the next, when he seemed to get angry and scurry around. ”

“ This bright light attracts the fish in great numbers. At Hood the flying fish were very plentiful, and a large size—ten or twelve inches long, with lovely pinkish purple wings or fins. One night I harpooned enough for breakfast for the crowd. [69]
The fish seem to get quite crazy with the light and they dart around cracking themselves against the boats and the shipside. To add to the excitement, sea lions come skimming by and snatch at the wounded ones gulping them down and stuffing themselves on more. One big sea lion came close enough to the gangway for me to reach over and touch him. ”

“ The land is absolutely all lava rock and cactus and stiff prickly bushes which makes climbing around very difficult. I made a fine collection of shells that I found on the beach. [36]
Several times I went ashore in the evening with the crew, and one night two of the men had an awful fight. Just the few of us were on this desert beach alone, and it reminded me of a story that Darwin told in his Cruise of the Beagle nearly a hundred years ago. He went to a little lake on one island and saw there the skull of a captain who had been murdered by his crew there many years before. ”

“ The lagoons are fresh rain water and in places climbing up the mountains it seems like half dried stream beds or water courses—rocks and muddy places between, and then great terraces of tuffa rock, a very sharp lava rock which is hard to climb over. ”

“ It fits on the shoulders and there is an air space inside so one can breathe. Then fresh air is pumped in by a hand pump, and whole flocks of bubbles keep rising to the surface coming out from under your arm pits.
Uncle Will is the best one at it for he has used it most and goes down oftenest. It can be used at any depth a man can stand pressure, and of course the deeper down, the stronger the pressure, and one feels this especially in [54] the ears. They buzz and hurt as though someone was pushing on them. ”

“ There is air in front of your eyes so you can see just as perfectly as when you are on the surface. Whole crowds of tiny fishes swim by, many of them different colors and very bright. Pink, or green, or blue, or silvery or striped ones. ”

“ Isabel Cooper is the scientific artist. She has been on many other expeditions and made many wonderful pictures. On this trip she [8] did over two hundred water color drawings of fish.
In the Pulpit at the Bow.
The Arcturus has two huge cables, one seven miles long, for hauling in the big trawls. These are put down over the side and held out while the ship goes slowly along at half speed. Sometimes the cable goes out as much as three miles and often the sea is over a mile deep below us.
There are thirty-eight in the crew and eighteen members of the expedition. ”

“ There is a fine tunnel right through the rock in one place, going fully a hundred yards through a point of land to another bay quite round the corner. Don went through it in his little dugout canoe which he bought in Panama and Tamms, the third mate, went in his motor skiff with the Johnson engine.
In one little bay beyond the settlement we found a hole twenty feet deep where Captain Gissler or someone else had dug for treasure. Don and Dwight went down it on a rope and only found a board and a piece of rope there. ”

“ The little black water lizards do not bite and are almost gentle when you catch them.
There is another kind of lizard here, much smaller, with bright red heads and dull gray bodies.
These Lizards Bite if They Get a Chance.
These animals and birds and sea lions have seen so few people that they are not afraid at all and we went right up very close to many of them.
As it is right on the Equator the sun’s glare is very bright and so hot that for the first few days all of us were very badly sunburned [27] and blistered ”

“ When the dredge is coming in we stand around to see what it brings up. For two hours the cable will be coming in and winding up on the huge drum by machinery, then at [81] last the net shows under the water. Everyone hurries to the side and holds dishes or buckets or tubs of water into which to dump specimens.
And the crew help, one at the engine, one oiling wire as it winds on the drum, and two or three of us beating the cable with heavy clubs to shake off the water as much as possible to keep it from rusting. ”

“ Don’s Famous Cutlass.
But there were always other nets, the one metre net, the half metre and the Blake dredge. A metre is a little over three feet. Once in the morning and once every afternoon these went over, and there was always great excitement about it. There were some fine rich hauls. [106]
In about the best haul there were two tubs of deep sea fish from bottom—black and queer looking, some with long pointed tails without a tail fin, some eels, black with pointed heads, and a lot of funny little fish like sharks only with bright green eyes. ”

“ There was a lot of pumice which is a very light stone, kind of pale gray or whitish in color. It comes from the volcanoes, like the lava. Sometimes when you step into it you sink right up to your knees. It is so light it floats on the water. It is fine for cleaning stains off your hands. [43]
At about two thirty or so they came back to the shore again and Uncle Will had such terrible cramps in his legs he could hardly stand. They said that they only went to the nearest place from which the smoke was coming. ”

“ Early in the voyage several nets were lost because they twisted off from the cable. And one was cut off by the propellers. [75]
Next we feed the animals. The mocking birds have crumbs, the lizards are forcibly fed with bits of bread and water, the two very lovely albatrosses eat fish which is kept on the ice for them. These are now at the New York Zoological Park in the Bronx. I hope they like it there. And the little fish in the aquarium are given the “crumbs” from the nightly plankton nets. The nice little penguin died although for days he came out and had a swim, then gobbled up fish. ”

“ Don Dickerman bought three dugouts from a native fisherman in Panama, and he also got two monkeys, a Cebus, a marmoset, and a cunning little monkey-like animal called a kinkaiu, which goes out mostly at night. This last little one was very soft and furry and was very gentle too. He curled himself and tried to keep in the dark all day, sleeping. I hope I can buy one some time for I like him better than the other pets.
Bobbie Fish bought a little pet called a coatamundi. We call him “Snootie” for his upper lip is long and sticks out over his lower. ”

“ Every once in a while they flip themselves right out of the water and turn a complete somersault. Sometimes they do this three times in succession. One of the biggest ones we struck with our bow and neatly turned it over.
The Frigate Birds are Unbelievably Tame.
When we landed on the little beach we saw many of these frigate birds on their nests, boobies, gulls, and the cutest little doves. They seemed so tame. They were always fighting for each other’s twigs in their nests and as soon as a bird left her nest another bird came and stole a twig and flew away with it. ”

“ Uncle Will named the two volcanoes Mt. Williams and Mt. Whiton, after Mr. Harrison Williams and Mr. Henry D. Whiton, two gentlemen who helped most in making the Arcturus trip possible.
The volcano was erupting on the slope of the mountain, not on the top, and there were many other little places from which smoke and cinders were coming through besides just the one big crater. At night when the fire [44] showed more in the dark it looked like trains of brightly lighted cars running down the mountain side. ”

“ Mother and Doctor Cady were trolling for big fish and suddenly Mother had a terrific hard pull, and for half an hour she had to “play” a tuna. It was 46 inches long, and weighed 46 pounds.
Soon after they saw a great long fin moving slowly along and when they came near found a big flat fish like a skate, slowly skimming just below the surface so that only his two fins came above the water. They followed him around and actually herded him over towards Bill and Dwight in another boat. [120]
Next morning Don and Dwight and Doc went out to find one with two harpoons, plenty of rope and two kegs. ”

“ For there are only one or two men to be seen the whole time and one in an engine house turns a handle and the locks open, fill with water, take us in, lift us up, and then set us out upon a higher level into another lock, or the lake. ”

“ A mate stood on the top of the gangway, a life preserver on a long line in the water in case someone fell overboard, and then one by one five men went out on the boom, to the end, down the rope ladder, into a tangled up and bouncing boat, and then rowed it aft to be hoisted up by other men onto the ship. ”

“ This boom has two railings tied to the bottom plank so one can walk out there and fish or haul in nets or go down the rope ladder. [7] Sometimes when the ship rolls a lot the end goes right under the water. And out from the bow a pulpit is hung, a strong wire cage-like thing in which we can stand for harpooning or catching floating objects as we pass. To get down to the pulpit you climb down a rope ladder. When it’s rough it’s pretty exciting. ”

“ There are lots of sea lions on the beaches and in the coves around the rocks. You may get almost close enough to touch them. Isabel Cooper, who is not afraid of anything, crept near enough to pat one old bull on the flipper. ”

“ Dwight Franklin harpooned a big ray along the shore of the beach, and lost the harpoon. Afterwards we saw the handle going along the surface. He got four other rays, but never caught the one that had gone off with the harpoon handle. We saw spotted rays, brown ones, red ones and black ones.
At night when we are at anchor, there are two great arc lights lowered over the ship’s side, one over the boom and one above the gangway. ”

“ And many of them run around, without a thing on, stark naked funny little black children.
We drove out to Old Panama one day, and saw the ruins of what used to be the richest city in the New World. All the pirates knew this was a very rich city and full of treasures. [86] Gold was brought there from Peru and then shipped to Spain on Spanish ships.
Inspecting a Deep-Sea Haul.
In 1637 Henry Morgan, a famous English pirate and adventurer, came across the isthmus and attacked the city of Old Panama. ”

“ The shrimps, the starfish and the cucumbers are different colors, reddish, yellowish white, purple, and even a bright bluish one came up.
[83]
[Contents]
PANAMA
[85]
Panama is crowded with Blacks, Indians, Hindus, Spanish, and many Chinese. The streets are narrow and full of people all the time. The stores open right upon the streets, and all the houses are built at the edge of the sidewalk with balconies on the upper stories out over the sidewalk. ”