Sunday 15 February 1953 Course 138° Flat sea. Little breeze. No white caps. A quiet morning. Geoff and I are reading on the flying bridge. Sun not high enough to drive us down. 11:00 A.M. Have been timing flying fish. 1 out of water 22 seconds by count. Another paralleled course of ship for 5 sec and held even . dist traveled = 557 feet (using 15 knots as speed of ship). The 22 sec fish was 10-12" long. Have been reading Henshaw Ward's "Charles Darwin" this A.M. It is giving me a better insight into his work and the stage of scientific thought early in the 19th century than any book I have ever read. Temp 11:45 A.M. 73°F wet; 81° dry. Ship's noon 11:45 A.M. Lat 17° 55'N Long 82° 53'W Course 140°T. Dist 321 mi. St. time 24 hrs. Av Sp 13.37 K. Wind SE 3mi, Sea SE slight. Total time 2 d 18 hr 45 min. To Cristobal 552, Houston 943 mi. 3:00 P.M. Course 144° —145° Gannet flew over ship(easterly) black 1's and 2's. Wrote letters. Studied stars. Moon a thin crescent; set about 7:30. Venus has been very bright & makes a light path on sea. The north star is sinking and Orion is almost overhead. Monday 16 February 1953 Course 172° Should be in neighborhood of Colombian islands of San Andres and Providence this morning. Changed course during night and we are rolling a bit this A.M. Moderate breeze. Few puffy cumulus clouds on horizon. No birds. Temp 9:00 A.M. Wet 76° Dry 81° We will not pass within sight of islands— 50 to 60 mi off. 9:50 A.M. First Man-of-War bird over ship—soaring away to West. Lat 13° 06'N; long 80° 27'W. Dist by obs 328 mi. St. time 24 hrs; Av SP 13.66 K. Wind E 3; sea E slight. T.T. 3 d 18 hr 45 min. To Cristobal 224; Houston 1271 mi, Tuesday 17 February 1953 Panama in sight at 6:00A.M. Fruit boat and Spanish freighter ahead of us. Mountains shrouded in clouds. A hazy sunrise. Coming in thru narrow breakwater passage about 7:15 A.M. A dozen ships at anchor—saw first ships flying the "Red Duster" (British merchant flag). We had no birds following as we neared port. One Jaeger outside; many laughing gulls inside; 2 or 3 jaegers; frigate birds; vultures, caspian tern. Tied up at very modern oil and coal wharf. Town only 200 yds away by water but 3 miles by land ! Mail came aboard. Went birding ashore: catbird; med sized flycatchers (gray & yellow); small, white line over eye, grey throat, yellow underpts; hummingbird —green highlights over head back & wings, mixed with brownish, long decurved bill (2 x s head); Med size dove (soft pinkish brown); reddish bird like cardinal; small dark bird—poor look at last birds. Found small mud flat with small sandpipers, red dragonflies & grey and yellow flycatchers. Boat-tailed grockles on wharf. Little blue heron on rocks. Spotted sandpiper—waterfront of Colon. A line of leaf-cutting ants walking along railroad track. Black termite nests in a few trees. Talked with gateman (Mr. Coleman) for a few minutes (a conservationist at heart—feeds birds)(WROTE KAY ANOTHER LETTER - HAVE 14 LETTERS TO MAIL!) Geoff and I taxied to town at 2:30 to Post Office. Today is last day of 4 fiesta days. Geoff walked home. I followed one group of singers, dancers, maracas &