LOG OF THE ARCTURUS 401 



The problem of the current on the east coast of Albemarle is a 

 puzzling one. On the official maps a steady northwest stream of from 

 one to two and three-quarters knots is given, — cold, Humboldt waters. 

 This time the temperature has been no lower than elsewhere, and the 

 organisms have not appreciably taken on a cold current character. 

 The Captain discovered (and we going ashore in small boats veri- 

 fied) the fact that at the surface at least there is a tidal current. On 

 the lowering tide the current sets strongly north, and on the rising 

 tide it turns and sets as strongly southward along the coast, and at 

 least ten miles out. 



We steamed slowly northward after dark and at 8 p. m. put out 

 surface nets, getting results quite different from those a few miles 

 south. The lanthina, Porpita and Glaucus brought to mind the Cur- 

 rent Rip. 



We seem to be establishing a record in equator crossings, as the 

 Line runs through Cape Marshall and in our volcano observations 

 we have gone back and forth till everyone has lost count of the 

 times. 



Raining to-night. We are now imputing the unusual season to the 

 eruption. 



April 14th. The current carried us swiftly northward and at mid- 

 night we shut off the engines and drifted. At 4 a. m. a half-metre 

 surface net was towed for half an hour; the dominant organism was 

 the deep-blue Copepod. The fish were young halfbeaks, two Cory- 

 phaena-like larvae, two Myctophum coccoi, and twelve very small white 

 larval fish, with large, semi-telescope eyes and spoon-shaped jaws. 

 These early mornings the sea is a mirror, with low, oily swells that 

 are barely perceptible, an almost colorless setting for the bright jewel 

 of the crater. 



Off Redondo Rock we put down a bottom dredge in almost two miles 

 and got an astonishing collection. The huge net swung aboard bulg- 

 ing with an enormous load of lava, clay, huge crimson living corals, 

 orange and pink starfish, scarlet shrimps, glass sponges, Hydroids, 

 Crinoids, and about sixty huge sea-cucumbers, as icy cold from the 

 chill of their native surroundings as though they were of the vege- 

 table variety and had just been taken from the refrigerator. They 

 were pink, purple, green, yellow and white, some smooth, others with 

 long stems and bristles, or shaped like Turkish slippers. 



At night the volcano appeared beautifully symmetrical, — a red 

 cone tapering to a straight column of fire that joined a flat red 

 cloud. During the day we heard low rumbles, but it may have been 

 thunder instead of subterranean convulsions, as the lightning is bril- 

 liant to-night. 



We are now steaming toward Abingdon. 



Noon position: Lat. 0° 24' N: Long. 91° 19' W. 



April 15th. Off west coast of Abingdon at 8:45 a. m. Most of the 

 island a sheer cliff, partly covered with low vegetation, tapering off 

 to each side, — to the north into a long-drawn-out dead black lava 



