This note was adapted from a description of the item by the seller, Johnson Rare Books & Archives

A highly detailed, typed travel diary of the first two exploratory trips to the Galapagos islands undertaken between 1931 and 1933 by a scientific team aboard the Velero III, dubbed a "floating laboratory" because of its cutting-edge research equipment and its owner's devotion to scientific exploration.

The ship was built and captained by George Allan Hancock, who inherited Rancho La Brea and made his fortune in oil. He developed a scientific interest through excavations at the La Brea Tar Pits on his ranch. From 1931 until 1941, his research vessel largely collected marine invertebrate zoology between San Francisco and Peru. Hancock Hall at the University of Southern California was built as a repository for the massive collection and data collected on these voyages.

This diary of 131 pages was kept by John Garth, who began his association with Velero III as an undergraduate at USC, where he was a music major. He was selected to accompany the first trip in 1931 as a musician, but soon began working as a research assistant and as a result, ended up pursuing a doctorate in marine biology and enjoying a lifelong affiliation with USC.

The first three-pages of the travel log include the signatures of the other crew members, who included the ship's captain and benefactor, George Allan Hancock; Alvin Seale of the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco; Leo G. Hertlein of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco: George C. "Seagirt" Stone of Carmel; Grant Stone of Carmel; Herman Marsh of Santa Maria; Edwin Palmer of Hollywood; Cy B. Perkins of Denver; D.W. Wurtsbaugh, retired U.S. Navy Captain from Los Angeles; W. Chas Swett of Hollywood, who served as chief mate and cameraman; Mrs. W. Chas. Swett of Hollywood; and Helen Leaf Morgan of Los Angeles. Also mentioned on the first trip was Karl Koch and, on the second trip, Wald S. Schmidt, from the U.S. National Museum, in Washington, D.C.

Garth's detailed log lists the 23 collecting stations visited on the first voyage, along with the dates they visited, a list of accomplishments on the expedition, and his own personal accomplishments. For example, he participated in the discovery of a new freshwater fish named Agonostomus hancocki in a stream flowing into Freshwater Bay. He noted among his personal accomplishments skinning and preparing 35 bird skins from Cocos and Galapagos islands. In his journal, he wrote about this on January 6, 1932: "After spending two hours skinning a pair of oyster catchers which Capt. Wurtzy had shot at Narborough, I was not glad to see another bird brought in by the bloodthirsty crew. But since it was a beautiful specimen of Galapagos hawk, I donned overalls again and skinned from five to eleven, with time out for dinner and music. Stomach contents were 14 grasshoppers and two centipedes."

Earlier in the trip, Garth recorded a humorous story about the purchase of a monkey on Christmas Eve. "Karl had been instructed by Capt. Hancock to buy the monkey he had seen the day before. The price was $8. Karl's bargaining was a treat. The conversation follows:

Karl: How much did you want for this monkey?

Dealer: Eight dollars

Karl: You mean eight dollars silver?

Dealer: No. Eight dollars in gold. I paid twelve in silver.

Karl: That equals six dollars in gold. You paid too much. In Corinto those monkeys are given away as little gifts.

Dealer: This monkey can dance. (He demonstrated having the monkey dance.)

Karl: But who wants a dancing monkey? In the States we dance with girls, not monkeys. I'll give you six dollars and fifteen cents.

Dealer: But I paid six dollars in gold.

Karl: That is better than six dollars and ten cents. If you do not sell the monkey to me it may die, and then you would be losing six dollars.

After much more bargaining, Karl finally pays the dealer $6.50 in gold, which he procures from one of the crew."

On the second expedition a year later, recorded in this diary, Garth recalls visiting the Austrian Baroness Elois von Wagner, who moved to Floreana Island with her two "swains" intent on building a hotel. She ended up as one of the victims in a mysterious murder mystery. Garth wrote about the disorder of her retreat. "The baroness speaks eight languages, has lived in Vienna, Paris, and Constantinople, and according to Mr. Swett, has good connections in Hollywood. She has, however, no ideas of good housekeeping nor sanitation and we shuddered at the filth in which they live. Her passion for cats and the way in which she fed a kitten by 'regurgitation' of canned milk which she herself warmed in her mouth before transferring to the feline's was most repulsive."

Most of the journal is filled with descriptions of the landscape and the species they encounter on their explorations. On January 24, 1933, at Hood Island, he wrote about capturing a live albatross: "I was astonished to see a huge bird flapping in the midst of a colony of boobies. The sight was so unexpected that, for the moment, I forgot about the albatrosses and wondered what the commotion might be. Sterling appeared in time to assist by preventing the bird from reaching the edge of the cliff while I took several pictures. We were greatly amused to find that this master of the air was powerless to take off without first falling off a precipice. It was no easy task to run him down and catch that snapping beak in bare hands. Even after his head had been inserted into a canvas sack the mandibles left telltale black and blue spots on my arms through shirt sleeves. A mile with an albatross tucked under one's arm seems like ten without. I was glad to deliver him alive and still kicking to the zoo men."