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A few kilometres west of Punta Cormorant is POST OFFICE BAY , named such because of a barrel near the beach that has been used for a makeshift mail drop since the end of the eighteenth century. The practice was begun by British whaling ships, who left letters here to be picked up by homeward-bound vessels, and was cleverly exploited during the Anglo-American war of 1812, when the canny US Navy Captain, David Porter , intercepted communications here and was able to round up one million tons of shipping in the region's waters. Over two centuries on and the original barrel has long been replaced, but post is still left and delivered free of charge by visitors to the bay. The "post office" now is marked by a shrine of planks, with the names of yachts etched onto them, animal bones, driftwood and many other assorted knick-knacks. Nearby are the remains of a fish canning factory, set up and abandoned by Norwegian colonists in the 1920s, and a short trail leading to a lava tube, which you need caving gear to descend. Tour boats and day-trippers from Puerto Ayora regularly call at this site.
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