INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DURING THE YEAR 187G. cxxvii 



ing observations at sea of depth, temperature, and currents ; and 

 when in port making use of every opportunity of correcting charts. 



Leaving Amboyna on the 11th of June, 1875, the northeast coast 

 of New Guinea, with the adjacent islands, was visited and explored; 

 the expedition next visiting Western Australia, New Zealand, the 

 Fiji and Samoan groups. Passing from the Pacific Ocean through 

 the Strait of Magellan, at Montevideo the English exploring -ship 

 Cliallengev was met. From Montevideo the Gazelle sailed for home, 

 arriving at Kiel on April 28, 1876. Differing from the famous cruise 

 of the Challenger only in extent and duration, the observations made 

 during the cruise of the Gazelle promise equally important results. 



Within a short time ships of the English, German, and United 

 States navies have determined the exact depth of the ocean in more 

 than 1200 places where it was previously unknown. 



The French Depot des Cartes et Plans de la Marine have published 

 numerous valuable charts and sailing directions, the most important 

 of the latter being a minute description from recent surveys of the 

 island of Guadeloupe. The most important survey made during 

 the past year by French naval officers has been the survey of the 

 shores of the Gulfs of Sidra and Gabes on the north coast of Africa. 

 These shores, between Sfax and Benghazi, have not heretofore been 

 regularly surveyed, owing to the barbarity of the inhabitants and 

 the shelterless character of the coast, and it was with great difficul- 

 ty that Captain Mouchez, the officer charged with the work, was 

 able to complete it. 



The Chilian government have done excellent service by their re- 

 cent establishment of a hydrographic office, mucli valuable informa- 

 tion having been already collected and published. 



The Chilian corvette Ancud has made a series of deep-sea sound- 

 ings betw^een Valparaiso and Caldera, preparatory to the laying of a 

 telegraph cable between these two points. The west coast of South 

 America affords a wide field for hydrographic work, and there is 

 every reason to hope that the work so well begun by the Chilian 

 government will be continued. 



Japanese officers have made useful surveys principally of harbors 

 on the coasts of the larger islands of Japan, and also among the off- 

 lying groups to the south westward, notably at Oosima Island and 

 the Meiaco Sima group. 



Many of these surveys are published by the Japanese authorities 

 in a form useful for navigators of other countries. 



The Norwegian deep-sea sounding expedition in the Voringer has 

 done good work during the summer. Leaving Christiansund on 

 June 27th, sounding and dredging was carried on between Norway, 

 the Faroe Islands, and Iceland very successfully. The scientific 

 results of the expedition are already considerable ; the animal life 

 exhibiting a much greater variety than was expected, although the 



