Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-08-23
BY LEICESTER HEMINGWAY
and ANTHONY JENKINSON.

NEW 1OFh. Aug. Z3.-l III OuSH-
out the summer of 1898, just year
before the outbreak of war. small
German steamship threaded its way
back and forth through the hum
dreds of reefs and tiny islands that
make up the Miskito Keys. a group
of Caribbean isletS, about which
less is known than any other COM
paratively available group on earth.
We visited them recently on the
"snoop cruise" of the schooner Blue
Stream
Aboard the German vessel were
many strange instruments and
much scientific equipment. At every
port where she put in onlookers
were told that she was shark fish,
ing with new secret apparatus and
so could not welcome visitors.
The German mystery ship cruised
the islands and banks of the West
ern Caribbean. 1t is significant that
she did not catch any sharks, that
she took more depth soundings than
fnny specimens. And that she
DSIlt IllliC AL lAAO AsAAo-
klto Keys.
Wild, Des0late Stretch.
No wilder, more desolate stretch
of coastline exists in North America
than the 200 miles surrounding the
northeastern tip of Nicaragua. Its
point was named Cape Gracias a
Dios by Columbus, who had suitable
reasons for giving thanks to God
when he finally got around it after
bucking headwinds for many days
There is only one. settlement on all
this stretch of mangrove swamp and
sandy beach.
Take out your atlas and you may
find the Miskito keys, called Gays
by the natives, off the blunted tip OF
Cape Gracias. If it is a big atlas
you may find the Ham Gays, Nasa
Gays, Pigeon Gays, the Caratasca,
Caxones, Becerro, Vivario, King,
Man-of-War and Pearl Gays. And
then further out you may find the
Seranilla, Serrana, Roncador, Quito
Sueno, Albuquerque and Courtown
Gays.
Altogether there are more than
200 widely spread, hard-to-find, SUI
premely dangerous Gays in the area
$50 miles off the cape. Navigators
have been cursing them for centuries
because the currents run in all direc-
tons through them at various times
of the year and tropical storms and
the action of the sea are constantly
building new islands among them,
uncharted and unknown.
British Vessels Disappeared.
There are enough wrecked sailing
ships and steamships piled up on
them to provide perches for mill
lions of seabirds, shelter for caches
of fuel oil and supplies for the agents
of any foreign power planning an
attack on the American republics
bordering on the Caribbean. Oper-
ators of Nazi bases will either use
the Gays as hideouts for raiders or
auxiliary depots for fuel storage.
Every one of these Gays is a po-
tential seaplane mooring. with
smooth water, lagoon or reef to
windward for protection, and dry
land to get out and stretch and
where supplies can be stored with
out the knowledge of living soul.
Until the Nazis came, the only
human beings that ever went to
these islands were occasional fisher
men and turtlers on schooners from
the British Cayman Islands, of the
south coast of Cuba. But with the
war the Cayman fishermen aren't
as interested in sailing so far from
home. They cover only q limited
part Of the Miskito Cay area, staying
close to the cape for their fish and
turtle catching. Last winter the
British schooner Aston vanished
without a trace, with Is persons
aboard, while sailing from Old
Providence Island, through the
Miskito Gays to Grand Cayman.
Other Cayman schooner captains
don't like the idea of laundering
on q Nazi base.
Many Mani Tugs In Area.
A fan vAAra a0a TIA NaRia tn~an