LOG OF THE ARCTURUS 413 



May 28th. An otter trawl put down this morning to the bottom. It 

 came up wound round the boards at its mouth, but in spite of that 

 it contained the first specimen we have captured of the Macrurids. 

 It seems strange that we have not had these before, as other expe- 

 ditions appear to have taken them very often. 



A deluge of rain from moon to dark. 



May 29th. Two otter trawls on bottom to-day, the first very good, 

 the second much better, containing huge black eels, Bathypterois in 

 perfect preservation, Macrurids, bat-fishes and the more common deep- 

 sea fish, as well as sponges, shrimps and all sorts of invertebrates. 



At 5 p. m. black clouds and a gale of wind preceded a downpour 

 which lasted all the evening. 



May 30th. Two good hauls with otter trawls on bottom to-day, 

 bringing in batfishes, eels, Macrurids, Brotulids, and starfishes, sponges 

 and shrimps by the hundred. 



May 31st. Fair most of the day, showers at night. Lost an otter 

 trawl trying to put it over without the crew, as this is their day of 

 rest but the scientist knows none. Then put down the coarse bottom 

 dredge, and at 2 p. m. started a twenty-four-hour series of plank- 

 ton hauls. Put out a surface net every half-hour and left it out thirty 

 minutes. 



June 1st. Torrents of rain all day, clearing about 5 p. m. Enor- 

 mous amount of specimens and data acquired from twenty-four-hour 

 plankton hauls. The bottom dredge brought in a fairly good haul. 



June 2nd. A rather disastrous day on the whole. The 80-foot 

 dredge was put over and lost, various nets went wrong, and, two 

 Petersen trawls brought in a sum total of one Salpa. Squalls of wind 

 and rain and a terrific downpour in evening. At dinner-time a large 

 school of blackfish gathered round the ship, so near that we had a 

 good chance to see them as they came up to blow. 



June 3rd. A hurricane blew a deluge into the cabins on the wind- 

 ward side all night. Everyone busy alternating between shutting the 

 doors and gasping for air, and opening them and drowning. A Peter- 

 sen and five metre nets down in the morning, and a dredge in the 

 afternoon, with good results. As soon as the dredge was in, we 

 started for Albemarle and Tagus Cove. All hoping for some sun- 

 shine to-morrow. 



June 4th. Grey days and rain-squalls still the rule. Plodding along 

 all day without hauls. At 9 p. m. a sounding showed that we had 

 gone off the edge of the Cocos plateau very abruptly. 



Noon position: Lat. 3° 53' N: Long. 87" 13' W. 



